May 28, 2026

FAA Grounds SpaceX's Starship V3 Megarocket After Flight 12 'Mishap' (Source: Space.com)
Just five days after its debut flight, SpaceX's Starship V3 megarocket has been grounded. The FAA just declared the May 22 Starship V3 launch a mishap and is requiring an investigation before the huge vehicle can take to the skies again. "A return to flight of the Starship-Super Heavy vehicle is based on the FAA determining that any system, process, or procedure related to the mishap does not affect public safety," FAA officials wrote. (5/27)

Rocket Lab Achieves Milestone for Missile Defense Constellation (Source: Rocket Lab)
Rocket Lab has successfully passed System Requirements Review (SRR) for the Space Development Agency's (SDA) Tracking Layer Tranche 3 (TRKT3) constellation. This milestone advances the program that will see Rocket Lab deliver satellites equipped with advanced missile warning, tracking, and defense capabilities to U.S. and allied national security. The SRR milestone confirms that Rocket Lab's proposed solution meets SDA's operational requirements and establishes the technical baseline for the program. (5/27)

Rough is the New Smooth: A Fundamental Principle of Aeronautical Engineering Has Been Overturned (Source: WIRED)
Researchers have overturned a long-held aeronautical rule by proving that deliberate surface micro-roughness can actually reduce aerodynamic drag. Under certain conditions, engineered micro-textures create tiny, stabilizing vortices that delay boundary layer separation better than a perfectly smooth surface. For decades, the standard rule of thumb was that making an aircraft or vehicle as sleek and frictionless as possible was the best way to cut through the air. However, the new findings reveal a much more nuanced dynamic.

As air moves over an object, it creates a boundary layer of slower-moving air. If the surface is too smooth, this layer can detach prematurely, creating massive pressure drag (the primary resistance on vehicles). Deliberate micro-roughness acts as a flow-control mechanism. It introduces small, controlled vortices that mix faster-moving free-stream air with the boundary layer. (5/26)

Challenge Accepted: China Shakes Up its Space Programs to Land Astronauts on the Moon by 2030 (Source: Space.com)
China is establishing an integrated program called the Lunar Exploration Program, melding both its robotic Chang'e lunar probe activities with the country's human spaceflight program. Zhang Jingbo said that "to fully leverage the technological expertise and practical experience accumulated over decades" via its human spaceflight and Chang'e lunar rover programs, "the existing manned lunar landing and unmanned lunar exploration efforts will be integrated across three areas of missions, resources, and teams."

"We will spare no effort to strive for the goal of achieving the first Chinese landing on the moon by 2030," Zhang added. On the robotic side of moon exploration, in April, China's Chang'e-7 lunar probe was shipped to China's sprawling Wenchang Space Launch Site. Preparations for pre-launch testing are now underway, with the mission slated for launch in the second half of the year, reportedly this August. The Chang'e-7 mission will include orbiting, landing, roving, and a lunar hopper to study the environment and resources of the lunar south pole, while also carrying out international cooperation, said Zhang. (5/27)

Growing Doubts in China About Starship's Ultimate Success (Source: SCMP)
There are growing doubts within China’s space sector that Starship, the world’s most powerful rocket being developed by SpaceX in the United States, will ever overcome its engineering and financial challenges and deliver for founder and CEO Elon Musk. starship’s latest flight on Friday – weeks before the company’s expected initial public offering (IPO) – was described as “mostly successful” by the company after engine failures occurred in both the first and second stages.

After the first stage Super Heavy Booster entered the Gulf of Mexico at high speed, Starship itself “barely made it” to its designated return area in the Indian Ocean, according to observers posting on Chinese social media. One space commenter said the test flight’s results showed the key issue was the reliability of Starship’s upgraded Raptor 3 engines, which have had a redesign to give them higher thrust and lighter weight. (5/27)

Students Build Moon Robots for NASA’s 2026 Lunabotics Challenge at KSC (Source: NASA)
Finals for NASA’s 2026 Lunabotics Challenge competition were held on May 19 at the KSC Visitor Complex in Florida. When the simulated lunar dust settled, the University of Virginia earned the Off World Grand Prize for completing all events and achieving the highest overall score. Forty-seven teams from around the U.S. designed and built remote-controlled robots capable of traversing challenging lunar terrain while constructing regolith-based berm under conditions similar to those the agency will face as it returns to the lunar surface.

