 | Top Stories
Ariane 6 is set to make its long-delayed first launch later today. The rocket is scheduled to lift off during a four-hour window that opens at 2 p.m. Eastern this afternoon. The launch is formally a test flight, carrying a set of smallsats and reentry payloads. Its success, however, is critical for Europe to end an ongoing "launcher crisis" that has kept it from launching its own satellites, forcing it to turn to SpaceX's Falcon 9. [SpaceNews]
A shift to constellations is forcing the Space Force to reconsider how it will use those spacecraft. The Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) represents a paradigm shift in military space operations and is forcing the Space Force to rethink its structure and practices. Lt. Gen. David Miller, head of the Space Force's Space Operations Command, said Monday that space operations units will need a "different mindset" to make the best use of large numbers of satellites rather than a handful of long-lived spacecraft. Miller said he is meeting with Space Development Agency Director Derek Tournear this week to discuss how space forces could support combatant commands with these new capabilities. [SpaceNews]
A House spending bill would direct NASA to begin studies of an asteroid mission and orbital debris inspection mission not in the agency's budget proposal. The House Appropriations Committee released Monday the report accompanying a commerce, justice and science spending bill for fiscal year 2025 that the committee will take up today. The report includes a provision directing NASA to spend up to $25 million on an orbital debris inspection mission, something that NASA had not stated plans to develop. It also includes $5 million to study a potential mission to the asteroid Apophis done in cooperation with the private sector. The report calls for increased spending on Mars Sample Return even as NASA studies alternative approaches and expresses support, but no specific funding levels, for the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. [SpaceNews]
MDA Space will buy satellite components from Belgian manufacturer Aerospacelab. Aerospacelab announced Monday that it will provide more than 200 battery charge regulators, used to manage power distribution and battery charging in satellite systems, for MDA Space's Aurora satellites over a three-year period starting in 2026. This deal marks another step in MDA Space's supply chain development for Aurora, which was unveiled in March as a new line of software-defined satellites with Telesat as the anchor customer. [SpaceNews]
Scout Space has been tapped to join a DARPA program. The startup, which develops satellite flight software and space domain awareness sensors, will participate in the BRIDGES (Bringing Classified Innovation to Defense and Government Systems) consortium. The initiative seeks to bridge the gap between cutting-edge commercial technologies and classified defense needs, particularly in areas considered critical to maintaining U.S. military superiority. The company says it was selected by DARPA for its proposal outlining an approach to "advancing autonomous in-space threat response." [SpaceNews]
Nine space startups based in the United Kingdom will participate in an accelerator program based in California. Mandala Space Ventures said Monday that the startups picked for the SoCal-UK Space Accelerator will spend eight weeks in virtual courses and finish with an in-person pitch day at Caltech. The SoCal-UK Space Accelerator is one of four accelerators the UK Space Agency announced in February as part of a pilot program with up to £500,000 of funding. [SpaceNews]
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| Other News
SpaceX launched Turkey's first domestically built communications satellite Monday night. A Falcon lifted off at 7:30 p.m. Eastern carrying the Turksat 6A satellite, which was deployed into a geostationary transfer orbit. The 4,250-kilogram spacecraft features Ku- and X-band transponders to provide satellite TV and communications services over parts of Europe, the Middle East and Asia from 42 degrees east in GEO. [SpaceNews]
The Defense Department has decided to proceed with the $140 billion Sentinel ICBM program despite cost and schedule problems. Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisitions William LaPlante certified that the Sentinel program met statutory criteria to continue following a comprehensive review triggered by a critical Nunn-McCurdy breach earlier this year when costs exceeded projections by 25%. Officials maintain that replacing the Minuteman III ICBMs with the new Sentinel system is crucial for maintaining the land-based portion of the U.S. nuclear triad. [SpaceNews]
The Japanese space agency JAXA will seek proposals for technologies that could be used for future commercial space stations. The technologies, which include cargo transportation systems, life science experiment systems and space station modules, will be among the technologies that JAXA will support through a new Space Strategic Fund, which will spend one trillion yen ($6.2 billion) over 10 years. A JAXA official said at the Spacetide conference in Tokyo on Monday that JAXA is still studying how to participate in NASA-backed commercial space stations being developed by American companies to replace the International Space Station. [SpaceNews]
Radar mapping company Iceye is enhancing its work with Ukraine. The company announced Monday that it signed a memorandum of cooperation with Ukraine's defense ministry that ensures that synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images taken by Iceye's satellites are not used by hostile countries. Iceye will also provide SAR expertise to support defense activities. The agreement builds on earlier work that included the purchase of an Iceye satellite by a Ukrainian charity to support the country's war effort. [Iceye]
A Florida spaceport is shifting its focus from launch activities to research and development. Cecil Air and Spaceport in Jacksonville has been an FAA-licensed spaceport for years but has yet to host a launch from its facilities. The spaceport says that rather than seeking companies that can perform horizontal launches from the site, it is working instead to attract companies interested in performing more general aerospace R&D there, taking advantage of the former naval air station's extensive real estate. [Jacksonville Business Journal]
Astronomers are raising a stink about an exoplanet. The exoplanet, HD 189733 b, has traces of hydrogen sulfide, a gas linked to rotten eggs, in its atmosphere, according to spectroscopic observations by the James Webb Space Telescope. The planet was already not particularly hospitable, with high temperatures and molten glass raining through its atmosphere. "This is not a planet we humans want to visit, but a valuable target for furthering our understanding of planetary science," said Guangwei Fu, the scientist who led the latest study of the planet. [Reuters]
| |  | Lunar Adrenaline Junkies
"When we launched our first mission to the moon, even though we had trained extensively, we probably had less than a dozen people in the company with practical space flight operations experience. Now I have 70 adrenaline junkies who want to go do it again."
– Tim Crain, co-founder and chief growth officer of lunar lander company Intuitive Machines, talking about plans for the company's second mission to the moon at the Spacetide conference Tuesday in Tokyo.
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