May 21, 2025

Space Force Approves Meadowlands Jammer For Training (Source: Aviation Week)
The U.S. Space Force received fielding approval for its new Counter Communications Systems (CCS) Meadowlands jammer on May 2, the service’s Space Operations Command (SpOC) announced May 19. The tactical electronic warfare system is built by L3Harris Technologies to provide satellite denial capability for the U.S. Space Force. (5/19)

Rocket Lab-Launched Satellites to Help Ukraine in War Against Russia (Source: RNZ)
A group of satellites that Rocket Lab has helped put into space is poised to aid Ukraine's military in the war with Russia. Rocket Lab USA launched its third mission for Japanese company iQPS at the weekend from its spaceport on Māhia Peninsula. It has been widely reported Japan has agreed to provide Ukraine's military intelligence agency for the first time with advanced synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery from satellites run by iQPS (Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space). (5/20)

Yank Technologies Selected for Prestigious NASA Phase II Contract for Dust-Tolerant Resonant Connectors (Source: Yank)
Yank Technologies, the developer of disruptive long range, high power wireless charging solutions, has been selected for a two-year follow-on Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II contract from NASA to advance Dust-Tolerant Resonant Connectors for lunar and planetary surfaces. Dust-Tolerant Resonant Connectors are extremely efficient interlocking coils for robust power transmission on the Moon and Mars. (5/19)

CNES Awards Contract to French Spaceplane Startup (Source: European Spaceflight)
French spaceplane startup AndroMach announced on 15 May that it had received a CNES contract to begin testing an early prototype of its Banger v1 rocket engine. Founded in 2023, AndroMach is developing a pair of spaceplanes that will be used to perform suborbital and orbital missions to space. The suborbital ENVOL spaceplane will utilize turbojet engines for takeoff and landing, and a pressure-fed LOX/biopropane rocket engine to reach space. (5/19)

Second CubeSat Joins ESA’s Ramses Mission to Asteroid Apophis (Source: ESA)
The European Space Agency (ESA) has selected Spanish company Emxys to lead the development of a CubeSat that will be deployed by its Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety (Ramses) at the asteroid Apophis. The project has been awarded 1.5 million euros of the funding allocated to Ramses mission preparations in July 2024. (5/20)

13 More Rockets Will Be Launched This Year, Says ISRO Chief (Source: Bharat)
"we are going to launch 13 more rockets continuously. ISRO is doing all kinds of work so that people can live happily and safely. ISRO is fulfilling the needs of the space sector in every way for the security of India," ISRO Chairman V Narayanan said. (5/20)

Studying the Effects of Rocket Launch Sonic Booms on Neighboring Communities (Source: Eurekalert)
“Although Ventura County is 60-100 miles from the Vandenberg Space Force Base, sonic booms and other noise from rockets launched over the ocean are sometimes heard on land,” said Brigham Young University physics professor Kent Gee. “As the number of launches with satellite orbits requiring trajectories along the California coastline increases, these booms are being heard more frequently.”

“The magnitude of these sonic booms is not uniform across the county and can vary greatly with weather conditions, launch time, vehicle trajectory, and time of year,” Kellison said. “Communities near Edwards Air Force Base, a hub for supersonic aircraft testing, are familiar with occasional sonic booms; however, an aircraft sonic boom differs significantly from a rocket ascent sonic boom.”

Rocket ascent sonic booms are much lower in frequency and can, indoors, sound — and feel — like an earthquake. The boom’s dominant energy is at a frequency of less than 1 hertz, below the range of human hearing, meaning that the booms rattle homes rather than bursting eardrums. By collecting data on multiple qualities of the Falcon 9 sonic booms, researchers can help discern how different launch-day variables affect a boom’s impact. (5/20)

Moon Mining Machine: Interlune Unveils Helium-3 Harvester Prototype (Source: Space.com)
We just got our first look at a prototype for a novel moon-mining machine. "When you're operating equipment on the moon, reliability and performance standards are at a new level," said Interlune's Rob Meyerson. The machine is designed to churn up 110 tons of lunar dirt, or regolith, per hour to harvest helium-3, a potential fuel source for future fusion reactors. Helium-3 is rare on Earth but is thought to be plentiful on the moon. (5/19)

Guetlein to Lead Golden Dome Development (Source: Space News)
President Trump has named a Space Force general to lead the Golden Dome missile defense program. Trump announced Tuesday that Gen. Michael Guetlein, vice chief of space operations, would oversee Golden Dome, citing experience that includes past roles as head of Space Systems Command and deputy director of the NRO. Trump also said that Golden Dome would be completed before the end of his term and cost $175 billion, far less than recent estimates that it would cost around $500 billion or even in the trillions of dollars. (5/21)

