June 25, 2025

Axiom Mission Launches to ISS From Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Space News)
A private astronaut mission is finally on its way to the International Space Station after weeks of delays. A Falcon 9 lifted off at from the Kennedy Space Center and put a Crew Dragon into orbit. That spacecraft, flying the Ax-4 mission for Axiom Space, is carrying astronauts from Hungary, India and Poland, and is commanded by former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson. It will dock with the station tomorrow morning for a two-week stay. The mission was postponed from early this month initially because of a problem with the Falcon 9 but later by an investigation into an air leak on the ISS. Whitson announced that the Crew Dragon flying this mission, making its first flight, will be named "Grace." (6/25)

Lynk Sued by SPAC Partner (Source: Space News)
Lynk Global is being sued by the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) it planned to merge with. Slam Corp., the SPAC founded by former baseball player Alex Rodriguez, is suing Lynk to keep that direct-to-phone satellite operator from walking away from a planned merger. The suit alleges that Lynk breached the agreement and failed to meet its obligation to operate in good faith, although Lynk says the claims are baseless. The companies announced in February 2024 plans to merge, allowing Lynk to go public, but Slam has lost nearly all of the $575 million it raised because of shareholder redemptions. Lynk is seeking funds to grow its satellite constellation and improve capabilities after deploying five satellites in low Earth orbit. (6/25)

Maxar's Sentry Offers Surveillance Service (Source: Space News)
Maxar Intelligence launched a new monitoring product that is part of a broader effort to move beyond satellite imagery. The new product, Sentry, would provide customers with continuous surveillance capabilities across multiple global locations simultaneously. With this new service, Maxar is seeking to compete in the higher-value intelligence market as satellite imagery becomes increasingly commoditized. The company says it can provide value through an archive of imagery going back more than two decades as well as accessing optical and radar imagery from other providers. The service will use artificial intelligence to analyze that imagery, identifying unusual patterns of activity that would be of interest to customers. (6/25)

Rocket Lab Shuffles Launches (Source: Rocket Lab)
Rocket Lab is reshuffling its lineup of upcoming launches. The company said Tuesday its next Electron launch, which had been for an undisclosed commercial customer, will instead be for HawkEye 360, deploying four of that company's satellites for radio-frequency monitoring. That launch is scheduled for Thursday. The "Symphony in the Stars" launch for the undisclosed customer, which was postponed over the weekend because of weather, will take place later this month. (6/25)

Chinese Astronauts Plan TSS Spacewalk (Source: Xinhua)
Astronauts on China's space station are preparing for another spacewalk. Chinese officials said Wednesday astronauts on the Tiangong space station will perform a spacewalk "within the next few days." Such announcements usually come a day or so before the spacewalk. The announcement did not disclose additional details. (6/25)

Space Force's RCO Readies "Full-Up" Satellite Missions (Source: Air & Space Forces)
The Space Rapid Capabilities Office (RCO) plans to fly its first "full-up satellites" in the next year. Kelly Hammett, director of that Space Force office, did not disclose details about the satellites or their mission at a Mitchell Institute event Tuesday, although Hammett has previously said the office is focused on space control, or the ability to protect space assets from attack and forces from space-enabled attack. Space RCO has shown an interest in highly maneuverable satellites and in-space refueling. (6/25)

Crypto Tokens Scheme Would Align with SpaceX Shares (Source: Wall Street Journal)
A new investment platform would allow people to reap gains in SpaceX without actually investing in the company. Republic plans to offer crypto tokens whose value will match those of SpaceX shares traded privately. The tokens would represent securities held by Republic itself and not SpaceX shares, and people who own the tokens would not get access to SpaceX financial information that shareholders can view. Republic argues the approach is a way for the public to gain the benefits of investing in privately held companies like SpaceX, although the approach does face potential legal challenges. (6/25)

NATO Funding Boost Expected to Bolster Space Capabilities (Source: Payload)
NATO countries have agreed to increase defense spending, focusing on air defense, tanks and munitions in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. However, although not explicitly mentioned in NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte's remarks, space capabilities are expected to benefit from this funding. Experts predict nations will invest more in space, particularly commercial capabilities, to enhance national security. (6/24)

Starlink Serving Lesotho, Now in 24 African Countries (Source: TechNext)
Starlink, the satellite internet service operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, has officially launched in Lesotho. The rollout follows the granting of a 10-year operating licence on April 14, 2025, by Lesotho’s communications regulator, enabling high-speed, low-latency internet access across the mountainous southern African nation. Lesotho’s adoption of Starlink comes barely two months after regulatory approval, reflecting the country’s urgency to enhance connectivity. (6/23)

Blue Origin Lobbies Against Cruz Space Tax (Source: Politico)
Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin has added a familiar face to its growing mix of outside lobbyists as the industry faces a potential new tax in the GOP reconciliation bill. Capitol Counsel’s Mac Campbell, who previously lobbied for Blue Origin in 2021, resumed working for the company last month — along with tax lobbyists David Olander and David Bridges — to “monitor and evaluate proposed changes to the Internal Revenue Code being considered by Congress as part of the budget reconciliation process,” according to a disclosure filing. (6/23)

Texas Gives Elon Musk’s ‘Company Town’ Power to Shut Down Beaches, Highways for SpaceX (Source: Dallas News)
Elon Musk’s “company town” in coastal South Texas will have the power to shut down beaches and highways for SpaceX rocket launches under a new bill passed by state lawmakers. The proposal was among a few legislative wins for Musk and a newly formed city, Starbase, led by current and former employees of the world’s richest person’s space exploration business on the southern tip of Texas.

