April 11, 2026

From Moanalua to Mission Control: Meet the Hawaii Scientist Keeping Artemis II on Track (Source: Hawaii News Now)
While many watched the launch of NASA’s Artemis II mission in awe, Angela Garcia had a different vantage point as a NASA science officer supporting the agency’s return to deep-space exploration. “There (were) a few pinch, like, pinch myself in these real moments,” she said.

The 2013 Moanalua High School graduate is based at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, where she works as a planetary exploration geologist. “It’s a new discipline that got integrated into the flight operations directorate,” Garcia said, noting that during the mission, she ensures “lunar science is getting advocated for in that room, and is getting accomplished during the mission.” (4/10)

NASA's Bid to Boost Space Enthusiasm (Source: Phys.org)
When NASA flight director Zebulon Scoville was working a shift during the uncrewed Artemis I test flight, he realized the US space agency wasn't consistently livestreaming the spacecraft's journey to Earth. "They said, well, we don't have bandwidth, we've got to get all this vehicle and engineering data down," Scoville recalled. "I was like—wrong... This program will be over if people don't buy it and they don't come with us."

NASA eventually got a low-bandwidth live stream up for that 2022 uncrewed mission. And once it was over, senior officials named the NASA veteran "imagery czar" to boost engagement. He told AFP he spent two years working across the agency to figure out how better to take the public on NASA's new moon missions. (4/11)

Space Travel Ultimately Promotes Cooperation (Source: Blue News)
For Swiss astronaut Claude Nicollier and space travel candidate Marco Sieber, the Artemis 2 mission has demonstrated the importance of international cooperation. "Space travel ultimately promotes cooperation," Nicollier said.

Sieber represents a younger generation of astronauts who did not witness the moon landing. "For us, this feels like the beginning of a new era," he said. That is why the Artemis mission is special. Canadian Jeremy Hansen, American Christina Koch and Americans Victor Glover and Reid Wiseman - the crew of Artemis 2 - were the first people to go near the moon for more than 50 years. (4/11)

The Gulf War Just Exposed India's Space Dependency Problem (Source: Swarajya)
It is noteworthy that the apparent ceasefire of the 2026 Persian Gulf War on 8 April, while it may not culminate in "lasting peace," has nonetheless introduced stark realities, prompting numerous regional and non-regional parties affected by this conflict to re-evaluate their global security strategies. For the Indian Space Commission, India's primary authority for space policy decisions, it is now extremely crucial to expedite two long-standing priorities: enhancing sovereign commercial space capabilities and developing a comprehensive national space strategy. (4/10)

Did These Historic NASA Spacecraft Find Life on Mars – and Accidentally Kill It? (Source: BBC)
Astrobiologists have proposed that NASA’s historic Viking missions may have detected signs of life on Mars in 1976, only for a key chemical signal to be mistakenly written off as terrestrial contamination. The provocative claim, published in the journal Astrobiology, hinges on a misreading of Martian soil chemistry and reignites debate as the search for life accelerates with new missions. Click here. (4/10)

Firehawk Aerospace Opens 636-Acre Rocket Integration Facility in Mississippi (Source: Expansion Solutions)
Firehawk Aerospace is expanding the nation’s defense manufacturing capacity with the opening of a 636-acre rocket system integration facility in Lowndes County, marking a significant investment in domestic propulsion production and advanced energetics.

The new campus will serve as the company’s primary rocket system integration hub, supporting assembly, validation, and delivery of next-generation rocket systems for U.S. and allied defense programs. The project will create more than 100 jobs and positions Mississippi as a growing player in the defense industrial base. (4/3)

SpaceX is Keeping the Space Station Alive with Saturday Cargo Launch (Source: Teslarati)
SpaceX launched Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft to the ISS from Florida, carrying over 11,000 pounds of supplies, science hardware, and equipment for the Expedition 73 crew. The mission, officially designated NG-24 under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services program, names its spacecraft the S.S. Steven R. Nagel in honor of the NASA astronaut who flew four Space Shuttle missions and logged over 723 hours in space before his death in 2014.

Unlike SpaceX’s own Dragon capsule, which docks autonomously, Cygnus relies on NASA astronauts to capture it using a robotic arm before it is berthed to the space station’s module for unloading. When the mission wraps up around October, the Cygnus will depart loaded with station trash and burn up on reentry. (4/11)

Vandenberg’s Range Is Scaling to Meet Launch Demand (Source: Air and Space Forces)
In the last five years, the annual launch rate at the Space Force’s West Coast range has surged from a handful of missions to 66 in 2025. Now, Vandenberg Space Force Base in California expects to support 150 launches in the next five years and upwards of 200 by 2036. Navigating that kind of growth and planning for even more in the future has Col. James Horne, commander of Space Launch Delta 30 at Vandenberg, feeling a bit like he’s running a small business that’s on the rise.

The resources and strategic vision from the first phase of Spaceport of the Future have helped overhaul range operations, Horne said. But now, the service is planning for another phase of transformation to make sure Vandenberg and its East Coast range at Cape Canaveral, Fla., can handle the capacity to come. That campaign, Spaceport 2036, will lay out the service’s modernization needs over the next 10 years.

At Vandenberg, the initial infrastructure phase has focused on replacing and upgrading the base’s 1960s-era roads, bridges, and commodities to manage the growth happening now and the additional demand that it sees coming over the next decade. Horne said the base has a number of projects underway to address the wear and tear on its roads from the trucks used to carry commodities to launch pads. Today, it takes about 70 commercial trucks to supply the necessary propellants, liquid oxygen, and other resources needed for a single launch. (4/10)

SpaceX Accounted for 50% of Launches in 2025 (Source: Via Satellite)
BryceTech, one of the leading space research firms, has released its 2025 Year in Review tracking the launch market. It shows a market moving towards small satellites, and underlines the dominance of SpaceX in the launch market compared to all the other players. These were two of the highlights of its 2025 Year in Review research, which is now live. BryceTech reported in 2025 there were 325 orbital launches and 4,544 spacecraft deployed, representing approximately a 25% increase in launches and a 54% increase in spacecraft relative to 2024. (4/10)

HawkEye 360 Files to Go Public (Source: Space News)
HawkEye 360 filed for an IPO on April 10 with the SEC to list on the NYSE (ticker: HAWK). The defense-focused, space-based radio frequency (RF) data provider, based in Herndon, VA, reported 2025 revenue of $117.7 million. This move aims to tap into high demand for defense tech, with funds intended to support their 30-satellite constellation. (4/10)

Sateliot Launches $117-Million C-Round, Funding Will Build 16 Gen 2 Satellites (Source: Space Intel Report)
Startup satellite IoT constellation operator Sateliot of Spain launched what it intends to be a Series C round of 100 million euros ($117 million) that will close this summer and allow the company to launch 16 satellites and demonstrate its 5G New Radio service including voice and video. Sateliot launched its first demonstration satellite in 2021, In 2024 it launched four satellites to form the company’s first orbital plane to expand its store-and-forward service to over 1 million messages per day. (4/10)

China's Spacety Raises $190 Million to Scale Satellite Manufacturing, Plans IPO (Source: Space News)
Chinese satellite maker Spacety has completed multiple rounds of equity financing worth $190 million to scale its vertically integrated satellite manufacturing and data services model. (4/10)

U.S. Sanctions Didn’t Stop Spacety — They May Have Made It Stronger (Source: Space Daily)
Spacety, a Chinese satellite manufacturer sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in 2023 for its alleged ties to Russia’s Wagner Group, has reportedly raised approximately $190 million in equity financing from state-linked funds and domestic venture capital. The funding round is one of the largest recent capital raises in China’s commercial space sector — and it reveals something specific that Washington should find uncomfortable: U.S. sanctions designed to isolate a Chinese space company may have accelerated exactly the outcome they were meant to prevent.

By cutting Spacety off from Western capital and partnerships, the Treasury Department created the conditions for Beijing to step in as sole patron, tightening the state’s grip on a nominally commercial firm and fast-tracking the construction of an independent Chinese Earth observation infrastructure that operates entirely beyond American oversight or leverage. (4/11)

NASA's Audacious Plan to Build a Nuclear-Powered Moon Base (Source: National Geographic)
If all of NASA’s audacious plans do come to pass, the moon might become a very unfamiliar place—a hub of industry and science, crisscrossed by a fleet of moon rovers, fueled by nuclear power, and the launching point for even farther cosmic adventures to come. The moon, then, won’t just become a collection of new flags in the dust. A base will turn it into a home for astronauts and a steppingstone to crewed missions to the red planet next door.

Step one, starting with Artemis V, will be gradual experimentation: using mostly uncrewed missions to test out basic technological elements—from power generation to communications relays—to make sure base building can be done effectively and safely. During this phase, the number of launches to the moon will begin to rise. Then, with the help of regular robotic and astronaut visitations, the foundations of the base will be set down during the second phase. At this stage, NASA describes it as “semi-habitable infrastructure.” (Early ideas include inflatable shelters, or covering a habitat with lunar soil to help insulate astronauts from radiation.)

Finally, there’s the third phase, when frequent, heavy cargo deliveries and significant contributions from NASA’s partner space agencies will turn a small, periodically homed fortress into a permanent base, one that is always stationed by a crew, like the International Space Station is today. The idea is that astronauts will spend “a few days to a couple of weeks on the surface, and then build up to something longer—maybe a month, maybe a couple of months,” says Glaze. (4/10)

Precision Nanomedicine to Target the Most Challenging Tumors (Source: Upward)
ISS National Lab-enabled research supports next generation chemotherapy and immunotherapy development. "Microgravity research has given us a clearer path toward optimizing this technology for real world cancer treatment,” said Mari Anne Snow, CEO and co-founder of Eascra Biotech. (410)

White House Budget Seeks to Scrap 54 Major NASA Science Missions (Source: Scientific American)
An analysis by the nonprofit science advocacy group The Planetary Society has identified 54 NASA missions that may be endangered as a result of the White House’s budget proposal for the coming fiscal year. These include a spacecraft currently studying Jupiter, a veteran X-ray observatory, planned missions to Venus and U.S. collaboration on a European rover meant to launch to Mars in 2028—and many more.

The new White House budget proposal for NASA—which totals only $18.8 billion—did not explicitly specify projects it intended to cancel. But Planetary Society experts analyzed this and previous documentation to identify which missions may be in danger. Of NASA’s major science departments, Earth science and heliophysics may face the most cuts, with 17 proposed mission cancellations in each, they found. Astrophysics and planetary science each face 10 cancellations, according to the analysis. (4/9)

Artemis 2 Mission Sends 'Kerbal Space Program' Player Numbers Soaring to the Mun (Source: Space.com)
Artemis II has launched, sending a crew of four astronauts on a mission to circle the moon and back to Earth, the first step toward planned lunar landings and eventual habitation on the lunar surface. The mission will take the crew of the Orion spacecraft farther from Earth than any manned mission in human history and will mark the first time humans have traveled beyond low-Earth orbit since the Apollo program.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the launch has had some digital echoes, not least of which is a massive spike in interest in "Kerbal Space Program". The game, which allows for highly realistic simulations of manned (or Kerballed) missions to space (including lunar landings), has seen its second-highest number of concurrent Steam players ever, only beaten by its full launch way back in 2015.

Numbers began to skyrocket around the time of the Artemis II launch on April 1st, peaking at around 12,434 at time of writing— a huge jump against the game's standard average player count, which hovers around 3,000 to 4,000. The significantly less popular sequel, Kerbal Space Program 2, also saw a modest bump, though only up to 370 concurrents from a prior high of about 118 players a month earlier. (4/8)

L3Harris Wins $150M Space Surveillance Update Contract (Source: Defense Post)
L3Harris Technologies has secured a $150 million contract from the US Space Force to sustain and upgrade the nation's ground-based space surveillance infrastructure. The contract aims to enhance early warning capabilities for space threats by improving the systems that detect and track objects in orbit. This latest award builds on previous collaborations between the Space Force and L3Harris under long-term modernization efforts. (4/10)

Orion Splashes Down to Successfully End Artemis 2 Mission (Source: Space News)
The first human mission beyond Earth orbit in more than 50 years successfully concluded as the Orion spacecraft Integrity splashed down in the Pacific southwest of San Diego at 8:07 p.m. Eastern April 10, ending the Artemis 2 mission. NASA reported the four astronauts on board were in good condition. (4/10)

Hermeus Raises $350M to Build the Fastest Aircraft in the World for the American Warfighter (Source: Hermeus)
Today, we’re announcing a $350M Series C financing. This is a mandate to build, fly, and deliver products for our customer – the American warfighter. This capital scales our fleet of aircraft, pushing the Quarterhorse program forward with our second supersonic aircraft, Mk 2.2, and our first Mach 3 aircraft, Mk 2.3. To achieve this, we’re expanding our prototyping footprint in Los Angeles with our new HQ in El Segundo, while Atlanta prepares for production and scale. (4/9)

Universities Space Research Association Awarded New Cooperative Agreement to Continue AFRL Scholars Program at Eglin AFB (Source: USRA)
The Universities Space Research Association (USRA) has been awarded a new cooperative agreement to continue managing the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Scholars Program at Eglin Air Force Base (AFB). The award reaffirms USRA’s commitment to strengthening the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce in support of national defense priorities.

Since its launch in 2017, the AFRL Scholars Program at Eglin AFB has supported 668 participants through hands-on research experiences in mission-critical disciplines. The new agreement spans five years, with optional one-year extensions, and has an initial value of $2.5 million.

The program provides paid research internships for students from the high school to graduate level. Scholars work alongside AFRL scientists and engineers, gaining practical experience in real-world defense research environments. Through mentorship and continued engagement with returning Scholars and alumni, the program strengthens the STEM talent pipeline and supports long-term workforce development within the defense and research communities. (4/6)

Russian Lunar Station Segment Approved with China (Source: TASS)
The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) has approved the concept for the creation of the Russian segment of the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) jointly with China, CEO of Russia’s State Space Corporation Roscosmos Dmitry Bakanov announced.

"The International Lunar Research Station project with China is developing. The Russian Academy of Sciences has approved the concept for the creation of its Russian segment," the Roscosmos head said at a meeting in the Federation Council upper house of parliament.

In May 2025, Roscosmos and the China National Space Administration (CNSA) signed a memorandum on the construction of a power plant for the International Lunar Research Station. Roscosmos announced that the station would conduct fundamental space research and test technologies for long-term unmanned operation with the prospect of human presence on the Moon. (4/1)