Budget Cuts Force NASA to Consider Reduced ISS Crew Size (Source: Space News)
NASA says long-running budget shortfalls have led it to consider reducing the crew on the International Space Station. At a briefing Tuesday, NASA's ISS program manager said that "a cumulative multi-year budget reduction" for ISS operations has shrunk the number of cargo flights and amount of cargo being delivered to the station. As a result, NASA has been considering options that would reduce the crew size on the U.S. segment of the station from four astronauts to three. That analysis predates the fiscal year 2026 budget proposal released earlier this month that mentioned crew and research reductions on the ISS triggered by a proposed $500 million budget cut. NASA is still awaiting the full 2026 budget request to examine its impacts on ISS operations. (5/21)

MDA Raises Bid to Acquire SatixFy (Source: Space News)
MDA Space has raised its bid for Israeli satellite chipmaker SatixFy in response to a competing proposal. MDA announced in April that it would buy SatixFy for $2.10 per share and pay off its debt, but during a "go-shop" period as part of the agreement, SatixFy received a bid from an undisclosed entity offering $2.53 per share. MDA said Tuesday that while it disputed the validity of that acquisition proposal, it nonetheless raised its own offer to $3 per share. The amended deal, backed by investors representing 57% of SatixFy's shares, prevents the company from considering further acquisition proposals. (5/21)

Starfish Space Ready for Next In-Space Docking (Source: Space News)
Starfish Space is ready to launch its second mission to attempt a docking in space. The startup said Tuesday its Otter Pup 2 spacecraft is ready to launch next month on the SpaceX Transporter-14 mission. Otter Pup 2 will approach a D-Orbit ION orbital transfer vehicle also on the same launch, docking with the vehicle. Starfish says the mission will demonstrate its ability to safely approach another spacecraft and dock with an unprepared vehicle, without the use of a specific docking interface. Starfish attempted to test those technologies on its original Otter Pup mission two years ago, but problems with the orbital transfer vehicle carrying it prevented a docking attempt. (5/21)

NGA Seeks Faster AI Adoption (Source: Space News)
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is calling for faster adoption of AI technologies in geospatial intelligence. NGA Deputy Director Brett Markham said at the GEOINT Symposium this week that the agency is making strides with AI but emphasized that full-scale adoption is still a work in progress. NGA has been working on incorporating AI since 2017 through a program called Maven that incorporated computer vision into defense intelligence workflows. He said NGA seeks to accelerate the integration of AI across analytical and operational processes, and wants AI not just in object recognition, but embedded throughout its data collection and orchestration systems. (5/21)

China Launches Comsat on Long March 7A (Source: Space News)
China launched a communications satellite Tuesday. A Long March 7A rocket lifted off from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Hainan Island at 7:50 a.m. Eastern and placed into orbit the ChinaSat-3B communications satellite. ChinaSat-3B will provide a variety of communications services, but Chinese officials provided few details about those services. Some ChinaSat satellites likely have military or intelligence applications, such as secure communications for the People's Liberation Army. (5/21)

China's Kinetica-1 Rocket Returns to Flight (Source: Xinhua)
A commercial Chinese rocket returned to flight early Wednesday. A Kinetica-1 solid-fuel rocket launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center carrying six satellites, including two imaging satellites for Minospace. The launch was the first for Kinetica-1, also known as Lijian-1, since a failure in December. (5/21)

SpaceX Launches Starlink Mission From Florida on Tuesday (Source: Space.com)
SpaceX launched a set of Starlink satellites Tuesday night after a one-day delay. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, placing 23 Starlink satellites into orbit. The launch was scheduled for Monday night but scrubbed about two and a half minutes before liftoff because of an unspecified issue. The launch was the first for this Falcon 9 booster. (5/21)

Kuva Readies Next Hyperspectral Satellite for Launch (Source: Space News)
Hyperspectral imagery startup Kuva Space is preparing to launch its second satellite. The Finnish company said its Hyperfield-1B spacecraft, a 6U cubesat, is manifested on the Transporter-14 rideshare mission launching next month. Kuva Space, which launched its first satellite last year, has long-term plans for a 100-satellite constellation for "almost real-time" hyperspectral imagery. The company is moving into the maritime domain awareness market, using its imagery to help identify "dark vessels" that do not have tracking transponders. (5/21)

Wyvern Expands Open Data Program for Hyperspectral Imagery (Source: Space News)
Another hyperspectral imagery company is adding to its free collection of such images. Canada's Wyvern has added 25 images to its Open Data Program, an effort to help catalyze interest in hyperspectral imagery and its applications. Imagery of Iran's Shahid Rajaei Port after an April explosion shows, for example, how hyperspectral sensors can identify and map chemical residue, detect contaminated soil and water, assess damage to infrastructure and determine fire intensity. Wyvern has four instruments in orbit including Dragonette-004 onboard Loft Orbital's YAM-8 mission launched in March. (5/21)

Argentina to Fly Cubesat on Artemis 2 Mission (Source: NASA)
Argentina will fly a cubesat on the Artemis 2 mission. NASA said Tuesday it signed an agreement with Argentina's space agency, CONAE, to fly its ATENEA cubesat as a secondary payload on the Artemis 2 launch next year. ATENEA will collect radiation data in Earth orbit and test a long-range communications link. NASA previously announced agreements with Germany, Saudi Arabia and South Korea to fly cubesats from those countries on Artemis 2. (5/21)