Lawmakers decided to give the town the ability to shut down public areas for launches during closed-door negotiations as the legislative session wrapped up in early June. Those provisions weren’t in the proposal until hand-picked members of both chambers added them as the House and Senate worked out differences between two versions of the bill. (6/23)

NATO Unveils New Commercial Space Strategy At Annual Summit (Source: Aviation Week)
NATO is establishing a range of initiatives to deepen its ties to the commercial space industry spread across its 32-member alliance, via an inaugural strategy released June 24. The five-page document was released as the alliance kicks off its annual summit in the Hague, the Netherlands. (6/24)

New Zealand Govt Announces $5.6m for NZ-NASA Research Projects (Source: Inside Government)
The Government is investing $5.6 million to support five new joint NZ-NASA research projects in the field of Earth observation as part of a partnership with the US. Researchers from New Zealand and NASA will work in partnership to tackle challenges such as disaster resilience and environmental management over the next three years. (6/24)

Transporter-14 Launches with Five Canadian Satellites (Source: SpaceQ)
SpaceX Falcon 9 launch of the Transporter-14 rideshare mission included five Canadian satellites and several payloads built by Canadian companies. Transporter-14 is a dedicated SmallSat rideshare mission with 70 payloads including “cubesats, microsats, re-entry capsules, and orbital transfer vehicles carrying three of those payloads to be deployed at a later time.” (6/23)

Crunch Time—We’ll Soon Find Out if Amazon’s Launch Providers are Up to the Job (Source: Ars Technica)
Project Kuiper has now completed three launches, including a test launch in 2023 with a pair of Kuiper prototypes. When complete, the network's architecture will consist of 3,232 satellites in low-Earth orbit, enabling coverage of most of the populated world.

Amazon has procured more than 80 launches with four companies to put all of these satellites into orbit. ULA won the lion's share of the launch contracts to deploy more than half of the Kuiper constellation. Amazon purchased the last nine Atlas V rockets before ULA retires the vehicle in favor of the newer Vulcan rocket. Shortly thereafter, Amazon signed a contract for 38 Vulcan flights, each of which ULA says will deliver 45 Kuiper satellites into orbit.

Europe's Ariane 6 rocket is under contract for 18 missions with Kuiper satellites. The New Glenn from Blue Origin, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, will launch at least 12 times to add satellites to the Kuiper network. Amazon has a contract option with Blue Origin for up to 15 additional New Glenn launches. These newer rockets don't have much of a track record. ULA and Arianespace have each flown their Vulcan and Ariane 6 rockets twice, and Blue Origin's New Glenn has completed just one launch. The Atlas V rocket is nearing retirement, and ULA has no more Atlas Vs available for purchase. (6/23)

Goodbye to NASA – the White House Proposes Halting Exploration of the Solar System With Budget Cuts (Source: El Adelantado)
A hard-driving space probe is still cruising beyond Pluto, its instruments healthy and its fuel tanks half full. Yet a single spreadsheet in Washington says it’s time to pull the plug. That spreadsheet —released quietly on a Friday afternoon—lays out the White House’s $18.8 billion request for NASA in fiscal year 2026, a shock $6 billion below the agency’s current funding.

The Office of Management and Budget’s “pass-back” rules let the president send agencies a draft one year before appropriations. Usually NASA touts its request with a slick briefing; this time PDFs were posted without notice. Buried in the technical supplement: “Operating missions that have completed their prime phase are eliminated.” No footnotes. No science rationale. (6/23)

There’s a New Reusable Rocket, And It’s a Honda (Source: Hackaday)
We all know Honda as a car company but it seems they are in the rocket business too, and they successfully tested a reusable rocket. It’s an experimental 900 kg model that flew to a height of 300 m before returning itself to the pad, but it serves as a valuable test platform for Honda’s take on the technology.

It’s a research project as it stands, but it’s being developed with an eye towards future low-cost satellite launches rather than as a crew launch platform. As a news story though it’s of interest beyond its technology, because it’s too easy to miss news from the other side of the world when all eyes are looking at Texas. It’s the latest in a long line of interesting research projects from the company, and we hope that this time they resist the temptation to kill their creation rather than bring it to market. (6/24)

Earth's Satellites at Risk if Asteroid Smashes Into Moon (Source: Space Daily)
If a huge asteroid smashes into the Moon in 2032, the gigantic explosion would send debris streaming towards Earth that would threaten satellites and create a spectacular meteor shower, according to researchers. Earlier this year there were briefly fears that the 60-metre-wide (200-foot-wide) asteroid called 2024 YR4, which is big enough to level a city, would strike Earth on December 22, 2032.

