April 9, 2026

FAA Plans April 18 Changeover to New NOTAM System (Source: NBAA)
The FAA will soon take a significant step forward in modernizing the NOTAM service with the shutdown of the existing US NOTAM System (USNS) and cutover to a new and more robust system in the morning hours of Saturday, April 18. The transition will take place between midnight and 4 a.m. EDT. During that time, NOTAMs active prior to the maintenance window will be available via all normal distribution channels. The FAA also recommends using FNS NOTAM search to ensure operators receive the most timely and accurate information. (4/8)

7 NBAA Tips for Navigating Challenging Florida Airspace (Source: NBAA)
Two years ago, as part of its Collaborative Decision-Making initiative, the FAA formed the Florida Task Force to explore ways to mitigate ongoing issues. Members of the NBAA Air Traffic Services (ATS) – who have been working at the FAA Air Traffic Control System Command Center (ATCSCC) since 2001 – participated in the task force along with representatives from major airlines and regional carriers. Click here. (4/7)

California, for All its Flaws, Continues to Lead in Space (Source: New York Post)
The Artemis II mission is a triumph of the American spirit — and a testament to California’s enduring leadership in the US space program. Californians played a key role in every aspect of the voyage around the moon, which took four astronauts further away from Earth than any human being has ever been. There is Ontario’s own Victor Glover, the mission commander, who played football at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo before joining the space program.

The engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena managed communications with the Orion capsule through the Deep Space Network (DSN). And local Caltech scientists helped design the scientific projects carried out by the mission. The USS John P. Murtha, based at Naval Base San Diego, is in charge of recovering the Orion once it splashes down in the Pacific Ocean.

Whether public or private — through NASA, or SpaceX, or one of many other emerging space start-up companies — California’s role in space exploration and innovation is not only prominent, but dominant. We still boast the world’s top institutions of higher education, as well as the leading centers of scientific research and technological innovation. California attracts talent from around the nation and across the globe, drawn by the opportunity to work with each other in an entrepreneurial environment that is second to none. (4/7)

Why Not Start a Rocket Company? (Source: Marketplace)
David Brancaccio spoke with Sascha Deri, founder and CEO of bluShift Aerospace, a rocket startup based in Maine. Sascha Deri: "So, we're making rocket propulsion systems to ultimately support research in space and to, frankly, take over solid rocket motors in the marketplace. Those motors are used for, you think of the space shuttle strap-on boosters, but also for developing new hypersonic capabilities in the United States, as well as ultimately reaching the stars." Click here. (4/7)

Musk Wants to Turn 700 Acres of Texas Wildlife Refuge Into SpaceX Property (Source: The Barbed Wire)
SpaceX is aiming to acquire 712 acres of land in the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge, amid the protests of environmentalists and activist groups. The proposal would exchange the wildlife refuge land for 692 acres of land in Starbase, SpaceX’s headquarters on the southern tip of Texas. Starbase was officially designated a city in May 2025, after workers living near SpaceX’s rocket launch facility there voted in favor of the measure, according to the Texas Tribune.

A draft of the proposed land exchange was published on March 2, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which manages the National Wildlife Refuge in question, asked the public to submit feedback on the proposal. SpaceX has not said how it intends to use the land, but the proposal acknowledged it is likely they will develop on that land after acquisition. (4/7)

War Has Reached Space, and Europe Isn’t Ready (Source: Parliament)
MEP Christophe Grudler (Renew/FR), the episode underscored a growing vulnerability: “It is absolutely strategic to be in space with strong assets.” However, most European capitals often lack not only the means to respond independently to space-related crises but in some cases even the tools to understand them in the first place.

“If you want to fight against something, you need to know what's happening,” said Grudler. “Today, in Europe, we do not have enough [sovereign] space data. We use American data for space [awareness].” With critical infrastructure — from smartphones and financial systems to energy grids and military communications — reliant on space, disruptions such as jamming, spoofing or direct satellites attacks could cascade across entire societies. (4/7)

ULA's Second Rocket Carrier Ship Launches (Source: Shippax)
Bollinger Shipyards has launched the specialized RoRo SPACESHIP, ordered by United Launch Alliance (ULA). SPACESHIP is the most recent rocket carrier designed and built by Bollinger Shipyards. The vessel follows in the footsteps of ROCKETSHIP, which has been transporting Atlas V components since 2011. SPACESHIP will be used to transport Atlas V and Vulcan rocket elements from the ULA factory in Decataur, Alabama. (4/8)

SDA Makes Second HALO Europa Award (Source: SDA)
The Space Development Agency (SDA) today announced it has awarded a prototype agreement under the Hybrid Acquisition for Proliferated Low Earth Orbit, or HALO, Europa Track 1 solicitation to Capella, an IonQ company, based in San Francisco, to demonstrate advanced tactical waveform performance, adaptive beamforming, and secure tactical communications in low Earth orbit (LEO). (4/7)

Student Experiments Launched on Suborbital Rockets From Sweden (Source: ESA)
After more than a year of design, testing and development, dozens of European university students gathered in March to enact the final stage of their experimental projects in the REXUS 35 and 36 campaign. For two weeks, these students utilised the Esrange Space Center in northern Sweden to prepare and launch their various experiments on sounding rockets. (4/7)