April 5, 2025

Sidus Space Reports 2024 Financial Results (Source: Sidus Space)
Total revenue for the twelve months ending December 31 was approximately $4.7 million, a decrease of $1.3 million compared to 2023. This decrease highlights Sidus’ deliberate strategic shift from miscellaneous component manufacturing to higher-margin business lines of data, technology and satellite manufacturing for Sidus as well external customers. Gross profit for the twelve months ended December 31 decreased 31% to a loss of approximately $1.5 million compared to a profit of approximately $1.6 million for 2023. Sidus Space raised $37 million and ended 2024 with a cash balance of $15.7 million. (3/31)

D-Orbit and Planetek Join Forces (Source: Nova)
A new chapter opens for the Italian space sector. Today, at the Ministry of Business and Made in Italy, D-Orbit and Planetek Italia have signed a strategic agreement that promises to redefine the rules of the game. Two Italian excellences, one specialized in space logistics and the other in Earth observation, have decided to join forces to develop innovative technologies and strengthen our country's leadership in space. (4/4)

Honda Sets Up Dedicated Business in U.S. to Tap Into Space Boom (Source: Bloomberg)
Honda Motor Co. has created a space business unit in the U.S. to promote its technology and spur more collaboration with American companies. The Japanese automaker, which is a relatively new but ambitious player in the space business, said Friday it set up a Space Development Division at its American Honda subsidiary late last year.

The new division will work with the company’s Japan-based Space Strategy Office to “leverage Honda core technologies and apply them to the expansion of human activities and development on the lunar surface,” it said in a statement. Honda did not disclose how many people are assigned to the unit or how much of a budget the division has. (4/4)

ULA Wins DoD Launch Contract (Source: ULA)
The U.S. Space Force announced today that United Launch Alliance (ULA) was awarded a firm, fixed-price, indefinite-delivery requirements (IDR) contact to launch 40 percent of the missions to the country’s most challenging and exotic orbits on its newest launch procurement contract. This contract resulted from a competitive award under the Space Force’s National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 procurement. (4/4)

Securing the Digital and Orbital Frontiers in Ukraine (Source: CSIS)
Space capabilities have also figured into the ceasefire. Surveillance satellites feed continuous data on troop movements and missile launches—capabilities indispensable for any ceasefire reliant on timely detection of hostile acts. Additionally, in a post-ceasefire environment, adversaries could seek to deny or degrade these space-based systems through anti-satellite demonstrations, cyberattacks on ground stations, or targeted jamming. Such interference threatens to undermine an opponent’s military readiness and weaken overall confidence.

Space, in other words, has emerged as yet another domain where adversaries can apply coercive pressure—this time by targeting the critical orbital infrastructure that underpins modern warfare. Worst still, space effects—like cyber effects—can reach beyond their intended target. The Viasat attack resulted in thousands of downed wind turbines across Europe. NATO acknowledges the need to protect critical satellite infrastructure that could be disabled by kinetic (i.e., anti-satellite weapons, or “ASATs”) and non-kinetic (i.e., cyber and/or electronic attack) actions in space. (4/3)

How to Engineer Microbes to Enable Us to Live on Mars (Source: Space Daily)
A field known as synthetic biology has become one of the most highly anticipated in science. Its outputs range from golden rice, which is genetically engineered to provide vitamin A, to advances stemming from the Human Genome Project, which successfully mapped the entire human genome. Prominent voices in biotechnology have heralded it as the next wave of the future of innovation.

Synthetic biology is the use of genetic engineering and other advances in biotechnology to generate new organisms or manipulate existing ones to produce the effects you desire. It is what the British biologist Jamie A. Davies calls "the creation of new living systems by design". What is perhaps less obvious is that it may even be useful in space exploration. We might eventually use microbes to detoxify Mars - helping humans to one day live on the red planet. (4/3)

ISRO Advances Nextgen Rocket Power with Successful Semi Cryogenic Engine Test (Source: Space Daily)
ISRO has taken a significant step forward in its efforts to develop a powerful semicryogenic engine, a key component intended to upgrade the LVM3 launch vehicle. On March 28, 2025, the space agency successfully completed the first hot test of the Engine Power Head Test Article (PHTA) at the ISRO Propulsion Complex in Mahendragiri, Tamil Nadu.

The Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) is spearheading the development of the SE2000 semicryogenic engine, which will produce 2000 kN of thrust. This engine will be used in the SC120 stage, replacing the current L110 liquid core stage in the LVM3 rocket. By utilizing liquid oxygen and kerosene - propellants that are both non-toxic and non-hazardous - ISRO expects improved performance and a higher payload capacity, raising LVM3's GTO capability from 4 to 5 tonnes. (4/1)

New Glenn Awarded Critical National Security Space Launch Contract (Source: Blue Origin)
Blue Origin won a contract today to serve as a National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 Lane 2 heavy-lift provider for the nation’s most critical missions. We’re proud to support the Department of Defense and the National Reconnaissance Office in this effort. The award marks an important step to expand the choice of launch providers and sustained competition for assured access to space. For more information about today’s award, go here.

