Plus: Pentagon seeks $2.3 billion for Maven AI upgrades
Welcome to our roundup of top SpaceNews stories, delivered every Friday! This week, the House Science Committee rejected the White House's NASA budget cuts, two countries signed the Artemis Accords and more.
If someone forwarded you this edition, sign up to receive it directly in your inbox every Friday.
|
|
|
|
OUR TOP STORY
|
By Jeff Foust Members of the House Science Committee rejected a proposed fiscal year 2027 budget for NASA because of sweeping cuts as the agency’s administrator argued it could do more with less.
During an April 22 hearing by the full committee that spanned nearly four hours, including a recess for votes on the House floor, members of both parties criticized the budget proposal released April 3 that sought a 23% cut in overall NASA spending with steeper reductions in areas like science and aeronautics.
“I simply do not believe that this budget proposal is capable of supporting what President Trump himself has directed the agency to accomplish over his two terms, nor what Congress has directed by law,” said Rep. Brian Babin, R-Texas, chairman of the committee, in his opening remarks.
|
|
|
|
|
|
CIVIL
|
The Commerce Department released April 21 the congressional justification document for its fiscal year 2027 budget proposal for its Departmental Management account, which includes the Office of Space Commerce. The proposal would halt work on its space traffic coordination system while it develops a “new operating and financial structure” that may include user fees.
The Federal Communications Commission has moved to lock down incumbent rights to Mobile Satellite Service spectrum, dismissing bids by SpaceX and others to access frequencies increasingly prized for direct-to-device (D2D) connectivity.
In an April 23 ceremony at NASA Headquarters, Dina Kawar, Jordan’s ambassador to the United States, signed the Accords on behalf of the country. Jordan is the 63rd country to sign the Accords and the second to do so this week, after Latvia signed April 20.
|
MILITARY
|
The Pentagon is asking Congress for $2.3 billion over the next five years to expand its Maven Smart System, a platform developed by Palantir Technologies that has eased the integration of artificial intelligence into frontline military operations.
The Pentagon has completed a $1 billion investment in L3Harris Technologies’ missile business, formalizing a deal aimed at expanding U.S. production of solid rocket motors, a critical component in many of the military’s weapons systems.
The Space Systems Command, the U.S. Space Force’s acquisition arm, awarded SpaceX a $57 million contract to demonstrate satellite-to-satellite communications using Link-182, a radio-frequency data link standard the Space Force has adopted for its MILNET data relay network. MILNET is a planned constellation of Starshield communications satellites in low Earth orbit built by SpaceX. |
|
|
|
|
|
COMMERCIAL
|
AST SpaceMobile received permission to provide direct-to-smartphone broadband services in the United States with up to 248 satellites, days after a botched launch complicated plans to ramp up deployments this year.
Northrop Grumman said April 21 it took a $71 million charge in its fiscal first quarter linked to an anomaly with a solid rocket booster that has grounded the Vulcan Centaur rocket. The GEM 63XL solid-fuel booster is used on United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket. On a Feb. 12 launch, one of four boosters shed debris about 65 seconds after liftoff.
Beijing Orbital Twilight Technology Co., Ltd., also known as Orbital Chenguang, announced the completion of a Pre-A1 funding round April 20. The extensive credit backing as part of a broader Chinese push toward space-based computing infrastructure. |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
SPONSORED CONTENT
|
By Turion Space Space domain awareness has a data problem. Not a shortage of data, but a shortage of the right data, delivered at the right time, with enough autonomy to act on it before the moment passes.
The U.S. Space Force and its partners across the intelligence community have spent years building the policy, doctrine, and acquisition frameworks to address this. What has lagged is the commercial infrastructure layer to back it up, an operational constellation of satellites and software that can deliver space-to-space intelligence at mission pace, without the latency of a ground-dependent architecture or the fragility of a single-use payload. |
|
|
|
FROM SPACENEWS |
 |
The race to establish off-planet computing: On Thursday, April 30, join us in Washington, D.C., for the next event in our orbital data centers series. Our program kick off with a fireside chat with the FCC's Jay Schwarz and includes discussions with leaders from Star Catcher, Overview Energy, The Aerospace Corporation, Voyager Technologies, Technology Strategy Partners, Planet and more. See the full agenda and request an invitation. |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Latest Press Releases
|
|
|
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment