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China successfully conducted an in-flight abort test of a new crewed spacecraft and a rocket recovery demonstration. A Long March 10 low-altitude flight demonstration vehicle topped with an uncrewed Mengzhou spacecraft lifted off at 10 p.m. Eastern Tuesday from the Wenchang spaceport. The Mengzhou spacecraft activated its abort system in flight to demonstrate the ability to safely escape its launch vehicle at maximum aerodynamic pressure. The capsule splashed down in the ocean as planned. The rocket stage continued its flight to simulate a full first stage orbital flight profile. The rocket then made a successful reentry burn, performing a propulsive splashdown close to a ship fitted with a wire recovery system for the Long March 10. The demonstration is a crucial step in China's plans to attempt to land astronauts on the moon by 2030, as well as to advance efforts to recover and reuse rocket boosters. [SpaceNews]
Launch vehicle developer Stoke Space has raised an additional $350 million. The company announced an extension Tuesday to a $510 million Series D round from last October, bringing the size of the round to $860 million and the overall amount raised by Stoke to $1.34 billion. Stoke is developing Nova, a launch vehicle whose first and second stages are both designed for reuse. Stoke said the additional Series D funding will "accelerate future elements of its product roadmap" but did not disclose details. [SpaceNews]
The FCC approved additional satellites Tuesday for Amazon's broadband constellation. The FCC authorized Amazon to deploy and operate 3,212 Gen 2 satellites between 590 and 630 kilometers above Earth, alongside 1,292 Polar spacecraft between 600 and 650 kilometers. The two systems are in addition to the 3,232-satellite Gen 1 network operating at similar altitudes to Gen 2, enlarging the company's total constellation to 7,736 satellites. The FCC also authorized Gen 1 satellites to use higher-frequency V-band spectrum in addition to Ka-band. The authorization comes as Amazon seeks approval for an extension to deployment deadlines for its Gen 1 satellites. Amazon separately announced Tuesday its first Amazon Leo maritime broadband reseller agreements, partnering with U.S.-based MTN and ELCOME of the United Arab Emirates. [SpaceNews]
New leadership at United Launch Alliance says this will be the year the company ramps up the Vulcan launch rate. In a call with reporters Tuesday, executives said they are projecting 18 to 22 launches this year, including two to four Atlas 5 launches and 16 to 18 Vulcan Centaur launches. Executives said they have "high confidence" in those projections, despite falling short of similar forecasts last year, as they build out infrastructure to support more launches. The first ULA launch of the year, a Vulcan launch of the USSF-87 mission for the Space Force, is scheduled for early Thursday. [SpaceNews]
The NRO has added three more commercial imaging firms to a growing roster of vendors it is testing for future intelligence missions. The agency said Tuesday it signed Strategic Commercial Enhancements (SCE) agreements with HEO, SatVu and Sierra Nevada Corp. The SCE program is designed to let the NRO evaluate commercially generated data and determine how it could be integrated into intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations. HEO will provide non-Earth imagery focused on objects in orbit, SatVu will deliver medium-wave infrared imagery and Sierra Nevada will support radio-frequency, or RF, sensing. [SpaceNews]
Germany is funding construction of a human exploration control center. The government of Bavaria said it will provide 58 million euros ($69 million) for the Human Exploration Control Center to be built at a German Aerospace Center (DLR) facility near Munich. DLR will provide 20 million euros to complete the center. The center will support European operations for the Gateway program, similar to existing support of work on the Columbus module of the ISS that DLR provides for ESA. Funding the new center aligns with the priorities Germany laid out at the most recent ESA ministerial, where the country was the largest contributor to the agency's human and robotic exploration program, pledging 885 million euros for the next three years. [SpaceNews]
NASA's leader says a failure to return humans to the moon before China could "call into question American exceptionalism" more broadly. Speaking at a conference Tuesday, Administrator Jared Isaacman said he expects that if the Artemis program does not land astronauts on the moon before China's anticipated 2030 landing, "it calls almost everything we are pursuing across all these emerging and important technological domains into question." NASA has a goal of landing astronauts on the moon by 2028, but there remain questions about the status of landers needed to carry that out. [Aerospace America]
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