The Lunabotics Challenge invites students from higher education institutions to apply NASA’s Systems Engineering principles to design and build a prototype off-world construction robot. Participants will develop a robot capable of performing construction operations that support future space exploration objectives. (5/27)

SpaceX’s AI Pursuits Have Yet to Take Off (Source: Wall Street Journal)
SpaceX's recent SEC S-1 filing for its upcoming IPO confirmed that the highly profitable Starlink division and space-launch operations form a strong financial core, offsetting massive cash burns. However, the company's aggressive expansion into orbital computing and artificial intelligence—boosted by its merger with xAI—posted steep losses, drawing scrutiny from market analysts. (5/26)

Space Force Expands PTS Prototype Program Ahead Of 2027 Launches (Source: Aviation Week)
The U.S. Space Force expects to launch two prototype spacecraft next year as it looks toward the next generation of anti-jam satellite communications. The service has tapped Boeing and Northrop Grumman to demonstrate the use of an updated, encrypted signal called the Protected Tactical Waveform aboard company-built spacecraft. Both companies are now developing two prototypes under the service’s Protected Tactical Satcom-Prototype (PTS-P) program, following a May 15 contract award to fund a second free-flyer system from Northrop Grumman.

The initial prototype from each company is on track for launch, on-orbit demonstration and testing no earlier than 2027, a Space Systems Command (SSC) official said May 21. The new, $398 million “Enhanced PTS-P” contract award funds a second prototype free-flyer to launch no earlier than 2030. (5/26)

How Canada’s First Commercial Spaceport is Taking Shape in Nova Scotia (Source: Financial Post)
Canada’s push to build the country’s first commercial spaceport in rural Nova Scotia is moving from ambition to execution, backed by hundreds of millions in federal funding and infrastructure investment, but it faces criticism that early stage construction appears limited to a concrete slab and access roads. Spaceport Nova Scotia, under development just outside Canso, will give Canada domestic orbital launch capability and support regional economic development while entering a global launch industry increasingly dominated by private companies.

Canada currently relies on foreign launch sites in the United States and Europe to send satellites into orbit for communications, earth observation, navigation and defense purposes. The company behind the project, Halifax-based Maritime Launch Services Inc. (MLS), said it is on track, though it is still in its early stages and must navigate technical, financial and market risks to become operational on schedule. (5/26)

Isar Aerospace Partners with Maritime Launch Services for Orbital Launch Readiness From Nova Scotia (Source: Isar Aerospace)
Space company Isar Aerospace and Spaceport operator Maritime Launch Services (MLS), have signed a Letter of Intent to advance sovereign orbital launch readiness from Nova Scotia, Canada. The agreement brings together Isar Aerospace’s orbital launch system and MLS’s launch site, Spaceport Nova Scotia, which is strategically located for launches to support reliable access to mid- to high-inclination and polar orbits for Earth observation and communication satellites and constellations, supporting commercial and government missions. (5/26)

New Material Could Help NASA Melt Moon Rocks, Harness Lunar Resources (Source: NASA)
A material recently discovered and tested at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland could help astronauts pack lighter for future missions to the Moon. NASA is researching ways explorers could “live off the land” by harnessing lunar resources, including melting Moon rocks to extract metals for building infrastructure and oxygen for fuel and life support.

As part of a graduate fellowship through the agency’s Space Technology Graduate Research Opportunities, Dr. Kevin Yu and Dr. Jamesa Stokes realized they’d stumbled across something promising and entirely new. After combining simulated lunar dust with a compound called scandium oxide and heat treating the mixture using a red-hot furnace, they discovered that an unknown material had formed. The team found that the new substance isn’t corroded too quickly by the molten Moon dirt and can withstand the high temperatures needed to melt it — up to six times hotter than the oven in your kitchen. (5/27)

Aitech Upgrades its Space Supercomputer (Source: Payload)
Aitech Systems announced an upgrade to its supercomputer today that is intended to fuel the next wave of AI applications in orbit. By integrating NVIDIA’s IGX Thor platform into the S-A2300 COTS AI Supercomputer, as well as future computing iterations, Aitech officials say the company is drastically expanding customers’ ability to process data in orbit—an important growth point as the demand for in-space computing skyrockets. (5/27)

Schaeffler, Spire Global Team Up for Space Hardware, Satellite Platforms in Europe (Source: Reuters)
Schaeffler and U.S.-based satellite operator Spire Global have signed a memorandum ‌of understanding to jointly develop space hardware and satellite platforms for European defense, weather and security applications. Shares of the German ​machine and auto parts maker jumped 15% after ​the deal was announced. The ​companies intend to build a sovereign European space hardware ​and mission business before the end of this decade, they said in the joint statement. (5/27)

UK's Archangel Tests World's Smallest Optical Ground Station (Source: Space News)
Archangel Lightworks, the laser communications company, has successfully completed field trials of the TERRA-M, the world’s smallest deployable operational optical ground station, proving its capability. The news was warmly welcomed by Liz Lloyd, the UK Space Minister, and the trials were funded by the UK’s Defense Science and Technology Laboratory.

