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President Trump nominated Lt. Gen. Douglas Schiess to be the next commanding general of the Space Force. The White House announced Friday that it nominated Schiess for promotion to general and to be chief of space operations, a position that requires Senate confirmation. Schiess has served as the Space Force's deputy chief of operations since November. His nomination signals continuity in the service's emphasis on operational readiness and integration with joint forces, as the Pentagon looks to strengthen space capabilities in the face of growing threats from China and Russia. Schiess would succeed Gen. Chance Saltzman, who has led the Space Force since 2022 and is expected to retire later this year. [SpaceNews]
A House appropriations subcommittee advanced a spending bill that would keep NASA funded at 2026 levels, rejecting a proposed 23% cut. The House Appropriations Committee's commerce, justice and science (CJS) subcommittee approved a fiscal year 2027 spending bill on an 8-6 party-line vote Thursday, sending it to the full committee. The bill would provide NASA with $24.4 billion in 2027, the same overall funding as in 2026. The administration had proposed $18.8 billion for NASA. The House bill does shift funding among NASA's accounts, putting more money into exploration and less into science than the 2026 bill. The full committee is scheduled to mark up the bill May 13. [SpaceNews]
Northrop Grumman says its development of a missile warning-satellite system is on track despite efforts by the Pentagon to cancel it. Northrop said Thursday it accepted delivery of a sensor designed for the polar component of the Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared program, known as Next-Gen OPIR Polar. The program, started in 2018, planned to place two satellites in highly elliptical orbits to monitor missile threats over the Northern Hemisphere. The company said that delivery keeps the program on schedule, but the Pentagon announced in its fiscal year 2027 budget proposal it intended to cancel Next-Gen OPIR Polar, focusing instead on constellations in low and medium Earth orbit. The program's projected cost is $3.4 billion, including $2.1 billion already spent. The budget allocates $436 million in 2026 primarily to close out development activities. [SpaceNews]
The U.S. Space Force plans to use satellites built by K2 Space to test optical communications. The company has been selected for the Pentagon's "OPIR Space Modernization Initiative," a research-and-development program aimed at advancing technologies that could eventually underpin operational missile-detection systems. The program will test laser links between satellites in low and medium Earth orbits, as well as with ground stations. Missile-warning systems depend on rapidly moving data from sensors to decision-makers and interceptors, but existing architectures weren't built for large, distributed constellations. The program has a $180 million budget for fiscal 2027, including $7.3 million earmarked for crosslink demonstrations. [SpaceNews]
European space startups are relying heavily on American investors. The amount of venture capital invested in European space ventures in 2025 jumped 13% year-over-year to 1.2 billion euros ($1.4 billion) according to a report by the European Space Policy Institute. Five of nine "scale-up" rounds included in the report were led by European or national governments, but the four remaining deals anchored by private investors were all led by U.S. firms. The report indicates a gap in Europe's ability to finance late-stage space companies without relying on public institutions or foreign capital. [SpaceNews]
DARPA has selected three companies to study a lunar orbiter. The agency said Thursday it awarded study contracts to Benchmark Space Systems, Quantum Space and Revolution Space for phase 1 of the Lunar Assay via Small Satellite Orbiter (LASSO) program. DARPA announced LASSO last year to test the ability for a spacecraft to operate in a very low lunar orbit, demonstrating "sustained and advanced maneuverability" required for operations in cislunar space, as well as to identify locations on the lunar surface with significant amounts of water ice. The contracts, whose value was not disclosed, cover work on concept studies through a critical design review. [SpaceNews]
Starcloud seeks more orbital data center funding shortly after unicorn status. Starcloud is looking to raise at least $200 million in a deal that would double the two-year-old orbital data center startup’s valuation to about $2.2 billion, a source close to the situation confirmed. The funding talks come roughly a month after the Redmond, Washington-based venture announced a $170 million Series A round that made it the fastest company in accelerator Y Combinator’s history to reach unicorn status. Starcloud has raised about $200 million to date for a proposed constellation of 88,000 satellites to move data center computing beyond terrestrial infrastructure constraints. [SpaceNews]
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