| | | A SpaceNews daily newsletter | | 06/02/2025 | | | | | In a stunning move, the White House has withdrawn the nomination of Jared Isaacman to be NASA administrator just days before he was set to be confirmed. President Trump announced Saturday night that he was pulling the nomination after "a thorough review of prior associations" that he did not specify. Some reports have suggested this was linked to Isaacman's past political donations to Democrats, but those contributions had been known for many months. The Senate was expected to vote to confirm Isaacman this week. The White House has not announced who it instead plans to select to lead NASA, stating only that a new nominee will be announced "soon." Isaacman had broad support in the space community with little organized opposition to his nomination. [SpaceNews]
The announced withdrawal of Isaacman's nomination came a day after NASA released more details about its fiscal year 2026 budget proposal and the impacts it would have on its missions and workforce. The budget documents released Friday went into details about the proposed $18.8 billion budget, a reduction of nearly 25% from its 2025 budget. The budget seeks to cancel more than 40 science missions, including those in early development as well as those in extended operations, like the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. The budget also envisions reducing NASA's civil servant workforce by one-third. The budget increases exploration budgets, offering a new "Commercial Moon to Mars (M2M) Infrastructure and Transportation Program" to fund commercial systems for missions to the moon and Mars, as well as more than $1 billion for projects associated with human Mars exploration. [SpaceNews]
A Falcon 9 launched a GPS satellite on an accelerated schedule Friday. The Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 1:37 p.m. Eastern and placed the GPS 3 SV08 satellite into orbit. The satellite, built by Lockheed Martin, is the eighth of 10 GPS 3 spacecraft acquired by the Pentagon under a 2008 contract that provides better anti-jamming resistance and deliver improved accuracy and reliability. The Space Force announced in April it was moving the launch of SV08 from United Launch Alliance to SpaceX to demonstrate the ability to more quickly launch such missions. [SpaceNews]
Blue Origin launched a set of space tourists on a suborbital flight Saturday. The company's New Shepard vehicle lifted off from its West Texas site at 9:39 a.m. Eastern, landing about 10 minutes later after reaching a peak altitude of about 105 kilometers. The NS-32 mission carried six people who ranged from the first New Zealander in space, entrepreneur Mark Rocket, to a Texas teacher whose flight was sponsored by a Mexican healthcare company. At a conference last week, Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp reiterated that New Shepard was a "good business" for his firm while also providing it with the ability to test technologies for other vehicles, like New Glenn and its Blue Moon lander. [SpaceNews]
Even as Europe ramps up its investments in space, questions continue about the viability of the IRIS² communications constellation. At the SmallSat Europe conference last week, some European government and industry officials talked up the prospects of IRIS², which will deploy a constellation of 290 satellites at the end of the decade to provide broadband and secure communications services. The constellation, they argued, would ensure European autonomy in space and reduce reliance on satellite systems from other companies and countries. Others, though, argued that IRIS² as currently designed is the wrong approach and "dead in the water," in the words of one investor. They questioned if there would be sufficient commercial demand for the system as well as the ability of the companies involved to raise their 40% share of the system's current cost of 10.6 billion euros. [SpaceNews]
| | | | | The University of Colorado is planning to create a space policy center. The Colorado Space Policy Center will draw from university expertise in space research, including business and other fields, while tapping into space companies and organizations in the region. The center, which will be led by planetary and space physics professor Daniel Baker, will focus on the role of the U.S. government, expanding growth of commercial space and the changing face of interactions between civilian and military factions. [SpaceNews]
SpaceX launched a set of Starlink satellites from California on Saturday. A Falcon 9 lifted off at 4:10 p.m. Eastern on the Starlink 11-18 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The launch placed 27 Starlink satellites into orbit. For the month of May, SpaceX deployed nearly 400 Starlink satellites on 15 launches. [Spaceflight Now]
The FAA, as expected, will require SpaceX to perform a mishap investigation about last week's Starship launch. The FAA said Friday that the investigation into the Flight 9 mission will focus on the Starship upper stage, which suffered a loss of attitude control that led to an uncontrolled reentry. While the Super Heavy booster was also destroyed before it could make a soft splashdown, the FAA said that vehicle's loss was covered by "approved test induced damage exceptions" that don't require an investigation. SpaceX will need to complete the investigation or get a safety approval from the FAA before performing the next Starship launch. [Space.com]
Starbase, Texas, is now an official city. After residents — primarily SpaceX employees — living in the area approved a referendum to incorporate the city, the town's officials were sworn in last week. Those officials then voted to seek a $1.5 million loan from SpaceX to cover city expenses until property tax revenues start. The new city is also expected to get authority to close Boca Chica Beach for launches under a bill that the Texas legislature passed Sunday. That authority was added to a separate bill after previous standalone bills died earlier in the legislature's session. Currently, the county has control over beach closures, and some residents worry that giving the city of Starbase that control will further restrict access to the public beach. [Texas Tribune]
South Korea has granted approval to both OneWeb and Starlink to operate in the country. The country's science ministry said it approved agreements between OneWeb and two Korean companies, Hanwha Systems and KT Sat, as well as between SpaceX and a local subsidiary, Starlink Korea. Those agreements could allow the companies to start offering broadband services in South Korea as soon as this month. [Korea Times]
| The Week Ahead | |
Monday: -
Online: The Office of Space Commerce and NIST hold a webinar on "Lunar Policy for a Thriving Lunar Economy" at 2:30 p.m. Eastern. -
Mahia Peninsula, N.Z.: Rescheduled launch of a Rocket Lab Electron carrying a BlackSky imaging satellite at 7:30 p.m. Eastern. Tuesday: Tuesday-Wednesday: Tuesday-Thursday: Tuesday-Friday: Wednesday: Wednesday-Thursday: Thursday: Friday: Sunday: -
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.: Scheduled launch of a Falcon 9 carrying a Crew Dragon on the Ax-4 private astronaut mission to the International Space Station at 9:11 a.m. Eastern. -
Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif.: Scheduled launch of a Falcon 9 carrying Starlink satellites at 9:34 a.m. Eastern.
| | | | | | | | | What's New With SpaceNews? | | Don't forget to sign up for our next webinar! |  | | Join us June 10 for an exclusive one-on-one live interview with Rep. George Whitesides (D-CA), a freshman congressman representing California's 27th District. Whitesides brings years of experience to Capitol Hill, having previously served as NASA's chief of staff and as CEO of Virgin Galactic. | | | | |
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