Plus: ClearSpace's next phase in debris removal
| | | A SpaceNews daily newsletter | | 05/08/2025 | | | | | Capella Space, a company that operates synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites, is being acquired by a quantum computing company. IonQ announced Wednesday it is buying Capella Space in a deal in which terms were not disclosed. IonQ said it is buying Capella to support its plans to develop a space-based quantum key distribution network, which promises to offer communications with encryption impossible to be broken. IonQ's interest in Capella goes beyond satellite hardware. The radar firm holds classified contracts and operates secure facilities, which could give IonQ a pathway into defense and intelligence markets as it builds out its space-based quantum vision. [SpaceNews]
The White House has nominated Matthew Anderson, a former Air Force officer, to be NASA's deputy administrator. Anderson served 24 years in the Air Force, retiring as a colonel in 2021, and is now a vice president at CACI International. He also is one of the leaders of the Space Force Association, an advocacy group. The nomination took some in the space community by surprise since he has not worked with NASA. However, Anderson knows Jared Isaacman, the nominee for NASA administrator, and has publicly supported that nomination. [SpaceNews]
The director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is stepping down. JPL said Wednesday that Laurie Leshin will depart as director effective June 1 after three years leading the lab, citing personal reasons. During her time as JPL director she oversaw efforts to address institutional issues there that caused delays in the Psyche asteroid mission and grappled with budget uncertainty about the Mars Sample Return program that led to layoffs. Caltech, which runs JPL for NASA, said it selected David Gallagher as the next director of JPL. He has been at the lab for 36 years, most recently as associate director for strategic integration. [SpaceNews]
NASA is halting plans to fly a robotic lunar rover through a commercial partnership. NASA said Wednesday it canceled a solicitation for commercial partnerships to launch its VIPER mission, a rover that would look for water ice at the south pole of the moon. A NASA official said that the agency decided to halt the solicitation after reviewing initial proposals from companies, electing to pursue unspecified "alternative approaches" that would be structured differently. Companies said that NASA's original approach was challenging because they would be required to cover all the costs of launching and operating VIPER but NASA would get all the rights to the data collected. NASA sought the partnerships after canceling last year original plans to launch VIPER on a commercial lander. [SpaceNews]
ClearSpace has completed the next phase of work on a proposed active debris removal mission for the U.K. Space Agency. The Swiss company said Wednesday it finished the second phase of the project by testing and refining technology to remove satellites from low Earth orbit. ClearSpace and Astroscale are competing for a contract from the space agency to remove two defunct satellites from LEO. [SpaceNews]
Sierra Space has completed a ground-based demonstration of a prototype navigation satellite. The demonstration, conducted in a laboratory using a "FlatSat" setup, tested Sierra Space's satellite hardware and flight software, along with ground communications systems. Sierra Space, based in Colorado, is one of three companies selected in 2024 to compete in the Space Force's Resilient GPS program, which aims to supplement traditional GPS satellites with smaller, commercially developed systems. [SpaceNews]
| | | | | The U.S. government has been pushing countries to approve Starlink services as part of trade negotiations. Internal messages among U.S. embassies and the State Department indicate that the U.S. government has pushed countries to license Starlink amid negotiations regarding tariffs. The documents don't show an explicit quid-pro-quo regarding Starlink and lower tariffs, but the service is often mentioned by name in the documents as part of efforts by the State Department to gain market access for the service in other countries. [Washington Post]
Starlink is a step closer to beginning service in India. SpaceX received a letter of intent this week from the Indian government's Department of Telecommunications, giving its approval for the company to offer Starlink services in the country. The notice confirmed that SpaceX accepted national security requirements for offering service in the country, including local data processing and use of domestic sources for ground segment equipment. SpaceX still needs a license from the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre as well as a spectrum allocation before it can operate in India. [Business Today]
Top Democrats on two House committees are asking NASA and the Pentagon for details about potential conflicts of interest involving Elon Musk. The letter from ranking members of the House Armed Services Committee and House Science Committee sought details on how NASA and the Defense Department are addressing potential conflicts of interest involving Musk's roles as both CEO of SpaceX and a senior adviser to President Trump. The letter also cited concerns that Chinese investors have put money into SpaceX through offshore accounts. This is the latest in a series of letters from congressional Democrats about such issues, which have gotten little traction to date. [SpaceNews]
Environmental advocates are concerned that NOAA will cancel research into atmospheric pollution from reentering satellites. An advocacy group, the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, said it is looking into whether Elon Musk played a role in a proposal by NOAA to close its office of atmospheric research and freeze funding of existing grants. That office had funded research into the effects on the upper atmosphere from the reentries of satellites, which can deposit metals that can affect atmospheric chemistry. [The Guardian]
Japanese satellite imagery company Alexspace is reportedly planning an IPO. The company, which operates several small satellites to provide imagery, as well as builds satellites for other companies, has filed with the Tokyo Stock Exchange to go public as soon as June. The company is working on a new set of seven imaging satellites next year, as well as a prototype of that series slated to launch next month. Axelspace would be the first Japanese space startup to go public in recent years, following satellite servicing company Astroscale, lunar lander developer ispace and SAR companies iQPS and Synspective. [Reuters]
Pradman Kaul, the longtime president of satellite broadband company Hughes Network Systems, has died. Kaul was an early employee of Digital Communications Corporation, which became Hughes Network Systems, becoming president of the company in 2000. He retired from Hughes in 2022, nearly 50 years after he joined the company. [ViaSatellite]
| What About the Other Half?
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"I'm going to offend half of my colleagues when I say that particle detectors are pretty simple to build, but they are."
– Nicky Fox, NASA associate administrator for science, discussing heliophysics research at the moon during a meeting Wednesday of a National Academies committee looking into science on the moon outside of the polar regions.
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