June 4, 2025

Space Force Picks Jacobs for $4 Billion Launch Range Services Contract (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Space Force awarded Jacobs Technology a contract worth up to $4 billion over 10 years to provide engineering and technical services at the nation’s primary space launch ranges, as the military seeks to modernize aging infrastructure and boost capacity amid a surge in commercial space activity. The so-called “Space Force Range Contract” covers maintenance, sustainment, systems engineering and integration services for the Eastern and Western ranges until 2035.

The contract represents a significant shift in how space launch infrastructure is funded. Under the new arrangement, commercial launch service providers, which now account for the majority of launches at both ranges, can request services or upgrades and pay for them directly, rather than having the government bear the costs upfront. This arrangement would create a more market-driven approach to range operations and potentially accelerate modernization. (6/3)

What if the Big Bang Wasn’t the Beginning? Our Research Suggests it May Have Taken Place Inside a Black Hole (Source: The Conversation)
The Big Bang is often described as the explosive birth of the universe – a singular moment when space, time and matter sprang into existence. But what if this was not the beginning at all? What if our universe emerged from something else – something more familiar and radical at the same time?

In a new paper, published in Physical Review D, my colleagues and I propose a striking alternative. Our calculations suggest the Big Bang was not the start of everything, but rather the outcome of a gravitational crunch or collapse that formed a very massive black hole – followed by a bounce inside it. This idea, which we call the black hole universe, offers a radically different view of cosmic origins, yet it is grounded entirely in known physics and observations. (6/3)

Trump’s Budget Puts Huntsville-Made Rocket on the Chopping Block (Source: AL.com)
NASA is being directed to phase out multibillion-dollar programs, managed from its flagship center in Huntsville, that are designed to ferry people to and from the moon. Eliminating SLS and Orion will, “[pave] the way for more cost-effective, next-generation commercial systems that will support subsequent NASA lunar missions,” according to budget documents. (6/2)

SpaceX's Next Private Astronaut Launch to ISS, Ax-4, Pushed Back to June 10 (Source: Space.com)
The next astronaut launch to the International Space Station (ISS) has been delayed again. That liftoff — which will kick off Ax-4, the fourth crewed mission by Houston company Axiom Space — had been scheduled for this coming Sunday (June 8). But that's no longer the plan. Axiom Space announced via X today (June 3) that the new target is next Tuesday (June 10). The four-astronaut mission will launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida that day at 8:22 a.m. EDT. (6/3)

Italian Group Plans Mauritius Space-Themed Smart City (Source: SpaceLand)
Italy's SpaceLand aims to systematically democratize space, creating hundreds of new jobs and sustainable development, in particular through a novel eco-friendly space-themed tropical smart city. Carlo Viberti will present investor opportunities at the 3rd Space Renaissance Congress in Catanzaro on June 14 and at a SpaceLand workshop in Dubai within the 3rd WSAASS Conference on October 20–22. Click here. (6/4)

Impulse Space Raises $300 Million for Mira and Helios Transfer Vehicles (Source: Space News)
In-space transportation company Impulse Space raised $300 million to expand production of its vehicles and work on new technologies. Impulse Space called the round a "preemptive raise" triggered by investor interest in the company. The funds will allow the company to hire more employees and expand its ability to produce its Mira and Helios transfer vehicles. The company also plans to work on electric propulsion systems to complement the chemical propulsion systems used on its current vehicles. (6/4)

Voyager IPO Seeks to Raise $367 Million (Source: Space News)
Voyager Technologies is looking to raise up to $367 million in its upcoming initial public offering (IPO). The company officially started the IPO process Monday, seeking to sell up to 12.65 million shares at prices of $26 to $29 per share, which would generate up to $367 million in gross proceeds. The IPO would value Voyager at $1.6 billion. Voyager said it plans to use the proceeds to invest in research and development, acquisitions and other growth initiatives, including development of the Starlab space station. (6/4)