Data was securely and rapidly transferred between the TERRA-M and a satellite in low Earth orbit over the course of a multi-day field trial in the Mediterranean region earlier this month. The field trials used the U.S. Space Development Agency laser communication standard and were repeated across multiple passes to prove reliability. The TERRA-M is a small fraction of the size of traditional optical ground stations with an optical head standing just 1.1m tall and 0.7m in diameter. (5/27)

EU to Squeeze US Space Tech Out of Prized Satellite Airwaves (Source: Politico)
The European Commission wants to reserve most satellite frequencies for European operators when a prized spectrum band opens up next year, opening a new battleground with Washington in the fight for control over technology. European Commission top officials on Wednesday agreed on the details of the selection procedure, earmarking two thirds of a coveted spectrum band for EU players. (5/27)

HPS GmbH to Provide the Communications Antenna for the Apophis-Bound ‘Ramses’ Spacecraft (Source: Spacewatch Global)
OHB Italia and Munich-based antenna specialist HPS GmbH signed a contract making the latter responsible for procuring the communications antenna for the Apophis-bound Ramses spacecraft. Asteroid Apophis will fly within 32,000 km of the Earth’s surface in 2029, almost ten times closer than the moon, offering a unique opportunity for scientific and planetary defense research. The Ramses Spacecraft will therefore launch a year earlier and rendezvous with the asteroid before the flyby, helping scientists gather vital data about the flyby’s effect on the 375-meter asteroid. (5/27)

Starships Are Meant to Eventually Fly (Source: Space Review)
Last week marked both the first flight of the latest version of SpaceX’s Starship as well as the release of the company’s prospectus for its initial public offering. Jeff Foust reports on how both reveal how central Starship is to the company’s future. Click here. (5/27)
 
Fear and Panic in Orbit Around the Red Planet: Missions to Phobos and Deimos (Source: Space Review)
While most concepts for missions to Mars have focused on the planet itself, some have instead planned to explore its two small moons. Dwayne Day examines the history of those concepts and an upcoming Japanese sample return mission. Click here. (5/27)
 
Reassessing NASA Procurement Strategy: A Hybrid Approach (Source: Space Review)
NASA is using a mix of cost-plus and fixed-price contracts for its missions, but each approach as advantages and disadvantages. Eli Lichtenstein offers an alternative that attempts to combine the best of both. Click here. (5/27)

NASA Goes Big on Lunar Base Plan, "Hundreds of Square Miles" (Source: Space.com)
"We envision the moon base to be hundreds of square miles, with different assets all building up to the objective of permanent lunar presence on the moon," Carlos García-Galán, the manager of NASA's Moon Base program at the agency's headquarters in Washington, D.C., said during a press conference Tuesday (May 26). NASA didn't go into the moon base-planning process with a big footprint as a priority. Rather, it emerged naturally, as all of the envisioned elements started coming together in planners' heads.

"There's no one spot that covers all the science, all the technology, all the habitation needs of the surface, and even within the local area, you have to consider the terrain," NASA's Nujoud Merancy, chief architect of the Moon Base program, said during today's briefing. (5/27)

Astrophysicists Gain Treasure Trove of Gravitational Wave Detections (Source: Phys.org)
Researchers from the University of Glasgow's Institute for Gravitational Research are celebrating the publication of a vast new treasure trove of gravitational wave detections, hailed as a milestone marking the coming of age of gravitational astronomy. This latest update details a total of 161 new signals from colliding black holes detected between April 2024 and the end of January 2025 by the gravitational wave detectors LIGO in the United States, Virgo in Italy, and KAGRA in Japan, known as the LVK collaboration. The publication brings the total number of gravitational wave signals detected to date to 390. (5/26)

