March 11, 2026

Scientists May Have Discovered a Brand-New Mineral on Mars (Source: Science Daily)
Scientists studying Mars may have uncovered a brand-new mineral hidden in the planet’s ancient sulfate deposits. By combining laboratory experiments with orbital data, researchers identified an unusual iron sulfate—ferric hydroxysulfate—forming in layered deposits near the massive Valles Marineris canyon system. The mineral likely formed when sulfate-rich deposits left behind by ancient water were later heated by volcanic or geothermal activity, transforming their chemistry. (3/10)

NASA Valkyrie Humanoid Robot Built for Mars Research Returns to US After 10 Years (Source: Interesting Engineering)
A humanoid robot developed by NASA for future Mars missions is set to return to the US after spending a decade at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Named Valkyrie, the 1.8-meter-tall machine weighs about 275 pounds and is one of only three prototypes in the world. Inspired by Norse mythology, the robot supported humanoid robotics research before returning to Johnson Space Center in Texas for further development and future planetary missions. (3/9)

SpaceX Can't Convince Married Engineers to Move to Starbase (Source: EcoNews)
During a recent interview, Elon Musk described SpaceX’s Starbase launch site complex in South Texas as a kind of “technology monastery,” remote and largely male. He also talked about a “significant other problem” since many engineers with families are reluctant to relocate to a site with few other jobs or amenities nearby.

On a map, that isolation looks like open space waiting for rockets. In reality, Starbase sits across from the Las Palomas Wildlife Management Area and the broader Lower Rio Grande Valley wildlife corridor, a patchwork of wetlands, Tamaulipan thorn forest, and grasslands that support migratory birds such as white winged doves and rarer species like chachalacas.

For engineers that Musk hopes to recruit, the choice is complicated. Life near Boca Chica can mean long drives to nearby Brownsville, fewer job options for partners, and schools that do not yet resemble big coastal tech hubs. At the same time, the quiet beaches and bird filled wetlands that draw nature lovers are the same spaces feeling the pressure of repeated launch tests. (3/10)

Rapid Space Launches Shifting the Chemistry of Earth’s Atmosphere (Source: Futurism)
We’re rapidly filling up the orbit around our planet with active spacecraft — and plenty of dangerous detritus as well. And beyond the chance of collisions, all of that activity could have potentially grave environmental consequences as well. The Earth’s atmosphere is being littered with new metal aerosols from burning spacecraft and rockets.

Aluminum oxides from reentering satellites can catalyze the chemistry that destroys the ozone layer. Meanwhile, rocket exhaust — especially black carbon (soot) from rocket engines powered by hydrocarbon propellants — warms the stratosphere and alters winds. Researchers have also found that rocket launches could effectively negate a global, decades-long effort to reduce our reliance on chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which are synthetic organic compounds used in refrigerants and aerosols that have long been known to deplete the ozone layer. (3/9)

FAA Launches Air Taxi Test Program in 26 States (Source: AccuWeather)
The FAA is launching a pilot program for use of air taxis across 26 states to allow for real-world testing of what it calls "an exciting window into the future of aviation." The Advanced Air Mobility and Electrical Vertical Takeoff and Landing Integration Pilot Program has accepted eight proposals the department said will help it develop regulations to safely enable the technology to scale up.

The range of concepts the program will review include urban taxi services, regional passenger transportation, emergency medical operations, drone technologies, and other potential industrial uses. (3/10)

Toward Practical Laser-Driven Light Sails Using Photonic Crystals (Source: Phys.org)
Conventional light sails typically use metal-coated polymer films. While these films reflect light efficiently, they also absorb part of the incoming energy and convert it into heat. Improving reflectivity often requires adding material, which increases weight and reduces propulsion efficiency. This tradeoff has slowed the development of practical light sail systems.

In the Journal of Nanophotonics, researchers reported that they developed a photonic crystal light sail designed to address these limitations. The proposed structure consists of a nanoscale pattern formed from three dielectric components: germanium pillars, air holes, and a polymer matrix. (3/5)

Rocket Lab's Real Growth Story Isn't Neutron (Source: Seeking Alpha)
Rocket Lab reported $180M Q4 revenue (+36% YoY) with record 38% GAAP gross margins, while full-year revenue reached $602M, continuing accelerating growth. Backlog reached $1.85B, with 37% expected to convert within 12 months, implying about $685M revenue visibility before new contracts. Space Systems and defense programs are driving growth, including over $1.3B in SDA contracts for missile-tracking satellite constellations. (3/10)

After Deep Staffing Cuts, Agencies Seek Mix of Hiring and AI Tools To Rebuild Capacity (Source: FNN)
After deep cuts to the federal workforce under the Trump administration last year, agencies are seeking artificial intelligence tools to make their remaining employees more productive, and continue to hire in a limited capacity to replenish their ranks. According to data from the Office of Personnel Management, more than 386,000 federal employees have left government under the Trump administration — through a combination of firings, layoffs, retirements and early separation incentives.

Factoring in new hires, the federal workforce saw a net decrease of more than 264,000 positions under this administration. Amid this downsizing, the Trump administration has rolled out several initiatives to recruit new hires. It rolled out its plans to recruit talent in last year’s Merit Hiring Plan. More recently, OPM has been looking to bring about 1,000 technologists into the federal workforce through its Tech Force Program, and recruit legal experts through its newly launched Attorney Talent Network. (3/9)

Missile Strike Hits SES Teleport in Israel (Source: Space News)
Satellite operator SES said a missile "targeted and struck" its teleport facility in Israel March 9 as tensions spill across the region amid ongoing Israeli and U.S. military operations against Iran. The Luxembourg-based company said a small portion of the geostationary antenna field was damaged, adding that no injuries were reported and the impact did not affect the main facility at Emek Ha'ela. (3/11)

Viasat to Provide Telecoms for Navy Aircraft (Source: Space News)
Viasat won a contract to provide communications services for some U.S. Navy aircraft. The two-year, $14 million contract announced Tuesday covers connectivity for Navy C-37 aircraft, versions of Gulfstream business jets used for flying senior Navy officials. The sole-source award was made by the U.S. Space Force's Space Systems Command Commercial Space Office, which acts as the Pentagon's central buyer for commercial satellite communications services. (3/11)

Former NOAA Official Speaks Out on Science Workforce and Funding Cuts (Source: Space News)
The head of NOAA's satellite division, placed on administrative leave more than six months ago, is speaking out about cuts to federal science programs. At the "Stand Up for Science" rally on the National Mall over the weekend, Stephen Volz warned that cuts and workforce reductions had "lobotomized the federal government." Volz is the associate administrator for satellite and information services at NOAA, but was placed on administrative leave last July for reasons NOAA has not disclosed, including to Volz.

At the rally, he criticized moves to cancel planned instruments to measure air and water quality as well as restructuring of the agency. Other speakers at the event, including several members of Congress, said that while proposed major cuts to science programs at NOAA, NASA and elsewhere were largely rejected in final 2026 spending bills, the administration may seek to make similar proposals for fiscal year 2027. (3/11)

Anduril to Acquire ExoAnalytic Solutions (Source: Space News)
Defense technology company Anduril Industries said it is buying space surveillance company ExoAnalytic Solutions. Terms of the acquisition, announced Wednesday, were not disclosed. ExoAnalytic operates about 400 ground-based optical telescopes that monitor objects in orbit and provide data to the U.S. government for space domain awareness and missile defense missions. Anduril says the acquisition is intended to strengthen its ability to integrate space-based data into defense systems. It will also significantly expand its space business, which had about 120 employees before the ExoAnalytic purchase. ExoAnalytic will be folded into Anduril's space and engineering division rather than operate as a standalone subsidiary. (3/11)

NASA Drops AXIS Telescope Concept (Source: Space News)
NASA is no longer considering an X-ray telescope in a competition for a large astrophysics mission. The team working on the Advanced X-Ray Imaging Satellite (AXIS) mission concept was notified by NASA they are not eligible for selection as part of the Astrophysics Probe Explorer program because its proposal did not meet cost and schedule requirements. The leader of AXIS said those cost and schedule problems were caused by "seismic shifts" last year within NASA and the Goddard Space Flight Center, which was managing the proposal, including the loss of key personnel and proposed budget cuts.

The AXIS team said it identified ways to bring the proposed mission within cost and schedule, but NASA elected instead to drop it from consideration. "I am, quite frankly, livid that AXIS ultimately fell victim to the programmatic chaos of 2025," principal investigator Christopher Reynolds wrote in a message to the project team. The decision leaves PRIMA, a far-infrared telescope, as the only remaining proposal for the Probe mission competition. (3/11)

China's BlueStar Optical Domain Raises $72 Million for Optical Satcom (Source: Space News)
A Chinese startup has raised funding for optical intersatellite communications. BlueStar Optical Domain, also known as Laser Link, announced Monday a Series C round of $72 million that will be used for expanding manufacturing capacity and production facilities, as well as continued product research and development. The company plans to reach a production rate of 1,000 terminals annually in the first half of this year. Demand may largely be driven by China's planned low Earth orbit internet constellations, notably the national Guowang and Shanghai-backed Thousand Sails projects, each planning to place more than 10,000 satellites in orbit that will likely rely on intersatellite links. (3/11)