Maxar to Integrate Satellite Data With Saab for Battlefield Intel (Source: Space News)
Maxar Intelligence announced an agreement with Swedish aerospace firm Saab to develop battlefield intelligence products that use satellite data. Under the agreement, Saab will leverage Maxar's geospatial intelligence products, including imagery and 3D data, for defense applications. The agreement also gives Saab access to Maxar's Raptor, a visual-based navigation technology that serves as a proxy for GPS. Maxar said the deal is another example of the company's push in the international market as customers seek sovereign space-based capabilities for national defense. (6/4)

Astroscale Competes for ELSA-M Mission Review for Removing a OneWeb Satellite From LEO (Source: Space News)
Astroscale has completed a key review for a servicing spacecraft. Astroscale U.K., the British subsidiary of the Japanese company, said Wednesday it completed the critical design review for the ELSA-M mission, scheduled to launch next year. ELSA-M is designed to remove a OneWeb satellite from low Earth orbit and could then be used to deorbit other spacecraft. Astroscale said the review was validated by OneWeb's owner, Eutelsat, as well as the European Space Agency. (6/4)

Japan's ispace Resilience Lunar Lander Ready for Landing (Source: Space News)
The second mission by Japanese lunar lander developer ispace is ready to attempt a landing tomorrow. The company announced late Tuesday a new landing time of 3:17 p.m. Eastern Thursday for the Resilience lander, seven minutes earlier than previously announced. The change came after engineers reviewed the current orbit of the spacecraft. Resilience carries payloads from Japanese companies and a Taiwanese university, along with the Tenacious rover built by ispace's European subsidiary. Tenacious will collect lunar regolith to sell to NASA under a $5,000 contract as part of NASA's efforts to establish rights to use lunar resources, as well as deploy The Moonhouse, a small model of a house made by a Swedish artist. (6/4)

Joint NASA-DARPA Nuclear Propulsion Effort Canceled (Source: Ars Technica)
A joint NASA-DARPA nuclear propulsion project is dead. NASA, in a statement tucked away in its detailed fiscal year 2026 budget proposal released last Friday, said that DARPA was ending its participation in the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Orbit (DRACO) project and transferring its documentation of it to NASA. DRACO had planned to launch a nuclear reactor into Earth orbit and test its ability to generate thrust by heating liquid hydrogen propellant.

NASA does not plan to continue DRACO on its own, and the budget seeks to end work on nuclear propulsion in general, concluding "there are other nearer-term propulsion alternatives for Mars transit." Many experts have argued that nuclear propulsion is essential for human Mars missions as a way to greatly reduce travel times. (6/4)

Russia to Test AI on ISS (Source: Reuters)
The Russian space agency Roscosmos will test an artificial intelligence model on the ISS. Roscosmos said that Gigachat, a large language model developed by Russian bank Sberbank, will be sent to the ISS in the fall along with the computing equipment it needs to operate. Roscosmos envisions Gigachat helping with tasks like processing satellite imagery. (6/4)

Espenak Passes at 71 (Source: Space.com)
An astronomer whose passion for solar eclipses gave him the nickname of "Mr. Eclipse" has died. Fred Espenak passed away June 1 at the age of 71 from a lung disease. He first witnessed a total solar eclipse as a teenager in 1970, borrowing the family car to drive from New York to North Carolina. He worked professionally as an astronomer at NASA studying planetary atmospheres, but gained fame for work he did calculating and publicizing upcoming eclipses and how to observe them, efforts that continued after he retired from NASA in 2009. He observed 31 total solar eclipses. (6/4)

Korea Approves Eutelsat OneWeb LEO Satellite Rollout in Landmark Regulatory Move (Source: Capacity)
South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) has granted regulatory approval for the commercial deployment of Eutelsat OneWeb’s Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite services, marking a first-of-its-kind licensing decision in the country. The move enables cross-border satellite broadband provision, allowing Eutelsat to deliver high-speed, low-latency satellite connectivity across a range of sectors, including maritime, enterprise, and government. (6/3)

Concerns Raised About the Effect of Starlink on Square Kilometer Array Telescope (Source: Stuff)
It’s hardly a new concern. Starlink’s orbiting units have caused trouble for radio astronomers for some time, overpowering the faint stellar (and interstellar?) signals being probed by equipment on the ground. It has landed close to home on this occasion. Remedies are being sought for Starlink’s presence, which is also being treated as a foregone conclusion. The SKA Observatory and the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) are hoping to have license requirements put in place that will preserve the program. (6/3)

NASA’s Houston Operations Dodge Deepest Cuts as Focus Shifts to Mars (Source: Houston Chronicle)
Looming cuts at the Johnson Space Center may not be as deep as other centers under the detailed 2026 NASA budget, but they will be felt if the emphasis in Houston shifts from well-established programs to a new, riskier bet. NASA released its fiscal 2026 budget on Friday afternoon, explaining how it would implement President Donald Trump’s budget request. 

