Plus: Elon Musk's compensation goals
By Jeff Foust
In today's edition: appropriators criticize a "disappointing" NASA budget proposal, Space Force moves into tracking moving targets from orbit, Elon Musk's unusual SpaceX compensation goals and more.
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Top Stories
House and Senate appropriators criticized NASA's budget proposal, saying it does not give the agency the resources it needs to carry out its missions. At hearings Monday by the House Appropriations Committee's commerce, justice and science (CJS) subcommittee and Tuesday by its Senate counterpart, members from both parties said the $18.8 billion budget proposal was insufficient, calling it "disappointing" and "abysmal." They reiterated concerns about cuts in areas ranging from science to NASA's education office. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman defended the request, saying it provided sufficient funding for priorities such as exploration. The House CJS appropriations subcommittee is scheduled to mark up its spending bill Thursday, while Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), chairman of the Senate CJS appropriations subcommittee, said his committee would use last year's spending bill, rather than the administration's proposal, as a guide for its 2027 spending bill. [SpaceNews]
The Pentagon's fiscal 2027 budget request is the clearest signal yet that the U.S. Space Force is moving into a new role of tracking moving targets from space. The proposal allocates more than $8 billion for so-called moving target indicator, or MTI, systems, which are satellites designed to follow objects on the ground and in the air in near real time. Such tracking has traditionally been done by specialized aircraft, but the Space Force says such aircraft face threats that make them "increasingly unviable." The MTI mission is split into two parts, one tracking moving targets on the ground and other tracking aircraft and cruise missiles. The latter is more difficult, but Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said earlier this month at the Space Symposium that it is "technically feasible and grounded in demonstrated technologies." [SpaceNews]
BAE Systems won a Space Force contract to demonstrate an intersatellite communications technology planned for Golden Dome. The $11.8 million contract awarded Tuesday will test Link-182, a radio-frequency data link standard adopted for the Space Force's planned MILNET data relay network supporting the Golden Dome missile defense shield. SpaceX won a $57 million awarded earlier this month for a similar demonstration of intersatellite communications using Link-182. [SpaceNews]
Silicon Valley startup EraDrive is working with Northrop Grumman to enhance spacecraft autonomy with artificial intelligence. The companies announced a teaming agreement to collaborate on using AI in robotic missions, including in-orbit operations and supporting activities on the ground. One example of that work would be incorporating AI into inspection and servicing of spacecraft, assisting the Mission Robotic Vehicle spacecraft by Northrop subsidiary SpaceLogistics. [SpaceNews]
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Other News
Elon Musk's compensation as SpaceX CEO is tied to goals involving orbital data centers and Mars settlement. According to a compensation plan outlined in SpaceX's still-confidential registration statement for his IPO, Musk would receive 200 million "super-voting restricted shares" in the company if SpaceX achieves a market value of $7.5 trillion and established a settlement on Mars with at least one million people. He would get 60.4 million in such shares if the company operates an orbital data center constellation with 100 terawatts of computing capacity. The compensation package does not include deadlines for achieving those milestones. [Reuters]
A California commission has apologized to SpaceX as part of a lawsuit settlement. SpaceX sued the California Coastal Commission after it voted in 2024 against an increase in launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base, with the company claiming the commission's move was political discrimination for Musk's views. As part of a settlement filed Tuesday in federal court, the commission issued a letter of apology for that vote and agreed it can't block proposals by the Space Force to allow increased launches from Vandenberg. The commission, though, said it remained concerned about environmental impacts from increased launch activity. [Courthouse News Service]
A SpaceX team has won the first Neil Armstrong Space Prize from Purdue University. The university announced last week it selected a team of five from SpaceX who led development of landing and reuse of Falcon 9 boosters for the prize, intended to recognize achievements in space discovery and innovation. The SpaceX team will formally receive the prize at an event in Washington in September. [Purdue Univ.]
The Artemis 2 astronauts will be visiting the White House today. The astronauts are scheduled to meet with President Trump in the Oval Office this afternoon, according to a White House schedule. Trump invited the crew to the White House when speaking to them during the mission earlier this month. The visit comes as the White House budget proposal for NASA would emphasize exploration, including an accelerated pace of future Artemis missions, while cutting other parts of the agency. [Washington Post]
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Government's Problem
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"You didn't go running around from every cable TV station, going, 'Look at me, look at me, I did this, I did this.' You pointed to your team. We need more like you in government. We've got too many buttheads."
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– Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), congratulating NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman for the Artemis 2 mission during a hearing Tuesday by the Senate Appropriations Committee's CJS subcommittee.
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