The impact would be "comparable to a large nuclear explosion in terms of the amount of energy released". Up to 100 million kilograms (220 million pounds) of material would shoot out from the Moon's surface, according to a series of simulations run by the researchers. If the asteroid hit the side of the Moon facing Earth -- which is roughly a 50-percent chance -- up to 10 percent of this debris could be pulled in by Earth's gravity over the following days. (6/23)

Portugal Expands Space Capabilities with ICEYE SAR Satellite Acquisition (Source: Space Daily)
ICEYE has signed an agreement with the Portuguese Air Force to deliver a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite, along with a ground segment and antenna, marking a strategic investment in national space infrastructure. The contract, announced during a ceremony in Lisbon on June 12, outlines the delivery of these assets to CTI Aerospacial, a joint venture between the Air Force and Portuguese innovation hub CEiiA.

The SAR satellite will contribute to the Atlantic Constellation, an Earth observation initiative led by Spain and Portugal. This constellation aims to enhance environmental monitoring and disaster response capabilities across Europe, supplementing the continent's Copernicus program. (6/16)

High Precision LLNL Telescope to Drive Next Generation Lunar Imaging (Source: Space Daily)
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is advancing a major leap in lunar imaging through a partnership with Firefly Aerospace. The lab's cutting-edge optical telescope system is set to fly aboard Firefly's Elytra orbital platform as early as 2026, powering Firefly's commercial Ocula imaging service.

This will be the first commercial lunar imaging operation, offering unprecedented ultraviolet and visible-spectrum views of the Moon from orbit. LLNL's telescope is engineered to achieve 0.2-meter resolution at a 50-kilometer altitude, enabling detailed mineral mapping, precise landing site selection, and enhanced monitoring of the lunar environment. (6/21)

Orion Advances Ouija Satellite Toward 2025 VLEO Launch Milestone (Source: Space Daily)
Orion Space Solutions, a subsidiary of Arcfield, has announced the successful completion of the test readiness review (TRR) for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Ouija mission. The nanosatellite, scheduled for launch in late summer 2025, will operate in very low Earth orbit (VLEO) to gather high-frequency (HF) ionospheric data.

Initiated in 2022, the DARPA Ouija program is designed to characterize the space-based HF noise environment and improve real-time propagation predictions. The satellite will house an advanced instrument suite that includes Langmuir and RF Impedance Probes, HF Sounders, Atomic Oxygen Sensors, Science Magnetometers, Floating Potential Probes, and Accelerometers. The mission's primary objective is to collect novel measurements from the F2 layer of the ionosphere. (6/21)

NASA Prepares Sensor Breakthrough for Upcoming Hypersonic Rocket Flights (Source: Space Daily)
NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center is preparing for the first hypersonic test flights of its Fiber Optic Sensing System (FOSS), a compact and lightweight technology that measures temperature and strain on high-speed vehicles. These upcoming rocket launches, scheduled for summer 2025, mark a key milestone in the advancement of hypersonic research.

On March 26, Armstrong engineers conducted vibration tests using shaker equipment in the Environmental Laboratory, confirming the FOSS system's resilience under intense launch conditions. These successful trials follow earlier lab and flight evaluations in 2024, supporting FOSS's integration into Department of Defense research rockets.

FOSS uses a single hair-thin fiber to gather temperature and strain data along its length, significantly reducing the size and complexity of traditional sensor systems. This innovation allows more efficient data collection during extreme hypersonic conditions, which exceed Mach 5. (6/21)

Globalstar Expands Wildfire Safety Tools with Technosylva Satellite Tech (Source: Space Daily)
Globalstar announced further international deployment of its satellite-enabled technologies through an expanding partnership with Technosylva, a specialist in wildfire modeling and risk management. This collaboration continues to equip firefighting agencies with real-time situational tools that enhance safety and response coordination in extreme conditions.

One of the most recent developments involves ongoing implementation with INFOCA, the fire agency for Andalusia, Spain. As one of Europe's largest emergency response organizations, INFOCA uses Technosylva's Wildfire Analyst and fiResponse platforms, which are field-enabled by Globalstar's SPOT satellite devices. These tools provide consistent tracking and communication capabilities in areas beyond the reach of traditional cellular networks. (6/21)

New Frontier Aerospace Tests 3D-Printed Rocket Engine (Source: Geekwire)
Washington-based based New Frontier Aerospace says it has put its 3D-printed Mjölnir rocket engine through a series of successful hot-fire tests, in preparation for an initial flight test of a hypersonic drone that could take place as early as next year.

Mjölnir is named after the hammer that was wielded by Thor in Norse mythology (and in Marvel movies). The first job for this hammer would be to propel an uncrewed aerial system called Pathfinder for a series of hovering tests, currently set for 2026. Eventually, Pathfinder could be used for weapons testing or for suborbital point-to-point cargo transport. (6/23)