Blue Canyon Supports Dutch Space Sovereignty (Source: Blue Canyon)
Through the Axient Systems B.V. PAMI mission, Blue Canyon Technologies is supporting Dutch efforts to advance sovereign capability and national security in orbit. Utilizing Blue Canyon’s flight-proven bus designs and high-performance components, PAMI-1 will demonstrate how agile, mission-ready small satellite technology can deliver reliable, responsive solutions tailored to evolving defense and intelligence needs. (5/27)

Could Aliens Ever Visit Earth? An Aerospace Scientist Unpacks the Challenges of Interstellar Spaceflight (Source: The Conversation)
There is no evidence of intelligent alien life in our solar system. So any extraterrestrial visitors would likely have to come from another star system within our Milky Way galaxy. Proxima Centauri, the star closest to our Sun, is located 4.25 light-years away. Since only a fraction of stars are thought to host intelligent life, the nearest alien civilization – if one exists – is surely much farther away than Proxima.

There is no universally accepted upper limit on interstellar flight speeds, but studies tend to converge around 19,000 miles per second (30,000 km/s) – 10% of the speed of light – as a realistic cruise velocity. At this speed, a journey of 10 light-years will take approximately 100 years to complete. Finding a way to accelerate the ship to its target cruise speed is the central challenge facing any would-be alien explorers. No single law of physics prohibits an interstellar voyage to Earth. But the combined effects of hundreds of extreme, often conflicting engineering requirements may render it physically infeasible.

Ultimately, engineering challenges are just some of the many barriers to interstellar travel. Any prospective alien visitors must also have sufficient cognitive ability, technological maturity, physical resources, collective desire and proximity to Earth. That said, if the stars were to align and an alien vessel made it to Earth intact, it would trigger a torrent of burning questions: Where are they from? What do they want? What are they made of? Editor's Note: Given the constraints we understand, if any of the suspected visitations are real, they likely are extra-dimensional. (5/26)

How Mobile Deep‑Space Medical Systems Could Support Future Landings on the Moon and Mars (Source: The Conversation)
 As a physician and space medicine researcher, I watched life aboard the mission spacecraft Orion — where four astronauts worked, ate, exercised and managed personal hygiene in a tiny capsule — with curiosity. Questions raced through my mind: Is this confined living environment psychologically sustainable if future missions last several months? What if there is a medical emergency during the 40-minute communications blackout when Orion passes behind the far side of the moon?

My previous research has highlighted how the environment of space itself can be disabling, and virtually every system within the human body is affected by the extremes of space flight. As humanity prepares for its next mission to the moon and eventually onward to Mars, we need to consider how to evolve health-care delivery beyond Earth. We need deep-space medical systems that are self-sustaining, lightweight, robust and functional with minimal maintenance or reliance on Earth-based support.

Astronauts will require substantially greater medical autonomy, including the ability to assess, diagnose and manage acute and chronic issues. A lunar base or Mars mission would need the crew to have access to an entire mobile medical clinic integrated within their spacecraft or habitat. Such a facility would house diagnostic and treatment capabilities sufficient to independently manage health issues over prolonged periods. (5/26)

An Astronaut Suddenly Couldn’t Speak in Space. What Does That Mean for Future Missions? (Source: CNN)
Five months into his fourth International Space Station mission, veteran NASA astronaut Mike Fincke was having dinner the day before a routine spacewalk. Suddenly, he found himself unable to speak. The episode in January lasted just 20 minutes and while Fincke felt no pain, he became agitated. “It was completely out of the blue. It was just amazingly quick,” Fincke recently said. “My crewmates definitely saw that I was in distress. It was all hands on deck within just a matter of seconds,” he said.

Fincke’s fellow astronauts and a series of emergency protocols kept him safe, but NASA still made an unprecedented move: The agency cut short the SpaceX Crew-11 mission, returning Fincke and three of his fellow astronauts to Earth a month early. Certain blood flow issues could also potentially lead to a temporary lapse of speech. “There is something known as a TIA, or Transient ischaemic attack, which is basically a brief episode of a neurological dysfunction, usually due to the blood flow to the brain being interrupted,” Dr. Farhan Asrar said. “It tends to resolve by itself and not leave any kind of permanent damage.”

One way to manage the problem would be to include a doctor as a crew member, which wouldn’t be too difficult since many astronauts are also physicians. The first American medical doctor to become an astronaut was Joseph Kerwin in 1973, and since then about three dozen NASA physicians have become astronauts. It’s common in other countries, too: Four of the nine Canadians who have flown in space are physicians. (5/26)

Texas Companies Win and Lose NASA Contracts As the Agency Pushes Toward a Moon Base (Source: Houston Chronicle)
NASA unveiled new contracts on Tuesday as part of its push to build a moon base, awarding work to one Texas company while passing over another firm based in Houston. Central Texas-based Firefly Aerospace will deliver NASA’s aerial scouts – propulsive drones built off the technology developed for the Ingenuity Mars helicopter – to the moon.

But Houston’s Intuitive Machines will not continue its work on an unpressurized vehicle for astronauts to drive. NASA selected California-based Astrolab and Colorado-based Lunar Outpost to build these Lunar Terrain Vehicles. Houston’s Axiom Space, which is building a commercial space station, is part of the Astrolab-led team. It’s assisting with spacesuit integration, crew display and controls, and tool design. NASA initially chose three companies, including Intuitive Machines, to design Lunar Terrain Vehicles as part of a feasibility study. NASA was not expected to fund all three to move forward with their designs. (5/26)

Moscow Threatens Elon Musk’s SpaceX With Nuclear Retaliation Over Ukraine Starlink Use (Source: United 24)
Russian State Duma  Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin threatened a nuclear strike if SpaceX continues to provide Ukraine with Starlink satellite internet access. His comments follow a Ukrainian strike on occupied Starobilsk on May 22, which the Ukrainian General Staff reported targeted the "Rubikon" Russian drone unit headquarters. Moscow claims the attack hit a college dormitory. (5/26)

Musk Says US Military Suicide Drones Used Starlink in Violation of SpaceX Rules (Source: Ars Technica)
SpaceX and the Pentagon have been bickering about the price of using Starshield satellite service during the Iran war, according to a Reuters report published today. It appears that SpaceX asked the military for more money after it started using satellite terminals on “kamikaze” attack drones in Iran. Elon Musk claimed the Reuters report is wrong. But Musk also said the military drones initially used the commercial Starlink service instead of the government-specific network, in violation of Starlink’s terms of service.

Musk blamed the violation on the contractor that built the drones for the government. The Reuters report, based on Pentagon documents and interviews with sources familiar with the pricing talks, said that SpaceX recently asked the military to pay $25,000 for Starshield access on each kamikaze drone. The Pentagon, which previously paid $5,000 for each connection, objected to the price hike but ultimately agreed to pay it. (5/26)

Rice Launches Space Humanities Initiative To Bring Cultural Inquiry Into Conversation About Space (Source: Rice University)
Ethics is rarely the first thing built into a rocket. Yet as space increasingly becomes the domain of commercial contracts, national rivalries and questions about who owns what beyond Earth, a new Rice University initiative argues those questions deserve their own infrastructure, not a footnote in someone else’s research agenda. The Space Humanities Initiative officially launched May 7 and brings scholars across disciplines together to examine how culture, language, ethics and imagination shape space exploration, and how space exploration shapes them in return. (5/26)

Embry‑Riddle Speaker Series Explores International Collaborations in Space (Source: ERAU)
Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical University recently hosted a series of policy experts and officials to discuss U.S.-Japan cooperation in space security. The seven-part series — held throughout the spring semester — concluded in late April with a lecture by Keiichi Wada, director of the Washington, D.C. office for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). In that role, Wada is responsible for fostering collaborations with U.S. agencies, including NASA and NOAA, as well as other space programs in North and South America. (5/21)

Rocket Lab Adds Mars-Proven Robotics Capabilities with Completion of Motiv Space Systems Acquisition (Source: Rocket Lab)
Rocket Lab has completed the acquisition of Motiv Space Systems, a California-based company specializing in space robotics, motion control systems, and precision mechanisms for spacecraft. Motiv – now rebranded as Rocket Lab Robotics – brings mission-tested Mars heritage and is renowned for its advanced multi-degree of freedom robotic arms, actuators, and drive electronics that have enabled some of the most ambitious planetary exploration missions in history, and precision mechanisms supporting critical scientific instruments and spacecraft subsystems.

The acquisition establishes Rocket Lab as one of the few companies in the world capable of delivering end-to-end Mars mission solutions including launch, spacecraft, software, and Mars-proven robotics for surface and on-orbit operations. (5/26)

American Airlines Picks Starlink for In-Flight Wi-Fi on More Than 500 Planes (Source: CNBC)
American Airlines plans to outfit more than 500 of its narrow-body aircraft with Starlink, handing another win to Elon Musk’s SpaceX unit that has made inroads with major carriers for in-flight Wi-Fi. American was evaluating Starlink and Amazon Leo as recently as March for the service. (5/26)