April 24, 2026

Iran Using Chinese Satellite Imagery to Target US Forces (Source: Wall Street Journal)
Iran's use of Chinese satellites has alarmed U.S. officials. In a letter last week to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Rep. John Moolenaar (R-MI), who chairs the House Select Committee on China, raised concerns that satellites operated by Chinese companies are providing Iran with imagery it has used to target U.S. and Israeli forces during the ongoing conflict.

Moolenaar said it appeared one Chinese company, MizarVision, was using imagery from other sources, including Airbus, to identify U.S. ships and planes. Airbus denied images from its commercial satellites have been used by MizarVision. (4/24)

FCC Narrows Spectrum Access for Different Satellite Services (Source: Space News)
The FCC has dismissed efforts by satellite operators to acquire additional Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) spectrum for direct-to-device services. The regulator released a broad decision Thursday aimed at preserving market certainty for companies already using MSS bands to connect portable devices, from U.S.-based Globalstar and Iridium's "Big LEO" spectrum to 2 gigahertz and L-band frequencies.

Several companies, including SpaceX, Kepler Communications and AST SpaceMobile, sought access to that spectrum, but the FCC concluded their proposed uses created "significant harmful interference challenges to incumbent users." FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said the broad order positions the U.S. to lead the way in deploying direct-to-device services from space, enabling connectivity for standard devices beyond the reach of terrestrial cell towers. (4/24)

SpaceX Wins $57 Million Contract for Satellite Crosslinks Demo (Source: Space News)
SpaceX won a Space Force contract to demonstrate satellite crosslinks. The $57 million contract announced this week will fund a demonstration of satellite-to-satellite communications using Link-182, a radio-frequency data link standard the Space Force has adopted for its MILNET data relay network. MILNET is a planned constellation of Starshield communications satellites in low Earth orbit built by SpaceX.

The contract announcement frames the effort broadly as supporting "U.S. warfighting capability" but Space Systems Command said last September that Link-182 would be the required space-to-space communications protocol for Golden Dome. (4/24)

Pentagon Seeks $2.3 Billion to Expand Maven AI Platform (Source: Space News)
The Pentagon is asking Congress for $2.3 billion over the next five years to expand its Maven Smart System AI platform. Maven Smart System, developed by Palantir, traces its roots to Project Maven, launched in 2017 to accelerate the military's adoption of artificial intelligence. Initially focused on analyzing drone and surveillance imagery, the effort has expanded into a broader platform that ingests and processes data from satellites, radar, and other sensors to identify objects and potential threats in near real time. (4/24)

Jordan Joins Artemis Accords (Source: Space News)
Jordan is the latest country to join the Artemis Accords. The country's ambassador to the U.S. signed the Accords Thursday at NASA Headquarters, making Jordan the 63rd country to sign overall and the second this week, after Latvia on Monday. The signing comes as NASA seeks to use the Accords, which outline best practices for safe and sustainable space exploration, as a vehicle for coordinating cooperation in Artemis. (4/24)

Astrobotic Tests Lunar Lander Engine (Source: Space News)
Astrobotic has successfully tested an advanced rocket engine for use on its lunar landers and suborbital vehicles. The company said Thursday it completed a series of tests of Chakram, a rotating-detonation rocket engine (RDRE), at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center.

The company tested two prototype engines for 470 seconds, including a single 300-second burn, generating more than 4,000 pounds-force of thrust. RDRE is a technology that promises higher performance than traditional engines. Astrobotic says it envisions using the engine on future versions of its Griffin lunar lander as well as reusable suborbital vehicles it is developing. (4/24)

China Launches Experimental Satellites on Long March 2D (Source: Xinhua)
China launched experimental satellites Friday to test direct-to-device connectivity. A Long March 2D lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 2:35 a.m. Eastern. The rocket placed into orbit an unspecified number of test satellites that Chinese media said will test broadband connectivity from the satellites directly to phones. (4/24)

Russia Launches Classified Payloads on Angara (Source: Russian Space Web)
Russia launched classified payloads on an Angara rocket Thursday. The Angara 1.2 rocket launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome at 4:29 a.m. Eastern Thursday. The Russian Ministry of Defense said the launch carried multiple payloads but did not disclose additional details about it. (4/24)