Telesat Expanding Ground Stations in Canada (Source: Space News)
Telesat is planning more ground stations in Canada for its Lightspeed constellation. The Canadian operator said Tuesday it acquired sites in Saskatchewan and Quebec and leased land elsewhere in Saskatchewan for stations that would route data between the satellites and major fiber and internet exchange points. Additional sites are set to be contracted in the coming months as the company targets the start of initial global services in 2027. (3/11)

Impulse Space Expanding in Colorado (Source: Space News)
Impulse Space is expanding its presence in Colorado. The space mobility company, headquartered in southern California, announced Tuesday it opened a 20,000-square-foot facility near Boulder, Colorado. That facility will be used to develop the guidance, navigation and control systems for its Mira and Helios vehicle as well as produce some spacecraft components, like pumps and valves. The new facility expands Impulse's presence in Colorado established three years ago. (3/11)

BlackSky Satellite Performing as Expected After Launch (Source: BlackSky)
BlackSky said its latest imaging satellite is working well in orbit. The company said Tuesday its fourth Gen-3 produced its first images within hours of launch. BlackSky did not disclose when the satellite was launched but it is believed to be the confidential commercial payload launched on an Electron rocket last week. (3/11)

Planet Extends Imagery Delay in Middle East (Source: Reuters)
Planet is extending delays in providing imagery of parts of the Middle East during the ongoing conflict there. The company, which said last week it would delay the public release of imagery of some countries in the region by four days, said that delay is now extended to 14 days. Images of Iran, previously exempt from that restriction, are now included, the company announced. Planet said the restriction is intended to limit any use of those images "as tactical leverage by adversarial actors." (3/11)

Isaacman Interested in Additional Mars Mission in 2028 (Source: Science)
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman has suggested NASA might pursue a Mars mission in 2028. In an interview, he noted that NASA's plans to launch a Mars communications orbiter mission in 2028, as well as ESA's Rosalind Franklin rover. "But I suspect there will be a third as well," he said, declining to provide additional details. NASA's 2026 budget proposal did not explicitly include an additional Mars mission launching in 2028 but did support Mars technology development and potential Mars missions done under commercial services agreements. (3/11)

NASA Authorizes Use of Smartphones on Artemis II (Source: EcoNews)
For the first time in NASA history, astronauts heading for the Moon will carry something most of us toss into a pocket every morning, a smartphone. The agency has approved personal phones, including iPhones, for the upcoming Artemis II lunar flyby and for the SpaceX Crew-12 mission to the International Space Station, breaking a long tradition of banning such devices on government flights. (3/8)

Ex-Google Boss May Launch a Bigger-Than-Hubble Space Telescope Within Three Years (Source: BBC)
A new space telescope has been announced, Lazuli, with a three-meter (10ft) mirror capable of observing in the optical and infrared. This makes it larger than Hubble, and it will fly a sophisticated spectrograph and camera, plus a coronagraph for spotting planets around nearby stars. What’s really notable is that the entire cost of Lazuli is being covered by Eric and Wendy Schmidt. (3/8)

Stars With Low Magnetic Activity Are Likely To Support Exoplanetary Systems, Making the Hunt for These Celestial Objects Less Random (Source: Live Science)
Scientists have found a potential shortcut for identifying stars that host planets. The technique, based on specific signals in starlight, could make it easier to search for exoplanets, according to a new study. The team has already used their new method to turn up half a dozen previously undiscovered planets — but because most of the alien worlds are very close to their stars, they are unlikely to be habitable, the study authors say. (3/7)

ISRO and ESA Sign Agreement for Earth Observation Missions (Source: The Hindu)
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the European Space Agency (ESA) have jointly signed an agreement on ‘ESA-ISRO Arrangement concerning Joint Calibration and Validation Activities and Scientific Studies for Earth Observation Missions’. The agreement was signed on March 4 by M. Ganesh Pillai, scientific secretary, ISRO, and Simonetta Cheli, director, Earth Observation Program, ESA, in a virtual meeting mode. (3/9)

Lower-Cost Space Missions Like NASA’s ESCAPADE Are Starting To Deliver Exciting Science – But at a Price in Risk and Trade-Offs (Source: The Conversation)
After a yearslong series of setbacks, NASA’s Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers, or ESCAPADE, mission has finally begun its roundabout journey to Mars. This low-cost mission is only getting started, and it’s taking bigger risks than typical big-ticket NASA missions.

