June 18, 2025

Europe's Leonardo, Airbus, and Thales Alenia Continue Discussions on Consolidation (Source: Space News)
Three European companies who are studying a combination of their space businesses expect to decide in July whether to proceed. At a press conference Tuesday during the Paris Air Show, Roberto Cingolani, CEO of Leonardo, said discussions his company is having with Airbus Defence and Space and Thales Alenia Space about combining their space businesses are approaching a "go/no-go" decision he expected by the end of July.

That decision will incorporate antitrust concerns, due diligence regarding the companies’ finances and “value creation” such a move would offer. The venture, the companies have argued, would create a "European champion" in satellites and related technologies better able to compete with American firms. Cingolani said that such a company would likely be modeled on MBDA, a European missile manufacturer created by merging business units at three companies. (6/18)

Satellite Companies Urge Rejection of Budget Cuts (Source: Space News)
The heads of leading U.S. satellite imaging firms are urging Congress to reject proposed budget cuts to commercial remote sensing programs. In a letter sent Monday to key lawmakers on several committees, the heads of Maxar Technologies, Planet, BlackSky, Iceye US, Capella Space and ground systems provider KSAT said proposed cuts to National Reconnaissance Office commercial imagery programs could undermine national security and reverse years of progress in integrating private-sector innovation into intelligence and defense operations.

The Trump administration is considering a 30% cut, about $130 million, to the Electro-Optical Commercial Layer program in its 2026 budget proposal, and would also eliminate funding entirely for purchasing radar imagery. The NRO, which builds and operates the nation’s spy satellites, has increasingly turned to commercial providers in recent years as private companies have launched hundreds of small imaging satellites that can provide high-frequency coverage. (6/18)

Europe's Venturi Space Plans Robotic Lunar Rover (Source: Space News)
A European company has designed a lunar rover that it hopes to offer to ESA and others. Venturi Space unveiled at the Paris Air Show this week Mona Luna, a robotic lunar rover weighing 750 kilograms and capable of driving as fast as 20 kilometers per hour. The rover uses all-European technologies, including wheels and batteries Venturi is providing to Astrolab, an American company developing lunar rovers for NASA and others. Venturi hopes to win support from ESA at the upcoming ministerial conference to develop the rover, which could be sent to the moon on Europe's Argonaut lunar lander. (6/18)

Axiom Mission to ISS Slips to NET Sunday (Source: Axiom)
The launch of a private astronaut mission to the International Space Station has slipped again. NASA and Axiom Space said Tuesday night they were now targeting a launch of the Ax-4 mission no earlier than Sunday, three days later than previously planned. NASA said the delay would give the agency more time to evaluate a "new pressure signature" in a Russian module last week that caused a previous postponement. NASA did not provide any other updates on the status of that review. (6/18)

Starlink Mission Launched Wednesday at Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Florida Today)
SpaceX launched more Starlink satellites early Wednesday. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 1:55 a.m. Eastern, placing 28 Starlink satellites into orbit. The booster for this launch completed its fifth flight with a droneship landing. (6/18)

FCC Regains Quorum (Source: Fierce Network)
The FCC has regained a quorum with the confirmation of a new commissioner. The Senate voted 53-45, mostly on party lines, to confirm Olivia Trusty as an FCC commissioner on Tuesday. Her confirmation restores a quorum of three members on the five-person commission after two commissioners resigned earlier this month; Trusty, a Republican, gives the GOP a 2-1 advantage on the commission. The Satellite Industry Association said that it welcomed Trusty's confirmation, citing her "wealth of policy expertise" in space and related topics. (6/18)

Vast Rolls Out Virtual Reality of Haven-1 Station (Source: Vast)
Vast is rolling out a virtual reality version of its Haven-1 space station. The VR application, available for devices like Apple Vision Pro and Meta headsets, allows the user to virtually explore the Haven-1 station and conduct simulated experiments. Drew Feustel, a former NASA astronaut who is now the lead astronaut at Vast, helped develop the app and serves as its narrator. (6/18)

Astronomers Create a Dazzling, Elaborate Map of Nearby Galaxy in Thousands of Colors (Source: AP)
Astronomers have revealed a nearby spiral galaxy in all its brilliant glory, shining in thousands of colors. The dazzling panoramic shot of the Sculptor galaxy by a telescope in Chile is so detailed that it’s already serving as a star-packed map. Scientists used the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope to observe the galaxy for some 50 hours, stitching together more than 100 exposures to create the picture. The image spans 65,000 light-years, almost the entire galaxy. A light-year is 5.8 trillion miles. (6/18)

Tiny ‘Primordial’ Black Holes Created in the Big Bang May Have Rapidly Grown to Supermassive Sizes (Source: Space.com)
Primordial black holes that formed during the earliest moments of the universe could have swollen quickly to supermassive sizes, complex cosmological simulations have revealed. The discovery could lead to a solution for one of the biggest problems in modern cosmology: how supermassive black holes could have grown to be millions or billions of times more massive than the sun before the universe was 1 billion years old. (6/17)

NASA Issues New Odds of 'City Killer' Asteroid Striking the Moon Following Fresh James Webb Telescope Observations (Source: GB News)
NASA has revised its calculations for a "city killer" asteroid to collide with the Moon. The updated assessment around 2024 YR4 follows fresh observations by the James Webb Space Telescope. The space agency's latest projections indicate the potentially hazardous asteroid could strike the Moon on December 22, 2032. Now, updated calculations has increased the probability of a lunar impact from 3.8 per cent to 4.3 per cent. (6/17)

Mysterious Deep-Space Radio Signals Reveal Location of the Universe's 'Missing Matter' (Source: Live Science)
Roughly half of all the regular matter in the universe has been unaccounted for — until now. In a new study, researchers claim that, using short, extragalactic flashes called fast radio bursts (FRBs), they have accounted for all the baryonic matter — the "normal" matter that makes up stars, planets, and other objects that interact with light — that we expect to find in the universe. Much of the "missing" matter is spread thinly through the space between galaxies, according to the study.

