April 24, 2025

House Republicans Eye $150B Defense Plus-Up (Source: Politico)
House Republicans plan to increase Pentagon spending by $150 billion, aligning with the Senate and surpassing an earlier $100 billion target, sources say. House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers, R-AL, aims to support initiatives, including border military presence and nuclear modernization, through the reconciliation package. (4/23)

DoD Plans Major Spectrum-Sharing Demonstration in 2025 (Source: Defense Scoop)
The Defense Department plans a large-scale demonstration of dynamic spectrum-sharing technology in November 2025, focusing on the lower 3 GHz band. The demonstration aims to show that the Pentagon and commercial industry can share spectrum without compromising national security. (4/23)

Governors Again Oppose Transfer of Air Guard Units (Source: Military Online)
The National Governors Association has expressed concern over the National Defense Authorization Act provision that allows transfer of Air National Guard units to the Space Force without state approval. An Air Force spokesperson said the Space Force, Air Force and National Guard Bureau "will jointly determine the specific conditions, resource alignments, and timing for the transfer of each covered space function," adding that "the Space Force is not planning to relocate the missions out of the affected states." (4/22)

China Launches TSS Crew (Source: AP)
China launched a new crew to its space station this morning. A Long March 2F lifted off at 5:17 a.m. Eastern from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center and placed the Shenzhou-20 spacecraft into orbit. The spacecraft is scheduled to dock with the Tiangong space station roughly six and a half hours after liftoff. The spacecraft is carrying veteran Chinese astronaut Chen Dong, making his third flight, and first-time astronauts Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie. The three will spend about six months on the station. (4/24)

Boeing Improves Starliner Cost Containment (Source: Space News)
Boeing's CEO says the company has made progress on containing the costs of its CST-100 Starliner commercial crew vehicle. In an earnings call Wednesday, Kelly Ortberg cited Starliner among the fixed-price programs in which the company has made "real good progress" on addressing cost growth. Boeing took $523 million in charges against earnings on Starliner in 2024 but did not report any additional charges in the first quarter of this year. Boeing officials did not go into details on how they are resolving problems the spacecraft encountered on its crewed test flight last year. (4/24)

Katalyst Acquires Atomos (Source: Space News)
Katalyst Space Technologies has acquired Atomos Space, a deal that combines two startups in the in-space operations field. Arizona-based Katalyst purchased Colorado-based Atomos for an undisclosed sum in a deal that closed in March but was only now disclosed. Katalyst has been working on satellite servicing technologies while Atomos developed an orbital transfer vehicle, flying a prototype of it last year. The deal will allow the combined company to offer "full-stack mission solutions" that include satellite servicing. (4/24)

Germany's Okapi:Orbits Raises $14.75 Million for SSA, Collision Avoidance (Source: Space News)
German space traffic management startup Okapi:Orbits raised 13 million euros ($14.75 million) in a new funding round. The round, announced Thursday, was led by VenTech, a European early-stage venture capital firm, with several other firms participating. Okapi plans to use the funding to expand its team and enhance its products, which include tools for space situational awareness and collision avoidance. The company, spun out of the Technical University of Braunschweig, has customers in Asia, Europe and the United States. (4/24)

Isaacman Confirmation Process Grinds On (Source: Senate Commerce Committee)
The Senate Commerce Committee will take up Jared Isaacman's nomination to be NASA administrator next week. The committee announced Wednesday it will hold an executive session on April 30 when members will vote to send the nomination to the full Senate. The session will include several bills as well, such as one on delivery of NASA reports to Congress and another that would formally authorize NASA's commercial earth observation satellite data purchase program. (4/24)

Rocket Lab Wins HASTE Launch Contract (Source: Rocket Lab)
Rocket Lab won a contract for a launch of the suborbital version of its Electron rocket. Rocket Lab said Wednesday that Kratos awarded it a contract for a launch of its HASTE vehicle carrying a hypersonic test payload. That launch is scheduled for no earlier than the first quarter of next year from Wallops Island, Virginia. Rocket Lab says it has several HASTE launches on its manifest for this year and next for the Defense Innovation Unit, Leidos and a confidential customer. (4/24)

Firefly Wins AFRL Contract for Rocket Engine Nozzle Extensions (Source: Firefly Aerospace)
Firefly Aerospace won a contract from the Air Force Research Lab to build a ceramic nozzle extension for rocket engines. The nozzle extension would be used on upper-stage engines to increase their performance without requiring the use of expensive, heavy metals. Firefly says its ceramic matrix composite nozzle extension could cut the mass of such components by more than 50%. Firefly plans to eventually use the nozzle extension on the Lightning engine on the upper stage of its Alpha rocket and the Vira engine to be used on the upper stage of its Medium Launch Vehicle. (4/24)

Japan's Last H2A Rocket Set for Summer Launch (Source: Jiji Press)
The last H-2A rocket is scheduled to launch this summer. The Japanese space agency JAXA announced Wednesday a June 24 launch date for the 50th and final H-2A, carrying the GOSAT-GW earth science satellite. Japan is shifting to the H3 rocket, which has made four successful launches after a failure on its inaugural flight in 2023. (4/24)

India to Launch ~150 Satellites for Border Security (Source: India Today)
The head of India's space program claims the country will launch as many as 150 satellites in the next few years for border security. V Narayanan, chairman of the Indian space agency ISRO, said the country was planning to launch 100 to 150 satellites in the next three years devoted to border security and coastal surveillance. That is far more than the 55 satellites India currently operates for all applications. He provided few details on how the satellites would be built and launched, and what role ISRO would play in a national security program like this. The comments come after a terrorist attack in Kashmir that killed 26 people. (4/24)

Gingrich Opposes NASA Science Cuts (Source: RealClear Science)
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich is criticizing proposed cuts to NASA science programs. In a commentary, Gingrich, described cuts of up to 50% in NASA's science programs expected to be included in the White House's 2026 budget proposal as "reckless." The piece was co-authored with former House Science Committee chairman Robert Walker and Charles Miller, a former senior adviser at NASA.