NASA Announces Next ISS Crew (Source: NASA)
NASA has announced its next crew for the International Space Station. NASA said Thursday  Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney will serve as commander and pilot, respectively, for the Crew-13 mission on a SpaceX Crew Dragon. They will be joined by Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov. The flight will be the first trip to space for all but Watkins, who went to the ISS on Crew-4 in 2022. Crew-13 is scheduled for launch no earlier than mid-September. (4/24)

SpaceX Reassigns Droneship to Transport Starships Between Texas and Florida (Source: Florida Today)
A SpaceX droneship has made its final trip supporting the Falcon 9. The company said this week that the ship Just Read the Instructions would end support for Falcon 9 landings after Tuesday's launch of a GPS 3 satellite. SpaceX said that with the company using only Space Launch Complex 40 for Falcon 9 launches, it needs only one droneship for landings, the A Shortfall of Gravitas. Just Read the Instructions , which has been used for Falcon landings for a decade, will now support Starship by transporting vehicles between Florida and SpaceX's Starbase facility in Texas. (4/24)

Advances in Europe’s Space Logistics (Source: ESA)
Europe’s in-space logistics roadmap for in-orbit cryogenic propellant storage and refilling and On-board and shared intelligence completed multiple phases. A growing role for dual‑use space transportation applications, supporting both civil and defense needs, will rely on coordination, interoperability and rapid industrial maturation that are essential for Europe’s strategic autonomy and in today’s geopolitical situation.

ESA’s In‑Space Proof‑of‑Concepts initiative continues to move fast, exploring how development across rendezvous, refueling, intelligence and space logistics is helping Europe lay the foundations for a future in‑orbit transportation infrastructure and services. The Future Space Transportation Spring Session of 2026 brought together a record number of participants, a sign of the growing momentum in Europe around reusable launch systems and in‑orbit transportation. (4/24)

Italian Astronaut Says Space is Platform for Cooperation, Not Competition (Source: Korea Times)
The Embassy of Italy in Korea marked the sixth edition of Italian Space Day, Wednesday, bringing together government officials, industry leaders and academic experts from both countries’ space sectors. Established in 2021, the annual event commemorates the 1964 launch of the San Marco satellite — Italy’s first satellite, which made it the world’s third nation to independently send a satellite into orbit — and aims to promote greater awareness of space activities and Italy’s contributions to the field. (4/24)

Space is Not 'Arena' of Major-Power Rivalry, China Will Build Open 'Friend Circle' in Space (Source: Global Times)
Space is not an "arena" of major-power rivalry, and China will continue to work with all parties to build an open "friend circle" in space and advance the common cause of the mankind's exploration of outer space, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a regular press conference on Friday.

Guo made the remarks in response to a question over how China will expand more inclusive space cooperation and whether the country will further open its space sector to international partners given that the global space race has entered a "Competition 2.0 phase" characterized by rule-making and alliance-building, as Friday marks the 11th Space Day of China and the 70th anniversary of China's space programs. (4/24)

Blue Origin Opens Luxembourg Office for European Coordination (Source: Luxembourg Times)
Blue Origin, the private space launch company owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, confirmed in June 2025 that it would open its European supply chain coordination office - its first outside the USA - in Luxembourg. The plan was to open before the end of the year. But then everything went silent. In an unexpected twist, the opening of the European HQ was eventually announced on 15 April 2026, not by the company but by Luxembourg Economy Minister Lex Delles. (4/23)

New Glenn Setback Adds To Launcher Woes (Source: Aviation Week)
The squeeze on space launch capacity that has for months been a headache for military and commercial customers has just become even more challenging. Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket has joined the list of launch vehicles that have encountered technical problems. (4/24)

SpaceX Is Widening Its Competitive Moat Ahead of a Record IPO (Source: Bloomberg)
SpaceX is no stranger to the stratosphere, and neither is its coming initial public offering. Investor interest in the IPO, expected this summer, has been climbing toward a record $2 trillion valuation as more details emerge about revenue opportunities such as direct-to-cell service and data centers in space. The offering seems like a bet on science fiction to generate enough sales from space to support such a sky-high price tag. After all, this is a company that first launched a rocket into orbit less than 20 years ago. (4/24)

Elon Musk’s Online Posts About White Victimhood See an Alarming Rise (Source: Washington Post)
Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, is on the cusp of a record-setting initial public offering that could soon make him a trillionaire. But in recent months he’s been increasingly vocal about something else: rallying White people to stand up for their race. “Whites are a rapidly dying minority,” Musk wrote in January in a post that has garnered more than 17 million views and 150,000 likes.