Baryonic matter, which is composed of particles like protons and neutrons, makes up just 5% of the universe. Another 27% is invisible dark matter, and the rest is mysterious dark energy that drives the universe's accelerating expansion. But scientists have been able to observe only about half as much baryonic matter as they expect to have been produced during the Big Bang. (6/17)

Vera Rubin Telescope, with World's Largest Camera, About to Change Astronomy (Source: ZME Science)
On a remote Chilean mountaintop, inside a domed observatory named after astronomer Vera Rubin, a camera unlike any the world has ever seen is about to open its eye to the universe. It’s not just large — it’s historic. Starting June 23, the first images from this 3,200-megapixel optical juggernaut will be revealed to the public. Each image, capable of capturing a golf ball from 15 miles away, signals the dawn of a new era. “This will mark the beginning of a new era in astronomy and astrophysics,” the Rubin team announced ahead of the unveiling. (7/17)

Blue Origin Sets June 21 For 13th Crewed New Shepard Launch (Source: Aviation Week)
Blue Origin has set June 21 for the launch of its 13th suborbital New Shepard private astronaut mission from West Texas with a six-person crew. Launch from Launch Site One near Van Horn, Texas, is planned for a window that opens at 9:30 a.m. EDT, a June 17 company announcement said. (6/17)

How Starbase, Elon Musk’s New Company Town, Is Upending Texas’ Rio Grande Valley (Source: WIRED)
Every couple of months, rocket launches shake houses within a 15-mile radius with the force of a moderately powerful earthquake, and some have burned acres of wilderness, blown out windows, and showered the region in a drizzle of melted cement. SpaceX dumps hundreds of thousands of gallons of water used in launches into the neighboring south bay, and has destroyed nests of vulnerable shorebirds. Boca Chica, a popular local spot known as the “poor people’s beach,” can now only be accessed via a highway controlled by SpaceX, and has begun frequently closing to the public to accommodate SpaceX launches.

These changes have angered locals from Brownsville and the beach towns of Port Isabel and South Padre Island across the bay from the launch site, and brought opposition like this protest today. “These guys want to go to Mars. Let them go to Mars,” Rene Medrano, who owns a ranch along the highway from Brownsville to Starbase, tells the crowd. “The people here want to enjoy the beach. Let us enjoy the beach. This should be open forever.”

The rockets have polarized the region and forced Cameron County residents to pick sides. It’s one of the economic development debates that occur in so many local governments, only this one has been turbocharged by literal rockets shot off by the world’s richest man, who doesn’t seem concerned about making mistakes or enemies. (6/17)

Surge in Satellite Launches and Space Tourism Thins Ozone Layer (Source: Sydney Morning Herald)
A tenfold surge in rockets to launch satellites – and at least one joyride bearing Katy Perry and friends – could damage the most successful international environmental treaty in history, the global agreement to repair damage to the ozone layer. Historically, space flight has had little impact on the Earth’s weather and climate systems. But the recent surge in rocket launches – and the huge increase expected in the coming years – is now causing some scientists concern.

Chlorine and soot released into the upper atmosphere from the rockets can damage the ozone layer enough to stall the slow repair of the ozone layer, the strata of ozone-rich atmosphere 15 to 30 kilometers above the Earth’s surface that serves as a shield against harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun. (6/18)

NASA Proposes New $45 Million Building for Marshall Space Flight Center (Source: AL.com)
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center is pursuing a $45 million centerpiece building for its Redstone Arsenal campus. In a recent Request for Qualifications posted on the federal online contracting portal, the center outlines a vision for a 67,000-square-foot “Marshall Exploration Facility,” which will house 150 full-time staff and “a large population” of temporary visitors.

Marshall Space Flight Center desires, “an environment similar to an academic campus with associated landscaping and pedestrian connections” between the three primary administration and service buildings on the center’s existing North Campus at Redstone. (6/17)

Impact of Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ on NASA and American Space Leadership (Source: Hartford Courant)
If we recklessly bypass the moon and leap straight to Mars without proper preparation, we not only risk mission failure—we risk the lives of the astronauts we entrust with that journey. Should such a tragedy occur, the consequences would be devastating. After the Challenger disaster in 1986, when a space shuttle exploded just 73 seconds after liftoff, killing all seven crew members, public support for NASA plummeted. Confidence in space exploration was shaken.

Missions were halted, programs reevaluated, and momentum lost. If another catastrophe were to occur—especially one brought on by ignoring the essential stepping stone of the moon—the backlash could be far more severe. Funding would dry up. Recruitment and innovation would stall. The symbolic and psychological cost could derail this new golden age of exploration.

In conclusion, the decision to cut NASA’s budget is more than just a bad economic choice- it is a failure to understand where the future of global power and human progress is heading. Space is not optional; it is essential. We must lead not only because we can, but because we must—for security, innovation, prosperity, and global leadership. America once defined the path to the stars. It’s time we return to that path, before it’s too late. (6/17)

Albuquerque Economic Development Agency, Spaceport America Partner to Boost Aerospace Sector (Source: Albuquerque Journal)
A new public-private partnership hopes to propel New Mexico’s space industry to bigger and brighter heights. The Albuquerque Regional Economic Alliance, or AREA, and Spaceport America on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding. The groups announced their new collaboration on Monday. (6/17)