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The U.S. Space Force selected 12 companies for awards worth up to $3.2 billion for Golden Dome interceptor prototypes. The companies selected include a mix of established defense contractors and newer, venture-funded space and technology firms, reflecting the Pentagon's push to broaden the industrial base and tap commercial innovation. The service used Other Transaction Authority for the awards, a more flexible acquisition tool than traditional contracts. Space-based interceptors are satellites designed to destroy missiles in the early, or boost, phase of flight before they can release warheads or decoys. Gen. Michael Guetlein, who leads the Golden Dome program office, has repeatedly emphasized that affordability will determine whether the procurement of space-based interceptors moves forward. [SpaceNews]
The Space Force is sharply increasing its demand for heavy-lift rocket launches. The service is forecasting significantly higher demand to launch satellites into what it calls "highly stressing orbits" compared to a year ago. These missions require proven heavy-lift launch vehicles because of the energy involved, the precision of orbital insertion and the value of the payloads. According to a "sources sought" notice published this month by the Space Systems Command, the Space Force intends to add 25 more launches, all classified as high-energy missions requiring heavy-lift rockets, in 2027 through 2029. The Space Force plans to use its existing National Security Space Launch "Lane 2" providers, SpaceX and United Launch Alliance, although the notice appears to offer an opportunity for Blue Origin to argue its New Glenn rocket can be certified in time to compete for those launches. [SpaceNews]
The FAA is moving forward with plans to charge user fees for commercial launches and reentries. The agency, in a public notice last week, said it will begin incorporating terms and conditions for user fees in new licenses, while operators with existing licenses remain liable for fees incurred for operations starting at the beginning of the year. Last year's budget reconciliation act directed the FAA to start charging fees based on the mass of the payload for each launch or reentry, with the fees going to a fund for improving integration of launches and reentries into the national airspace system. The fees could generate more than $1 million for the FAA this year alone, with revenue growing with increased launches and an escalating fee schedule included in last year's bill. The FAA's commercial space office, which saw its budget cut by 5% in 2026, is seeking a significant increase in fiscal year 2027 to accommodate a growth in launches. [SpaceNews]
NASA is reserving a small amount of payload space on a Mars communications mission for science. An updated draft RFP for the Mars Telecommunications Network (MTN), released earlier this month, says the agency plans to reserve up to 20 kilograms on the mission for a science payload that the agency will select. NASA did not disclose what payloads are being considered but noted that it could be used to deploy cubesats once the mission arrives at Mars. MTN, formerly the Mars Telecommunications Orbiter, would launch by the end of 2028 to provide relay services for other spacecraft at Mars. NASA received $700 million in last year's budget reconciliation act to fund the mission. [SpaceNews]
India is planning to recruit a second class of astronauts. A committee of Indian's space agency ISRO recommended that it select 10 more astronauts, six of which would be military pilots and the other four civilian scientists and engineers. India has four astronauts, all Indian Air Force pilots; one of the four, Shubhanshu Shukla, flew on an Axiom Space private astronaut mission to the ISS last year. The new astronaut class would support an anticipated two crewed missions a year for India's Gaganyaan program, with each mission carrying two or three astronauts. [The Times of India]
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