Houston would lose 21% of its civil servant workforce, a smaller percentage drop than other NASA centers, while major programs would be gutted or canceled. Some of the cuts could be offset by co-leading a new $350 million Mars Technology Program. “Bright spots are a very low bar in this budget,” said Casey Dreier. “If you're Houston, you're in a better position than most other NASA centers.”

Trump’s budget request would reduce NASA spending to $18.8 billion from $24.8 billion, a 24% decline. More than 5,500 full-time equivalent government jobs would be cut, including nearly 700 at the Johnson Space Center, and a $3.4 billion drop in science spending would force NASA to cancel 41 projects – a third of its science portfolio, including 19 active science missions already in space. (6/3)

Baikonur Cosmodrome Celebrates its 70th Anniversary (Source: Belta)
Yesterday marked the 70th anniversary of the founding of Baikonur, the world's first and largest spaceport, which played a key role in the development of manned spaceflight and became a symbol of international cooperation in space exploration. It was on 2 June 1955 that the organizational and staffing structure of the research and testing site was approved. Just two years later, the first R-7 rocket was launched from Baikonur, followed by the launch of the world’s first artificial satellite on October 4, 1957. On 12 April 1961, Yuri Gagarin made his historic journey into space from this very site. (6/3)

Isaacman a Victim of 'America First' (Source: Washington Examiner)
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the nomination of billionaire commercial astronaut Jared Isaacman as his next NASA administrator. White House officials had previously raised concerns about Isaacman’s past donations to Democrats as justification for the president’s personnel move, but various industry insiders and Republican aides say those donations should have come to light earlier in the vetting process, especially after the Washington Examiner reported on them in January.

Asked to explain Tuesday why the White House had only been made privy to that information last week, as opposed to prior to Isaacman’s announcement in December, Leavitt demurred. “The president reserves the right to nominate individuals to key administration posts. He also reserves the right to remove those individuals if he chooses, just like he reserves the right to fire anybody in the executive branch that he wants,” she told reporters. “The president wants to ensure that all of his nominees are aligned fully with the America First mission of this administration.” (6/3)

Musk Says SpaceX Revenue Will Near $16 Billion in 2025 (Source: Wall Street Journal)
SpaceX is on track to record another significant revenue increase this year, Elon Musk said, continuing a growth streak at the world's busiest rocket launcher. Musk, SpaceX's chief executive, said Tuesday on X that the Texas-based company is expected to generate about $15.5 billion in revenue in 2025. (6/3)

Chinese, German Scientists Discover Super-Earth Planet in Sun-Like Star's Habitable Zone (Source: Xinhua)
For centuries, the question of whether life exists beyond Earth has intrigued humanity, and now a joint discovery by Chinese and German scientists may offer a significant clue. Based on the Transit Timing Variation (TTV) technique for the first time, the super-Earth, Kepler-725c, with 10 times the mass of the Earth, has been detected within the habitable zone of the Sun-like star Kepler-725, which is a promising candidate for potential habitability. (6/3)

Johns Hopkins Study Shows How Scientists Can Use Black Holes as Supercolliders (Source: JHU)
As federal funding cuts impact decades of research, scientists could turn to black holes for cheaper, natural alternatives to expensive facilities searching for dark matter and similarly elusive particles that hold clues to the universe’s deepest secrets, a new Johns Hopkins study of supermassive black holes suggests.