This is the third national security launch-related contract we've been awarded in the past year. In June 2024, Blue Origin won a contract to compete for NSSL Phase 3 Lane 1 missions. We also won a contract in July 2024 to compete for missions in the Orbital Services Program (OSP)-4, which allows New Glenn to compete for task orders intended to put capabilities on orbit within two years. January’s NG-1 launch was our first NSSL certification flight, and we expect to fly NG-2 in late spring. (4/4)

SpaceX, ULA, Blue Origin Win $13.7 Billion in U.S. Military Launch Contracts Through 2029 (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Department of Defense has awarded a combined $13.7 billion in launch service contracts to SpaceX, United Launch Alliance and Blue Origin, marking the first time three companies will share responsibility for launching high-priority military and intelligence payloads.

The contracts, announced April 4 by the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command, are part of the National Security Space Launch Phase 3 Lane 2 procurement, a cornerstone initiative designed to bolster the Pentagon’s access to space for its most sensitive and risk-averse missions.

SpaceX emerged as the leading contractor, securing $5.9 billion in anticipated awards, followed by ULA at nearly $5.4 billion and Blue Origin at nearly $2.4 billion. The three companies are expected to collectively perform 54 launches under the agreement between fiscal years 2025 and 2029. (4/4)

Space Coast Students Excel in Destination Moon Challenge (Source: Viera Voice)
Students in fifth and sixth grades from 44 elementary schools in Brevard County, including those from four Viera/Suntree elementary schools, competed in the 2025 Boeing Destination Moon Challenge Event Days held at the Brevard Public Schools Educational Services Facility in Viera. “The purpose of the event it’s an expansion or an extension of Destination Space,” said Melissa Woods, a teacher technology integrator for Brevard Public Schools.

“That’s the field trip that all the sixth graders take to Kennedy Space Center and they have a two weeks study. This got started as a grant from Boeing, so we could add STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).” (4/3)

Canceled Contract Means NOAA Research Websites Sated to Go Dark (Source: Axios)
The early cancellation of an Amazon Web Services contract means that a slew of NOAA websites are slated to go dark beginning at midnight. This mainly would affect NOAA's research division, and will make numerous websites and data sets inaccessible to the public. The Commerce Department is requiring NOAA — and possibly all department agencies — to cut its IT budget by 50% across the board.

This is resulting in cloud services contracts being cut — and, potentially more significantly, agency networks that transmit weather and climate information. Some of the websites slated to go down include the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL), the Climate Program Office, the home website of NOAA research and the Earth Prediction Innovation Center, which maintains a cloud-based weather forecasting system developed as a public-private partnership. (4/4)

Germany Funds Eutelsat Internet in Ukraine as Musk Tensions Rise (Source: Reuters)
Berlin has been paying for Ukraine's access to a satellite-internet network operated by France's Eutelsat (ETL.PA), opens new tab, as Europe seeks alternatives to Elon Musk’s Starlink. Eutelsat’s chief executive Eva Berneke told Reuters the company has provided its high-speed satellite internet service to Ukraine for about a year via a German distributor. (4/4)

NASA’s New Electric Shield Could Revolutionize Space Travel (Source: Daily Galaxy)
In a historic leap for lunar exploration, NASA has successfully demonstrated its Electrodynamic Dust Shield (EDS) on the Moon. This cutting-edge technology, developed to address the persistent problem of lunar dust, passed its first real-world test in March 2025. It was deployed aboard Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lander, marking a significant milestone in NASA’s plans to establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon.

The EDS technology was tested after the Blue Ghost successfully touched down on the Moon on March 2, 2025. The Blue Ghost, which made history as the first privately funded lunar lander to accomplish a fully successful landing, carried the EDS as part of its mission.

In its first operational test, the EDS proved its ability to remove lunar dust (regolith) from surfaces using electrodynamic forces. By March 16, the technology had completed a successful trial, marking a pivotal moment in NASA’s quest to overcome one of the Moon’s most challenging obstacles. (4/4)

Saltzman Calls for Updated National Security Space Policy (Source: Breaking Defense)
A lack of high level US government attention to crafting national security space policy is creating constraints on the Space Force’s ability to quickly evolve to counter today’s threats, particularly from China’s growing space power, says Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman. “I just feel like we’re lagging in the importance of establishing declaratory policy, you know, and establishing the kind of policies we need to move fast,” he told the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission. (4/3)

Korea Invests in New Fund to Boost Space Economy (Source: Chosun)
The Korea Aerospace Administration announced that it will invest 7 billion won in the New Space fund, which is expected to serve as a catalyst for the space economy. On the 24th, the Korea Aerospace Administration noted that it will officially recruit an operator to manage the New Space investment support project. The New Space investment support project is a government-backed fund introduced for the first time in 2023 for the space sector. (3/24)

Senate Confirms Michael Kratsios to Lead White House Science, Tech Office (Source: The Hill)
The Senate confirmed Michael Kratsios to head the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) with bipartisan support. Kratsios, who was Trump’s chief technology officer during his first White House term, was approved Tuesday by the upper chamber in a 74-25 vote. (3/25)

US and New Zealand Discuss Trade, Space (Source: US Dept. of State)
Both parties discussed our valued trade relationship, with the Secretary noting about maritime challenges, that the ultimate trade barrier is the inability to transit sea lanes. Also emphasized was the importance of cooperation on emerging technologies, and in particular New Zealand’s space sector. The meeting reaffirmed the strong U.S.-New Zealand partnership and shared commitment to regional stability. (3/19)