| By Jeff Foust
In today's edition: a House bill rejects steep proposed budget cuts to NASA, SES prepares to complete its acquisition of Intelsat, the DOD gets serious about AI and more.
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| | | | | | Top Stories
A private astronaut mission returned to Earth early this morning. A SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean west of San Diego, California, at 5:31 a.m. Eastern. The spacecraft was recovered and its four-person crew exited the capsule less than an hour later. The spacecraft launched to the International Space Station nearly three weeks ago on the Ax-4 mission for Axiom Space. The crew included astronauts from Hungary, India and Poland and was commanded by former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson. The group performed dozens of experiments and outreach activities while on the station. [SpaceNews]
A draft House spending bill would keep overall NASA funding flat in 2026 but shift money to exploration programs. The House Appropriations Committee released its commerce, justice and science (CJS) spending bill Monday ahead of a subcommittee markup later today. The bill includes $24.838 billion for NASA, nearly the same as the $24.875 billion the agency received in fiscal year 2025, rejecting the administration's proposed $6 billion cut to the agency. However, the bill includes more than $9.7 billion in funding for NASA exploration programs. That comes at the expense of science, space technology and aeronautics, which would see their budgets cut from 2025 figures but not as severely as proposed by the White House. The bill also zeros out NASA's "STEM Engagement" or education account, but shifts two programs that had been funded there to elsewhere in the agency. [SpaceNews]
The acquisition of Intelsat by SES will close this week. SES said Monday that it will complete the acquisition this Thursday after getting the necessary regulatory approvals. The last of those came from the FCC, which rejected calls by Eutelsat to further investigate the deal, claiming the combination of SES and Intelsat would dominate C-band services in the United States. SES recently estimated the cost of acquiring Intelsat to be 3.5 billion euros ($4 billion), comprising 3 billion euros in cash and 531 million euros in contingent payments tied to the potential monetization of Intelsat's C-band spectrum. [SpaceNews]
China launched a new cargo spacecraft to its Tiangong space station Monday. A Long March 7 rocket lifted off from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center at 5:34 p.m. Eastern, putting the Tianzhou-9 spacecraft into orbit. That spacecraft docked with the Tiangong space station about three hours later. The cargo craft delivered around 6,500 kilograms of supplies, breaking the record for most cargo on such a mission by 100 kilograms. The cargo on the spacecraft included two upgraded Feitian extravehicular activity suits, each rated to perform up to 20 spacewalks over four years. [SpaceNews]
The United States defense and aerospace establishment is taking meaningful, if measured, steps to apply artificial intelligence technologies. OpenAI recently won a $200 million contract with the Department of Defense, a deal that is significant for its size and scope, as it tasks OpenAI Public Sector with building prototype AI solutions tailored to national security needs. The Pentagon earlier this year expanded its commitment to Project Maven, a leading AI program, substantially raising the ceiling on Palantir's contract with U.S. combatant commands from $480 million to nearly $1.3 billion through 2029. Those efforts come as the defense industrial complex, which moves slowly, grapples with AI technology evolving at much faster rates. [SpaceNews]
| | | | | | Other News
The long-awaited introduction of the EU Space Act shows that Europe is getting serious about space policy. The draft legislation, introduced last month, is intended to streamline fragmented national rules while strengthening oversight of space activities. Although the legislation is still subject to negotiations and isn't expected to take effect until 2030, its current form marks a decisive shift in how Europe intends to shape and safeguard its growing space economy. It generates challenges, though, for non-European companies that operate in Europe, which will have to comply with the act while also regulations in their home countries. [SpaceNews]
Rocket Lab has selected a company to build the landing platform ship for its Neutron rocket. The company said last week it selected Bollinger Shipyards to build the "Return on Investment" ship. The vessel, 120 meters long, will serve as the landing ship for Neutron's first stage, similar to SpaceX's droneships used for Falcon 9 booster landings. Bollinger will build the ship, based on an existing barge, at its Louisiana shipyard with delivery planned for early 2026. [Rocket Lab]
Top Defense Department officials, including the head of U.S. Space Command, have canceled appearances at a security conference this week. The Defense Department said Monday that roughly 10 top officials will no longer speak at the Aspen Security Forum. A Pentagon spokesperson said the department withdrew from the forum, run by the Aspen Institute, "because their values do not align with the values of the DOD." Among those who had been scheduled to appear were Gen. Stephen Whiting, head of Space Command, and Adm. Trey Whitworth, director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. The Aspen Institute said its invitations to Defense Department officials to speak at the event remain open. [Military Times]
NASA will no longer host copies of national climate assessments on its website. The Trump administration announced earlier this month that it was shutting down a website that had provided public access to the peer-reviewed reports that examined the effects of climate change. At the time, the White House and NASA said the agency would continue to host the reports, but on Monday NASA reversed itself, with a spokesperson stating that NASA "has no legal obligations" to host the reports. Those reports are still available, for now, on a separate NOAA website. [AP]
Florida lawmakers are not giving up on efforts to move NASA headquarters to the state. At a press conference Friday, Sen. Ashley Moody (R-Fla.) said she and Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) were continuing to lobby officials to move the agency headquarters to the Kennedy Space Center. She said moving the agency headquarters to Florida made sense because "this is where the action is happening," referring to the launches from KSC and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Other states, such as Texas, have also sought to host a relocated NASA Headquarters, but at a NASA town hall last month officials said they expected to maintain a smaller presence in Washington and move some functions performed at headquarters now to field centers. [Orlando Sentinel]
| | | | | | Guardians of the Cape
| "At first, 'Guardians' might have a Marvel Comics ring to it. I have to say, I smiled a little when I first heard it. In fact, the name is perfect. These people are standing guard for us, 'standing watch' as we used to say in the Navy."
| | — Columnist Lawrence Brown after visiting the Cape Cod Space Force Station in Massachusetts. [Cape Cod Times]
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