April 16, 2025

Pentagon Report Supports Alabama Space Command Move (Source: Space News)
A report from the Pentagon's inspector general has provided more fuel for the debate on the headquarters for U.S. Space Command. The report concluded that moving Space Command headquarters from its interim home in Colorado Springs to Huntsville, Alabama, would save $420 million. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, claimed the report further proves that the command should be moved to Huntsville, adding he expects President Trump to make that decision soon.

However, Republican members of Colorado's congressional delegation countered that any relocation would significantly disrupt the command’s operations during a critical time for space security, warning that a move could result in a loss of civilian personnel unwilling to leave Colorado. (4/16)

Astranis Wins $115 Million for Taiwan Ka-Band GEO Satellite (Source: Space News)
Astranis has won a $115 million contract to build a communications satellite for Taiwan. The Ka-band geostationary orbit satellite for Taiwanese telco Chunghwa Telecom joins a batch of five spacecraft that SpaceX is slated to launch on a Falcon 9 rocket by the end of the year, collectively called Block 3. Chunghwa is paying more for its satellite than others in that block because of requirements for a "very fast delivery time and mission-critical use case."  Astranis launched its four Block 2 satellites at the end of last year, but one, UtilitySat, has not made any orbit-raising maneuvers in two months. The company acknowledged it is "troubleshooting an issue" but did not elaborate. (4/16)

Bipartisan Caucus Opposes Deep NASA Science Cuts (Source: Space News)
A bipartisan congressional caucus has criticized proposed steep cuts in NASA science programs. The co-chairs of the Congressional Planetary Science Caucus, Reps. Judy Chu (D-CA) and Don Bacon (R-NE), said in a statement Tuesday they were "extremely alarmed" by reports the White House's fiscal year 2026 budget proposal would cut NASA's science budget by nearly 50% and cancel several major missions. Bacon is one of the first Republicans in Congress to criticize the proposal, which has faced opposition to date primarily by Democrats. Bacon and Chu restarted the caucus a little more than a year ago to raise awareness among members about the benefits of planetary science and related research. (4/16)

RFA Replaces CEO (Source: Space News)
German launch vehicle startup Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) has replaced its CEO. The company said last week that Stefan Tweraser, who had been CEO since October 2021, had been replaced by Indulis Kalnins. The company didn't give a reason for the change but suggested they wanted more technical leadership at the company. Kalnins is on the aerospace faculty of a German university and has been managing director of OHB Cosmos, which focused on launch services, while Tweraser came to RFA after a career outside of aerospace. RFA is working towards a second attempt at a first launch of its RFA ONE rocket after the first stage of its initial rocket was destroyed in a static-fire test last August. The company is targeting late this year for a launch. (4/16)

Katalyst and LMO Space Collaborate on New Approach to Spacecraft Servicing (Source: Space News)
Two startups are working together on a new approach for spacecraft servicing. Arizona-based Katalyst Space and European startup LMO Space said they will cooperate on a concept called assisted rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO), where an servicing spacecraft is supported by an orbital transfer vehicle that both delivers the servicer to the vicinity of the client spacecraft and collects data to help the servicer dock with the client. The companies said they plan to test the concept in geostationary orbit in 2026. (4/16)

FCC's Carr: Europe Must Choose Between US and China for Satellite Tech (Source: Financial Times)
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr says Europe needs to choose between American and Chinese satellite technologies. Carr said in an interview that if European governments are worried now about Starlink, they should be "really worried" about Chinese systems under development.

The European Commission is working on its own satellite constellation, IRIS², but Carr argued that Europe needed to choose between siding with American or Chinese systems: "If Europe has its own satellite constellation then great, I think the more the better. But more broadly, I think Europe is caught a little bit between the US and China. And it’s sort of time for choosing." (4/16)

Rocket Lab HASTE Gains Support for Hypersonic Testing (Source: Rocket Lab)
Rocket Lab says its hypersonic test flight capabilities have been added to both American and British contracts. The company said this week that HASTE, a suborbital version of Electron used for hypersonics testing, has been added to the U.S. Air Force's Enterprise-Wide Agile Acquisition Contract and the U.K. Ministry of Defence's Hypersonic Technologies & Capability Development Framework. Rocket Lab is now eligible to offer HASTE for task orders under the two contracts. (4/16)

After Starship Debris Issue, Bahamas Suspends Permission for Rocket Landings Until Environmental Study is Complete (Source: Times of India)
The Bahamas government has announced the suspension of all SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket landings, pending a full post-launch investigation. The decision follows concerns over environmental impact and debris management, after a SpaceX Starship explosion last month scattered fragments over Bahamian airspace.

Bahamian Director of Communications Latrae Rahming confirmed the suspension in a post on X, stating, "No further clearances will be granted until a full environmental assessment is reviewed." The government had previously approved 19 SpaceX landings throughout 2025, subject to regulatory approval. (4/16)

Science’s Best Answer to “Where Did the Universe Come From?” (Source: Big Think)
Since well before the dawn of recorded history, this was a primary topic of myths, legends, religions, philosophies, and even poetry: our cosmic origins sparked our imaginations in our attempts to make sense of existence. But in the 20th and 21st centuries, these questions finally succumbed to the investigations of science. Now, in 2025, perhaps the pinnacle of human achievement is the ability to provide factual answers to the deepest questions of all. Click here. (4/15)

L3Harris Secures Deep Space Tracking Contract Extension (Source: Space Daily)
L3Harris Technologies has received a contract for its work on the US Space Force Maintenance of Space Situational Awareness Integrated Capabilities program, crucial for tracking deep-space objects. The extension, now in its sixth year of a 10-year agreement, aims to improve command-and-control of maintaining space domain awareness systems. (4/15)

Outpost Awarded Contract to Develop Reentry Shield Tech for Space-Based Cargo Delivery (Source: Space Daily)
Outpost Space has secured a $1.8 million contract from the U.S. Space Force under the SPACEWERX Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) initiative. The award, granted through the ICED-T (Innovative Cargo Exoatmospheric Delivery Technology) topic, supports Outpost's Shielding Technology for Exoatmospheric Experiments and Payloads (STEEP) program.