The findings could help complement multi-billion-dollar expenses and decades of construction needed for research complexes like Europe’s Large Hadron Collider, the largest and highest-energy particle accelerator in the world. (6/3)

Scientist Unveils the First Hypersonic Engine Capable of Taking Off at Mach 6 From a Runway (Source: Farmingdale Observer)
On May 27, 2025, Venus Aerospace completed the historic first flight test of their Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine (RDRE) at Spaceport America in New Mexico. This breakthrough propulsion system leverages rotating detonation combustion—an extremely rapid and efficient chemical reaction that significantly boosts thrust while reducing system complexity and size.

What makes Venus Aerospace’s achievement particularly impressive is the engine’s ability to propel aircraft from standard runways to speeds exceeding Mach 6—approximately 7,350 km/h at cruising altitude. This technological leap combines the RDRE with Venus’s proprietary VDR2, an air-breathing detonation ramjet that enables sustained hypersonic cruising. (6/2)

SpaceX Seizes on 'Careless Errors' to Delay AST SpaceMobile's Giant Satellite (Source: PC Mag)
Could SpaceX derail a rival's next-generation satellite project because of paperwork issues? On Monday, the company urged the Federal Communications Commission to dismiss an application from AST SpaceMobile because of "careless errors" and "inconsistencies" in the documentation. "While AST extolls the titanic capabilities of its satellite in its application, it simultaneously seeks to hide the risks of its operations,” SpaceX says in a filing.

Texas-based AST has been trying to secure FCC experimental authorization to operate a prototype satellite called FM1, which is scheduled to launch in July. The huge satellite, which is designed to offer internet to mobile phones, spans 223 square meters, or about three times larger than the company’s first-generation BlueBird satellites. (6/3)

Nuclear Rocket Engine for Moon and Mars (Source: ESA)
The European Space Agency commissioned a study on European nuclear thermal propulsion that would allow for faster missions to the Moon and Mars than currently possible. The Alumni study was carried out by the French Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies Agency (CEA), ArianeGroup, and Framatome Space, together with ESA. The Alumni study concluded on the merits of nuclear propulsion in space and proposed a new nuclear thermal propulsion design and a development roadmap. (6/2)

Asteroid Larger Than Golden Gate Bridge Approaches Earth In Rare Event (Source: Forbes)
An asteroid that may be as big as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco will fly safely by Earth on Thursday, June 5, 2025. Bigger than 97% of asteroids, for such a large object to come close to Earth is a relatively rare event, but asteroid 424482 (2008 DG5) won’t pose any threat. It will come within 2.17 million miles (3.49 million kilometers) of Earth, about nine times farther than the moon. The moon is, on average, 238,855 miles/384,400 kilometers from Earth. (6/3)

The Top 10 U.S. States by Defense Spending (Source: Visual Capitalist)
Texas received $71.6 billion in U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) spending in 2023—an $8.9 billion jump from the previous year. Virginia follows next, at $68.5 billion, with the military industry contributing 19% to the state’s GDP covering more than 872,000 direct and indirect jobs. Ranking in third is California, bolstered by Silicon Valley’s decades-long relationship with the defense sector. Florida is ranked at #4 with $32.2 billion. Click here. (6/3)

ESA Supports Moon Mission Carrying First European Rover (Source: ESA)
Japanese lunar exploration company ispace will attempt to land its RESILIENCE spacecraft on the Moon no earlier than 5 June (CEST) 2025. The European Space Agency’s (ESA) global network of ground stations is facilitating communication between the spacecraft and ispace mission control. (6/3)

Aerospace Company to Add 300 Jobs at Greater Cincinnati Manufacturing Facility (Source: Cincinnati Business Courier)
A key supplier to GE Aerospace through CFM International has greatly expanded its Sharonville manufacturing facility with the aim of adding at least 300 new full-time jobs over the next several years, with support from JobsOhio, REDI Cincinnati and Sharonville City Council. (6/2)

Shelved Europa Lander Mission Concept Could be Used to Explore Enceladus Instead (Source: Phys.org)
A team of engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has outlined the decade-long development and testing of what was originally known as the Europa Lander prototype—a partially autonomous robot designed to find out if Jupiter's moon Europa harbors life beneath its icy surface.

This would present some very steep challenges. They are much farther away than other places landers have been sent, which means it would take much longer to get there, as would communication signals. Also, they both are more highly exposed to radiation than Mars, though Europa is much more so than Enceladus—and both are extremely cold. (6/2)