June 30, 2025

Bill Nelson: In the Quest to Shrink NASA, Trump Forgets National Security (Source: New York Times)
A December 2023 incursion by drones over the Eastern US lasted 17 days. To my knowledge, we still do not know their origin or purpose, or how much of a threat they posed. But it was thanks to NASA technology that they were even picked up in the first place. The Air Force base did not have that capability. If a drone incursion could do something like this at Langley, what would stop a determined adversary from launching a flock of spacecraft-downing drones at Florida, California, and Virginia spaceports?

These aren’t just sites for launching rockets into space and delivering NASA payloads into orbit — they’re strategic targets vital to the defense of our homeland. The Trump administration’s proposal to cut NASA to the bone — including a nearly 50 percent reduction in science funding — jeopardizes the country’s pursuit of discovery and undermines capabilities that are essential in an era when rivals are advancing in terrestrial and extraterrestrial arenas. Far from a bold vision for American leadership, the administration has presented Congress with a blueprint for falling catastrophically behind.

The next giant leap is not about planting flags and leaving footprints; it’s about who will define the future and write the rules. The choice before us is stark: cut support to NASA and shrink from the unknown, or step boldly toward it and champion the agency to take us there. (6/29)

Earth-Sized Planets Commonly Found Around Smallest Stars (Source: Space Daily)
Astronomers at Heidelberg University's Konigstuhl Observatory have found that Earth-sized planets are particularly prevalent around low-mass stars, according to new findings from the CARMENES project. The study led to the discovery of four new exoplanets and offers compelling evidence that stars with less than one-sixth the mass of our Sun frequently host terrestrial worlds.

The observations were conducted using the CARMENES spectrograph at the Calar Alto Observatory in Spain. Developed at the Konigstuhl Observatory, the instrument targets M-dwarfs-stars with between one-tenth and one-half the Sun's mass. These small stars dominate the galaxy in number and exhibit minute wobbles due to the gravitational pull of orbiting planets, which CARMENES detects via radial velocity measurements. (6/30)

Defense Department to End Satellite Data Programs Used for Storm Forecasts (Source: Space Daily)
With the of peak hurricane season looming, forecasters will be without key information starting Monday because the Defense Department said it will no longer provide them with data from the weather satellites. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration published a notice Wednesday about the change. (6/28)

EchoStar Bankruptcy Threat Softens (Source: Space News)
EchoStar has pulled back from its threat to file for bankruptcy as talks with the FCC continue. The company said last week it would make overdue interest payments on its debt within a 30-day grace period after withholding those funds earlier this month amid uncertainty over its standing with the FCC. The commission is reviewing EchoStar’s compliance with both the buildout of a terrestrial network as well as use of 2-gigahertz satellite spectrum. EchoStar said in a regulatory filing that President Trump had recently encouraged the parties involved to reach an amicable resolution. EchoStar cautioned, though, that it would not make its next interest payment on July 1, triggering another 30-day grace period. (6/30)

Xona Raises $92 Million for NavSat System (Source: Xona)
Xona Space Systems raised $92 million for development of a navigation satellite system. The company said last week it raised the Series B round from investors led by Craft Ventures. The total amount included $20 million from a Strategic Funding Increase award from SpaceWERX. Xona is developing a low Earth orbit constellation of satellites to provide navigation services that are more robust than those from medium Earth orbit systems like GPS. The company launched its first “production-class” satellite, Pulsar-0, last week on the SpaceX Transporter-14 rideshare mission. The funding will allow Xona to scale up its constellation to hundreds of satellites in the next few years. (6/30)

DoD Weather Data Loss Worries Meteorologists (Source: Scientific American)
Meteorologists are worried about the loss of data from military weather satellites. The Defense Department is cutting off access to microwave sounding data from its DMSP weather satellites, effective Monday. The Defense Department did not disclose a reason for ending access to the data, which will remain available for military weather forecasters, but some reports cited unspecified security concerns. Forecasters say the loss of the DMSP microwave data will hinder their ability to monitor tropical weather systems just as the Atlantic hurricane season is starting. (6/30)