In a February post liked by more than 365,000 accounts, Musk declared that “there has been unrelenting hate and poisonous propaganda in the West against anyone White, straight or male over the past decade or more,” adding, “No more guilt trips. ENOUGH.”

Some observers draw a connection between this rhetoric and the intellectual milieu associated with the so-called PayPal Mafia—a network that includes figures like Peter Thiel and David Sacks—noting that several members have shown political positions over time that suggest a formative influence from their upbringing and ties to apartheid-era South Africa. (4/24)

Alabama Awards $500K to Upgrade Decatur River Dock Used by United Launch Alliance (Source: WAFF)
The Decatur-Morgan County Port Authority is receiving half a million dollars from the state to improve a dock on the Tennessee River primarily used by United Launch Alliance. This is part of a project at the Mallard-Fox Creek Industrial Park roll-on/roll-off dock. The improvements include a new tie-off point and an extended walkway to dock the upcoming arrival of ULA’s second and newest rocket transportation ship, called SpaceShip. It carries parts to launch sites across the country. (4/23)

SpaceX’s IPO Will Help Elon Musk Consolidate Power. Investors Welcome It (Source: Wall Street Journal)
Tesla’s shareholders already give Elon Musk leeway, entertaining the billionaire’s whims as he plows money into robots and blessing a $1 trillion pay package that will pay out if he hits long shot targets. He is poised to have even more sway at his rocket-maker, SpaceX, which is aiming to go public in June. (4/23)

GomSpace to Establish New Ukrainian Joint Venture for Sovereign Comms (Source: Via Satellite)
GomSpace, the Danish satellite company, looks to play a key role in developing sovereign satellite capabilities in Ukraine. It has signed a deal with its Ukrainian partner Stetman which will see the two companies establish the UASAT joint venture in Ukraine to jointly develop the capacity to enable sovereign satellite communication capabilities for Ukraine for dual‑use purposes. GomSpace announced the deal, April 22.

The partners plan to launch UASAT’s first satellite in the fall of 2026 to provide operational feedback for subsequent steps in the UASAT roadmap. The deal was signed at the EU‑Ukraine Business Summit in Brussels, with representatives from the EU’s Directorate‑General for Enlargement and the Eastern Neighborhood (DG ENEST), the European Investment Bank (EIB), and the Ukrainian government in attendance. (4/24)

Rocket Lab Introduces Next-Generation Star Tracker Component (Source: Via Satellite)
Rocket Lab has introduced the next-generation of its star tracker lineup, expanding the company’s component offerings. The new High-Performance Star Tracker (ST-HP), is designed for longer duration spacecraft missions. Rocket Lab has flown more than 185 star tracker units overall; it’s heritage model ST-RT has more than 175 units on orbit since 2013. It also offers the ST-HV model, designed for more rapid production, which has more than 14 units on orbit. (4/24)

SDA’s Need for Speed Pushes Startups for Results (Source: Via Satellite)
In March, the Space Development Agency’s Acting Director Gurpartap “GP” Sandhoo said the agency was strategically pausing launches until May. He described technology hurdles, supply chain challenges, and balancing speed in the decision-making process. “Speed does not alleviate you from the fact that you still have to do the diligence you need to do,” Sandhoo said. “You still have to make sure the satellites are working, and make sure you know you’ve done all the right things.” (4/24)

Astra Targets Golden Dome With Small Rockets, Says CEO Chris Kemp (Source: Payload)
Skeet shooting only works with a target. The same is true of interceptor tests. Astra is pitching its small rockets to the Pentagon as a potential target for Golden Dome interceptor tests, CEO Chris Kemp said. “We’re going to do target practice. We’re going to make the clay-pigeon rocket,” Kemp said. “That’s great, because that will drive scale for us…and allow us to bring our cost down for commercial customers, and other government customers.” (4/24)