The cuts, they argued, could "let China become the world leader in science." They advocated instead for reforming how NASA does science missions to reduce their costs and timelines, calling for more commercial approaches like an expansion of NASA's CLPS commercial lunar lander program, and more investment in space weather and planetary defense. (4/24)

How the Sun Might Be Making Water on the Moon (Source: Earth.com)
Water on the Moon has long fascinated scientists, not just because it’s crucial for future lunar missions, but also because it raises a big question: where did it come from? Since the 1960s, researchers have proposed that water might be forming thanks to the sun. Is the Sun creating the Moon’s water? Researchers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and their collaborators have confirmed this process in the lab. They used one of the most realistic simulations of solar wind hitting lunar dust to date.

“The exciting thing here is that with only lunar soil and a basic ingredient from the Sun, which is always spitting out hydrogen, there’s a possibility of creating water. That’s incredible to think about,” said Li Hsia Yeo, a research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. (4/23)

Mission to Boldly Grow Food in Space Labs Blasts Off (Source: BBC)
Steak, mashed potatoes and desserts for astronauts could soon be grown from individual cells in space if an experiment launched into orbit today is successful. A European Space Agency (ESA) project is assessing the viability of growing so-called lab-grown food in the low gravity and higher radiation in orbit and on other worlds.

ESA is funding the research to explore new ways of reducing the cost of feeding an astronaut, which can cost up to £20,000 per day. The team involved say the experiment is a first step to developing a small pilot food production plant on the International Space Station in two years' time. (4/21)

Planet With Comet-Like Tail Observed Disintegrating Near its Star (Source: Reuters)
Astronomers have spotted a small rocky planet that orbits perilously close to its host star disintegrating as its surface is vaporized by stellar heat, trailed by a comet-like tail of mineral dust up to about 5.6 million miles long. About 5,800 planets beyond our solar system, called exoplanets, have been discovered since the 1990s. Of those, only four have been observed disintegrating in orbit, as this one is. This planet is the closest to our solar system of the four, giving scientists a unique opportunity to learn about what happens to these doomed worlds. (4/22)

SpaceX Launches 3 Rockets From 3 Pads in Less Than 37 Hours (Source: Space.com)
SpaceX continues to keep up its torrid launch pace. Elon Musk's company sent three of its Falcon 9 rockets to orbit from three different pads over the course of a day and a half. The action began on Sunday (April 20), when a Falcon 9 launched the NROL-145 mission for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base. It was the 10th flight in service of the NRO's new "proliferated architecture" of spy satellites.

Next up was SpaceX's 32nd cargo mission to the International Space Station for NASA, which launched from the agency's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida early Monday morning (April 21). Then, on Monday night, another Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, which is next door to KSC. (4/23)

Samples From the Moon Reveal Scary Risks to Astronauts (Source: Futurity)
Examining Apollo lunar samples at the nanoscale, researchers have revealed risks to human space missions and the possible role of space weathering in forming some of the water on the moon. Most previous studies of the moon involved instruments mapping it from orbit. In contrast, this study allowed researchers to spatially map a nanoscale sample while simultaneously analyzing optical signatures of Apollo lunar samples from different regions of the lunar surface—and to extract information about the chemical composition of the lunar surface and radiation history.

The researchers found damage on the rock samples, including changes in the optical signatures. Some of the optical signatures also showed trapped electron states, which are typically missing atoms and vacancies in the atomic lattice. When the grains are irradiated, some atoms are removed, and the electrons get trapped. The types of traps and how deep they are, in terms of energy, can help determine the radiation history of the moon.

The trapped electrons can also lead to charging, which can generate an electrostatic spark. On the moon, this could be a problem for astronauts, exploration vehicles, and equipment. First, the dust could interfere with spacesuits’ seals. Second, micrometeorites could puncture a spacesuit. Third, astronauts could breathe in dust left on the suits, causing respiratory issues. NASA is studying many approaches for dust removal and mitigation. (4/17)

'Ghost Gas' May Solve the Mystery of the Universe’s Missing Matter (Source: Earth.com)
For decades, astronomers have searched for the universe’s missing matter – the normal matter that should exist according to the Big Bang theory, but can’t be fully seen. This isn’t about dark matter, which constitutes most of the universe’s mass. It’s about ordinary, visible matter like stars, gas, and galaxies.

Even after accounting for everything that can be observed through telescopes, more than half of this matter seemed to be missing. But new research might have solved the mystery. Scientists believe they’ve found the missing matter in a form that’s been hiding in plain sight – very diffuse, invisible hydrogen gas floating far beyond what we once thought was the edge of galaxies. (4/23)