Plus: What the continuing resolution means for keeping up with China
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| | | A SpaceNews daily newsletter | | 03/27/2025 | | | | | The U.S. Space Force has certified ULA's Vulcan Centaur for national security launches. The service's Space Systems Command (SSC) announced Wednesday it completed certification of Vulcan, allowing the rocket to perform launches under its National Security Space Launch (NSSL) contract. The certification came after various reviews, including of data from two certification launches. The process also involved an investigation into an anomaly during the second Vulcan launch where the nozzle on one of two solid rocket boosters fell off, a problem traced to a manufacturing defect in one component of the booster. SSC said the first Vulcan NSSL launch would take place in the summer. [SpaceNews]
The U.S. military is preparing to award several high-stakes contracts for commercial satellite communications services this fall. The Space Force's Commercial Satellite Communications Office last week issued a final solicitation for bids for the Marine Enterprise Commercial Satellite Services contract, a seven-year deal to provide global satellite coverage for the U.S. Marine Corps estimated to be worth $500 million. Another closely watched procurement is the maneuverable geostationary Earth orbit initiative, estimated at $900 million, that could include acquiring dedicated small GEO satellites. The contracts show a growing reliance on private-sector capabilities for battlefield connectivity and global coverage. [SpaceNews]
The Space Force's top general is worried that shrinking budgets will make it hard to keep pace with China. Gen. Chance Saltzman, chief of space operations, said at a Mitchell Institute event Wednesday that the Space Force is "literally shrinking in resources" because of the year-long continuing resolution funding the government and the effects of inflation. He said those declining budgets make him worry that the U.S. will not be able to keep up with Chinese and Russian military space activities. He added, though, that he felt the Space Force would be spared significant reductions in a proposed budget realignment within the Defense Department for fiscal year 2026 announced by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. [SpaceNews]
A cargo mission will not fly to the International Space Station this June because of damage to the spacecraft. NASA said Wednesday that the pressurized cargo module for Northrop Grumman's next Cygnus spacecraft, NG-22, sustained damage when transported to the launch pad and will not launch in June. The next Cygnus mission will instead be NG-23 no earlier than this fall. NASA said earlier this month it would replace some science payloads with consumables like food on a cargo Dragon mission launching in April after concerns the Cygnus might be damaged, based on damage to its shipping container. [SpaceNews]
Axiom Space is raising a funding round that would value the company at about $2 billion. Venture firms 1789 Capital and Type One Ventures are reportedly leading the round that would provide Axiom with at least $100 million. The company raised $350 million in a Series C round in August 2023. Axiom is working on modules for a commercial space station as well as a spacesuit NASA plans to use on Artemis lunar missions. [Bloomberg]
Gravitics won a contract from the Space Force's SpaceWERX unit for a tactically responsive spacecraft. The company said Wednesday it received a Strategic Funding Increase, or STRATFI, award from SpaceWERX, the commercial outreach arm of the Space Force, worth up to $60 million, with the defense agencies providing up to $30 million and the rest matched by private funds. Gravitics, which has been developing commercial space station modules, said it will apply that technology to Orbital Carrier, a spacecraft that could deploy multiple "maneuverable space vehicles" in orbit in response to threats. [SpaceNews]
| | | | | China launched a data relay satellite to support its human spaceflight program Wednesday. A Long March 3B lifted off at 11:55 a.m. Eastern from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center and placed the Tianlian-2 (04) satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit. The Tianlian-2 satellites are similar to NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellites, providing communications for Shenzhou spacecraft and the Tiangong space station. [SpaceNews]
Rocket Lab launched eight cubesats for German wildfire-tracking company OroraTech. An Electron rocket lifted off at 11:30 a.m. Eastern Wednesday from Rocket Lab's Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand, placing eight OroraTech satellites into orbit. The 8U cubesats, built by Spire, have infrared payloads to allow OroraTech to detect and monitor wildfires. The satellites will operate in an afternoon sun-synchronous orbit, filling a gap in data coverage. OroraTech plans to launch eight more satellites later this year. [SpaceNews]
SpaceX launched another set of Starlink satellites Wednesday. A Falcon 9 blasted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 6:11 p.m. Eastern, placing 27 Starlink satellites into orbit. The launch featured the 24th flight of this booster, which performed a droneship landing in the Pacific. [Space.com]
French antenna manufacturer Anywaves has opened a new production facility as it makes plans to expand into the United States. The company opened a 500-square-meter pilot plant to bring production of antennas and radio-frequency payloads in house. The plant will help guide the design of future facilities, including one the company plans to open in the United States as soon as 2026. [SpaceNews]
Blue Origin says its next New Shepard suborbital flight is scheduled for April 14. The company announced Thursday the launch date for the NS-31 mission, whose crew the company revealed a month ago. The mission will be the first all-woman spaceflight since Valentina Tereshkova's solo spaceflight in 1963, headlined by television show host Gayle King, pop star Katy Perry and Lauren Sรกnchez, fiancรฉe of Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos. [Blue Origin]
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has observed an aurora at Neptune for the first time. Scientists detected the aurora in near-infrared observations of the planet by JWST, with the aurora located in the planet's mid-latitude regions thanks to its 47-degree angular tilt. While Voyager 2 detected hints of an aurora during its 1989 flyby of the planet, astronomers had not seen the aurora in observations since. The cold temperatures of Neptune's upper atmosphere, just over half that observed in 1989, may explain why the aurora is so faint. [NASA]
| Quantum Certainty
| |
"I will admit that during college, at one point in time, I was a physics major. I bailed out after quantum mechanics. I realized there was no Nobel Prize in my future in physics."
โ Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) speaking at a Space Transportation Association event this week.
| | | | | | | | | What's New With SpaceNews? | | Don't forget to sign up for our next webinar! |  | | Join us March 24 for an exclusive one-on-one live interview with Aarti Holla-Maini, director of the United Nations' Office for Outer Space Affairs. With decades of experience shaping global space policy โ including leadership roles at NorthStar Earth & Space and the Global Satellite Operators Association โ she understands the challenges and solutions that may be necessary for managing space sustainability. | | | | |
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