Plus: Going to the moon before Mars and the fight over "competitive endurance."
| | | A SpaceNews daily newsletter | | 02/27/2025 | | | | | A Falcon 9 launched a commercial lunar lander and three rideshare payloads Wednesday evening. The rocket lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center at 7:16 p.m. Eastern, deploying the IM-2 lunar lander nearly 45 minutes later. IM-2 is scheduled to land on the moon March 6 carrying NASA and commercial payloads. Also on the launch were three rideshare payloads: NASA's Lunar Trailblazer orbiter, an asteroid prospecting spacecraft for AstroForge and an orbital transfer vehicle developed by Epic Aerospace. [SpaceNews]
A report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) raised red flags about a key technology in missile-tracking spacecraft for the Space Development Agency (SDA). The GAO report, published Wednesday, said that SDA is moving to acquire and launch new tranches of satellites before validating that the intersatellite links on those satellites function properly in space. According to the GAO, SDA has yet to fully demonstrate the technology in orbit, preventing the agency from applying lessons learned from the initial set of Tranche 0 satellites to the much larger number of Tranche 1 and 2 satellites. The Department of the Air Force said it was implementing recommendations by the GAO to fully demonstrate a minimum viable product for laser intersatellite links before launching more spacecraft, but the GAO countered that it saw little evidence of that work. [SpaceNews]
Witnesses at a House hearing Wednesday offered different solutions for improving NASA's Artemis lunar exploration campaign. Scott Pace, former executive secretary of the National Space Council, told the House Science Committee's space subcommittee that NASA should find an "off-ramp" from the SLS to commercial heavy-lift vehicles that would be more cost-effective and sustainable. Dan Dumbacher, a former NASA official, said he was doubtful that SpaceX's Starship lunar lander would be ready for crewed missions by 2030, when China expects to conduct its first human lunar landing. He called for development of a "small, new lander" that could be ready before 2030. Both agreed, though, that a return to the moon was an essential step for future missions to Mars, rather than attempting to go to Mars directly. [SpaceNews]
The space industry is scrambling for ways to mitigate the financial strain of the Trump administration's "America First" trade and tariff policies. During a webinar, industry officials said tariffs, particularly on raw materials and electronics, will drive up near-term costs for satellite systems and launch vehicles. The tariffs may disproportionately affect small businesses, which may lack the financial flexibility to absorb higher costs possessed by larger, more established companies. While the tariffs may encourage American companies to seek more domestic suppliers, it could create opportunities for companies in other countries as they reassess trade alliances. [SpaceNews]
The Space Force Association is pushing back against a report that called on the Space Force to reassess how it should prepare for conflicts in space. A report last week by the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies criticized the "competitive endurance" framework adopted by the Space Force and called for a more aggressive posture to counter threats from adversaries. Earlier this week, the Space Force Association, an independent nonprofit group that advocates for the Space Force, issued a strong rebuttal. It argued the Space Force has "emphasized creating warfighting capability and ethos" and pointed to efforts by the service to increase participation in warfighting exercises, wargaming simulations and high-intensity operational readiness drills. The Space Force hasn't publicly commented on the Mitchell Institute report but has reportedly barred personnel from participating in the institute's events. [SpaceNews]
| | | | | China launched a pair of commercial high-resolution imaging satellites early Thursday. A Long March 2C rocket lifted off at 2:08 a.m. Eastern from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center and placed into orbit the SuperView Neo-1 03 and 04 satellites. The two satellites are part of a constellation of nine optical and radar satellites, eventually growing to 28, to provide high-resolution imagery. [SpaceNews]
SpaceX launched another set of Starlink satellites, this time on a new booster. The Falcon 9 lifted off at 10:34 p.m. Eastern from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and put 21 Starlink satellites into orbit. The launch was a rare flight of a new Falcon 9 booster, designated B1092. The company had postponed launch attempts Monday and Tuesday. [Space.com]
Virgin Galactic plans to start assembly of the first of a new line of suborbital spaceplanes next month. The company said on an earnings call Wednesday that assembly of the first Delta SpaceShip will start in March at a new facility near Phoenix as subassemblies and other components of the vehicle arrive from suppliers. Virgin expects to begin flight tests of the spaceplane next spring, quickly moving into operational flights carrying research payloads in mid-2026 and then private astronauts in the fall of 2026. The Delta SpaceShip is key to Virgin's plans to fly much more frequently and at lower cost in order to become profitable. [SpaceNews]
Rescheduled launches: An Ariane 6 that had been scheduled for this week has been rescheduled for next Monday. Arianespace said this week it had completed work on ground equipment that delayed the launch, the second of the Ariane 6, carrying a French reconnaissance satellite. NASA said Wednesday that the Falcon 9 launch of the SPHEREx astronomy satellite and PUNCH space science mission had slipped from Friday to Sunday. The agency said the delay will provide additional time to prepare the rocket for the launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base. SpaceX announced overnight that the next Starship test flight had slipped from Friday to Monday. The company did not disclose a reason for the delay, although work stacking the vehicle for flight had appeared to fall behind schedule. [Arianespace | NASA | X @SpaceX]
A startup that envisions placing data centers in orbit has new funding and a new name. Starcloud, previously known as Lumen Orbit, announced Wednesday it added $10 million to an $11 million seed round it raised in December. The company wants to develop data centers in orbit powered by giant solar panels generating megawatts of power. The company expects to launch a smallsat this summer to test technologies, including the use of Nvidia GPUs in space. [GeekWire]
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