NASA classifies payloads on a four‑tier risk scale, from A to D. Class A missions are the most expensive and highest priority, like the James Webb Space Telescope, Europa Clipper and the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. They use thoroughly proven hardware and undergo exhaustive testing. ESCAPADE is at the other end. It’s a class D mission, defined as having “high risk tolerance” and “medium to low complexity.”

A concept put forward by Jared Isaacman is that 10 $100 million missions would be better than one $1 billion flagship – or top-tier – mission. This approach could encourage faster mission development and would diversify the types of missions heading out into the solar system. But that reorganization comes with trade-offs. For example, low‑cost missions rarely match flagship missions in scope, and they typically do less to advance the technology necessary for doing innovative science. (3/7)

Reentry of NASA Satellite Will Exceed the Agency’s Own Risk Guidelines (Source: Ars Technica)
A NASA satellite that spent more than a decade coursing through the Van Allen radiation belts encircling Earth is about to fall back into the atmosphere. This reentry is notable because it poses a higher risk to the public than the US government typically allows. The risk of harm coming to anyone on Earth is still low, approximately 1 in 4,200, but it exceeds the government standard of a 1 in 10,000 chance of an uncontrolled reentry causing a casualty. (3/10)

The Risks of Concentrating National Space Power in Private Hands (Source: Space.com)
Private companies are no longer peripheral participants in U.S. space activities. They provide key services, including launching and deploying satellites, transporting cargo and astronauts to the ISS, and even sending landers to the Moon. Commercial integration is now embedded in US space policy and shapes national space strategy. While the US has begun developing alternatives, in operational reality the concentration of commercial control gives companies disproportionate leverage. If private power and public strategy were to diverge, would Washington have a credible Plan B? (3/7)

New Study Addresses Clotting Risks for Female Astronauts (Source: Universe Today)
It's no secret that prolonged periods spent in microgravity takes a toll on the human body. This includes muscle atrophy, bone density loss, and changes to the cardiovascular, endocrine, and nervous systems. But for female astronauts, there is also the greater risk of developing blood clots, according to recent findings. This highlights the fact that, to date, most studies of human health in space have involved male astronauts. But as the number of female astronauts continues to grow, more research is required to address potentially gender-related health risks. (3/10)

Starlab Space Fully Books Commercial Payload Space on Planned Space Station (Source: Space News)
The Starlab commercial space station has fully booked its commercial payload space as the joint venture developing it awaits the next phase of a NASA program. Starlab and other commercial stations are awaiting the next phase of the CLD program. (3/10)

SSC Space Brings New Optical Ground Station into Service (Source: Via Satellite)
SSC Space is bringing a new optical ground station (OGS) into service at its site in Santiago, Chile. It will enable free-space laser communication between satellites and the ground. The new station is part of the SSC Space optical service development project NODES within ESA's Optical and Quantum Communications – ScyLight program, designed to accelerate the development of optical ground capabilities. (3/10)

Astroscale France is Contributing to ESA’s ECO-Tethers Project for Propellant-Free In-Space Mobility and Deorbiting (Source: Spacewatch Global)
Astroscale France, the French subsidiary of Astroscale Holdings Inc. has announced its participation in ECO-Tethers, a new system study under the European Space Agency’s FIRST! Technologies in Sustainability for Future Space Transportation program. Led by PERSEI Space as prime contractor, and delivered in collaboration with Thales Alenia Space Italy and Astroscale France, the ECO-Tethers project will assess propellant-free technologies for in-space propulsion and deorbiting using electrodynamic tethers. (3/10)

Megaconstellation Regulation Takes Center Stage at DC Moot Court (Source: Payload)
Future space lawyers will gather in DC this month to debate how far federal jurisdiction extends in regulating commercial megaconstellations. The American Space Law Foundation will hold its first moot court on March 20 to 21. The two-day event will give students an opportunity to argue in a hypothetical—but very realistic—commercial space law case, in front of a panel of judges representing government and industry. (3/10)

European Space Merger Faces Pushback From Local Competitors (Source: Wall Street Journal)
A potential three-way merger between the space units of Airbus, Leonardo and Thales is facing pushback from some rivals that fear the deal could curtail competition in the European satellite market. Marco Fuchs, chief executive of German satellite maker OHB, said he is concerned about the deal’s potential impact on European consortia formed to bid for European Union and European Space Agency contracts. (3/10)