The STEEP initiative aims to advance deployable heat shield systems that safeguard cargo during atmospheric reentry. The project will entail a full-spectrum assessment of thermal protection technologies, culminating in the engineering, simulation, and testing of a scaled prototype. (4/15)

Hubble Tracks a Roaming Magnetar of Unknown Origin (Source: Phys.org)
Researchers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have discovered the magnetar called SGR 0501+4516 is traversing our galaxy from an unknown place of origin. Researchers say that this runaway magnetar is the likeliest candidate in our Milky Way galaxy for a magnetar that was not born in a supernova explosion as initially predicted. It is so strange it might even offer clues to the mechanism behind events known as fast radio bursts. (4/15)

We’ve Found The Missing Half Of Ordinary Matter In Puffed-Up Galaxies (Source: IFL Science)
Missing matter differs from dark matter in that it is made up of the same particles as we are, along with everything we are familiar with. Indeed, it is thought to be predominantly hydrogen, like two out of three of the atoms in the water in our bodies. However, when we look around the nearby universe, there is less of this ordinary matter than in more distant parts of the universe.

The most popular explanation for the missing matter is that it is present in vast low-density clouds of ionized gas. Ionized hydrogen is very difficult to detect, particularly when the density is low. Of course, at low density these clouds would need to be spectacularly large to contain the missing amount of mass, but have been considered the most likely suspect.

New measurements taken around galaxies by 75 scientists appear to support this idea, with gas found five times farther from the galactic centers than had been anticipated prior to the missing matter mystery changing those anticipations. Five times the radius means 125 times the volume, so the gas can be very low-density indeed and still have a lot of mass. (4/15)

Scientists Uncover Why Carbon-Rich Meteorites Rarely Reach Earth (Source: Phys.org)
Researchers analyzed close to 8,500 meteoroids and meteorite impacts, using data from 19 fireball observation networks across 39 countries—making it the most comprehensive study of its kind. "We've long suspected that weak, carbonaceous material doesn't survive atmospheric entry," Dr. Devillepoix said.

"What this research shows is many of these meteoroids don't even make it that far: they break apart from being heated repeatedly as they pass close to the sun. "The ones that do survive getting cooked in space are more likely to also make it through Earth's atmosphere." (4/14)

Bezos' All-Female Flight Doesn't Prove What He Thinks (Source: Newser)
Sounding less-than-impressed with all this is New York Times culture writer Amanda Hess. This was space tourism, not science, she notes. Those aboard were like "payload specialists with a specialty in marketing private rockets." Two withering lines:

"If the flight proves anything, it is that women are now free to enjoy capitalism's most decadent spoils alongside the world's wealthiest men." "The message is that a little girl can grow up to be whatever she wishes: a rocket scientist or a pop star, a television journalist or a billionaire's fiancée who is empowered to pursue her various ambitions and whims in the face of tremendous costs." (4/15)

Startups to Demonstrate New Spacecraft Docking Technique (Source: Space News)
Katalyst Space, an Arizona-based startup, partnered with the European startup LMO Space to demonstrate a technique for spacecraft docking known as “assisted rendezvous and proximity operations” (RPO). Katalyst developed a concept for assisted RPO using an Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV), which is used to move spacecraft or payloads from one orbit to another after launch. This approach aims to simplify spacecraft docking operations and potentially reduce costs.

Traditional RPO requires the servicing spacecraft to handle all aspects of the operation: launching, reaching orbit, performing rendezvous, and executing proximity operations with the target. The assisted RPO concept uses an OTV to move the servicing satellite closer to the desired location. In Katalyst’s concept, an OTV will carry both a hosted payload and a deployable payload: The deployable payload (a freeflyer) will collect close-range imagery of the docking target. The hosted payload will collect range data from a second vantage point. (4/15)

Can We Stop Pretending the Katy Perry-Blue Origin Space Trip was Anything But a Crass PR Stunt? (Source: EuroNews)
Let’s address some of the talking points through three questions, which seemed to be doing the rounds. Aren't they brave? No. What a time to be alive, hey? Debatable. Do you think Katy Perry sang on board the rocket? Who gives a tiny rat’s scrotum. This headline-grabbing publicity stunt is nothing more than a ludicrously expensive, environmentally damaging and massively tone-deaf photo op masquerading as happy-clappy activism. (4/15)

Space Exploration's Unexpected Impact on Jewelry (Source: Elle)
Following the Sputnik launch in 1957 and Neil Armstrong’s landing on the moon 12 years later, jewelers looked to the sky for inspiration. A new exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, “Cosmic Splendors: Jewelry from the Collections of Van Cleef & Arpels,” explores how space exploration impacted our collective creative spirit. (4/14)

Saudi Space Economy Reaches $8.7bn in 2024 (Source: Gulf Business)
Saudi Arabia’s space economy reached $8.7bn in 2024, according to the Communications, Space, and Technology Commission (CST). The figure includes all value-added activities and industries related to space technologies and services. The size of the Saudi space market reached $1.9bn last year, CST said in its newly released KSA Space Market 2025 report.

The report aims to highlight the latest developments and growth in local and global space market sizes, support market development and competitiveness, assist investors and entrepreneurs in the sector, and identify promising opportunities in the space industry. (4/15)