Plus: The head of the FAA's commercial space transportation office is leaving
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| A SpaceNews daily newsletter | 04/28/2025 | | | | The Golden Dome missile defense program would receive $25 billion as part of a defense bill. The funding is part of $150 billion in additional defense spending for fiscal year 2025 that the leadership of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees have proposed adding to a budget reconciliation bill. The $25 billion earmarked for Golden Dome includes about $15 billion for satellites, sensors, launch infrastructure and interceptors. Democrats oppose the plan, citing the legislative strategy and potential impacts on social programs. [SpaceNews] A test of a missile-tracking satellite may give L3Harris an edge in Golden Dome contracts. The Missile Defense Agency confirmed Friday that L3Harris' Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) satellite prototype met performance targets in tests. MDA launched two competing HBTSS demonstration satellites in February 2024, one built by L3Harris and another by Northrop Grumman, but only the L3Harris satellite has satisfied program requirements. HBTSS is seen as a cornerstone technology in the Golden Dome program by providing tracking information to guide interceptors to hypersonic missiles. [SpaceNews] A new study finds that GPS interference has become routine in conflicts around the world. The "Space Threat Assessment" report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, released Friday, identifies Russia and Israel as primary actors in widespread GPS spoofing campaigns tied to ongoing military operations in Ukraine and Gaza. The report identified several other worrying trends, including Russia's alleged development of space-based nuclear anti-satellite systems and increased cyberthreats to space systems, concluding that space is becoming "a more dangerous place," increasingly intertwined with both peacetime and wartime strategies. [SpaceNews] The head of the FAA's commercial space transportation office is leaving. The FAA confirmed that Kelvin Coleman, the FAA's associate administrator for commercial space transportation, is among those who opted in to a second round of the agency's Deferred Resignation Program, which allows personnel to leave the agency and continue to be paid through the end of the fiscal year. Coleman led the office, which licenses commercial launches and reentries, since 2022 and previously was deputy associate administrator. [SpaceNews] Astrotech won a Space Force contract to increase payload processing capacity at Vandenberg Space Force Base. The $77.5 million contract announced Friday is part of a public-private partnership for cost-sharing of expanded facilties for payload processing at the spaceport. Astrotech currently has 40,000 square feet of payload processing facilities at Vandenberg. Space Force officials have identified satellite processing facilities as a significant bottleneck in recent years. [SpaceNews] The nominee to be Secretary of the Air Force has acknowledged that Elon Musk sat in on his interview with President Trump. Troy Meink said in written responses to questions from the Senate Armed Services Committee that Musk was "one of many people" present at the interview, but that only Trump asked questions. Musk's presence at the interview, though, has raised conflict of interest issues given SpaceX's role as a defense contractor. Jared Isaacman, nominee to be NASA administrator, has repeatedly declined to answer questions about whether Musk was present in his own interview with Trump. [Politico]
| | | | China launched a data relay satellite Sunday. A Long March 3B lifted off at 11:54 a.m. Eastern from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, placing into geostationary transfer orbit the Tianlian-2 (05) data tracking and relay communications satellite. The satellite will provide data relay and telemetry, tracking and command services for crewed spacecraft and the Tiangong space station as well as other spacecraft in low and medium Earth orbits. [SpaceNews]
SpaceX launched a set of Starlink satellites Sunday night. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 10:09 p.m. Eastern and placed 23 Starlink satellites into orbit. The launch was the 250th by SpaceX dedicated to deployment of Starlink satellites. [UPI] Two American universities are among those receiving lunar samples from China's Chang'e-5 mission. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced last week that seven universities in six countries would receive samples returned by Chang'e-5, China's first lunar sample return mission, in 2020. The recipients include Brown University and Stony Brook University in the United States. NASA allowed American universities to apply for the samples despite limitations on bilateral cooperation with China through the Wolf Amendment. [SpaceNews]
Axiom Space has promoted one of its executives to CEO. The company announced Friday that Tejpaul Bhatia, its chief revenue officer, would become CEO. Bhatia joined Axiom in 2021 and secured more than $1 billion in contracts for the company, which is working on a commercial space station and other space infrastructure. Kam Ghaffarian, co-founder and executive chairman, had been serving as acting CEO since last August, when Michael Suffredini stepped down as CEO and joined the company's board. [SpaceNews]
A Russian military satellite the United States claimed is a test of a space-based nuclear anti-satellite weapon appears to be tumbling. Commercial space situational awareness companies LeoLabs and Slingshot Aerospace said their observations indicate Cosmos 2553 is tumbling, suggesting that the spacecraft is inoperable. The spacecraft launched in 2022 into a 2,000-kilometer orbit, and U.S. officials said last year that they believe the satellite is linked to Russian efforts to develop nuclear weapons that would disable satellites, adding that the satellite itself does not have a nuclear device. The companies said Cosmos 2553 started tumbling last year. [Reuters]
Canadian launch startup Reaction Dynamics won a $1 million investment from a reality show. The company won the investment through the "Meet the Drapers" show starring longtime venture capitalist Tim Draper. Reaction Dynamics says the funding will be part of a $5 million round it is raising to advance its development of hybrid propulsion systems for use on suborbital and orbital vehicles. [SpaceQ]
| The Week Ahead |
Monday:
Monday-Wednesday:
Tuesday:
- Inner Mongolia, China: Anticipated landing of the Shenzhou-19 spacecraft after a six-month mission to the Tiangong space station at about 2:04 a.m. Eastern.
- Kourou, French Guiana: Scheduled launch of a Vega rocket carrying ESA's Biomass spacecraft at 5:15 a.m. Eastern.
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Washington: The House Science Committee holds a markup session for several bills, including three space-related ones, at 10 a.m. Eastern.
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Online: NOAA's Science Advisory Board meets to discuss NOAA science activities starting at 12:30 p.m. Eastern.
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Online: The Mitchell Institute's Schriever Spacepower Series holds a webinar on military communications and PNT at 1 p.m. Eastern.
Wednesday:
Wednesday-Thursday:
Thursday:
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