French Spacesuit Prototype Delivered to the International Space Station
The EuroSuit intravehicular activity prototype, developed under CNES’s Spaceship FR programme, was delivered to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX’s Dragon on May 17. ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot will conduct the first on‑orbit evaluation, focusing on donning speed, ergonomics, and touchscreen interaction. The suit’s performance will inform a second prototype and ground‑based testing outlined in the October 2024 call. The project showcases Europe’s push for greater autonomy in crewed spaceflight beyond low Earth orbit.
NASA Artemis Video Sparks In-Depth Physics Breakdown
When @nasa posts a cool #artemis video, I have to do a #physics analysis (extra homework included) https://rjallain.medium.com/the-physics-of-artemis-ii-video-analysis-of-the-orion-esm-separation-3307efb06139?sk=80caf4cceae9940c0f835d2cb3da1e04
AIAA, Amazon Leo, Eutelsat, Iridium, and SpaceX Release Reference Guide: “Satellite Orbital Safety Best Practices 3.0”
On May 18, 2026, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and leading low‑Earth‑orbit operators—including Amazon Leo, Eutelsat, Iridium and SpaceX—released the third edition of their reference guide, “Satellite Orbital Safety Best Practices 3.0.” The updated guide expands the...
U-Space Selects Skynopy to Support Multiple Missions
French satellite builder U‑Space has signed two agreements with ground‑station‑as‑a‑service provider Skynopy. The deals cover ground‑segment support for the existing SOAP and PANDORE LEO demonstrators and a joint effort to develop X‑band communications for future U‑Space missions, funded by ESA’s...
Images: NASA's Perseverance Captures Panorama at 'Arbot'
NASA’s Perseverance rover captured a 46‑image panoramic mosaic of the “Arbot” region on Mars on April 5, 2026 (sol 1882), marking the deepest westward push beyond Jezero Crater. The enhanced‑color panorama reveals a windswept landscape with diverse rock textures, providing one of the...
![[Startup Story] Lios’ Contract with ESA Renewed for €2 Million](https://hixhlmpcokxhartfkpyi.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/images/thumbnails/f439e07d6c6fdb54c103c40af975d07e.webp)
[Startup Story] Lios’ Contract with ESA Renewed for €2 Million
Dublin‑based Lios has secured a second renewal of its contract with the European Space Agency, receiving nearly €2 million (about $2.2 million) in co‑funding under the Future Launchers Preparatory Programme. The deal funds Phase 3, which will scale production of the company’s acoustic...
House Bill Restores Funding for TraCSS
The House Appropriations Committee approved a $50 million allocation for the Office of Space Commerce, restoring funding for the Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS) after the administration sought to scale back the program. The bill also earmarks $52.5 million for FY 2026,...
Telecom Giant Using South African Infrastructure to Deliver Satellite Services Across Africa
Paratus Group, one of Africa’s largest telecom infrastructure firms, has completed its biggest satellite teleport in Pretoria, South Africa. The facility underpins its role as the authorised pan‑African reseller for Starlink, delivering LEO broadband in eight countries including Kenya, Nigeria...
New CSF Report Sees Up To 7,000+ Satellites Launched Annually By Mid 2030’s, Highlights The Challenges With US Launch Infrastructure
The Commercial Space Federation and Rational Futures released a data‑driven report warning that U.S. launch demand could swell to as many as 7,000 flights per year by the mid‑2030s, far outpacing the capacity of existing spaceports. In 2025, more than...
SpaceX Readies Starship V3 Test Flight, a Make‑or‑break Moment for Artemis Lunar Plans
SpaceX is set to launch the third‑generation Starship V3 from Starbase on May 19, a sub‑orbital test that will carry 22 mock Starlink satellites and attempt a Raptor engine relight. The flight is critical for NASA’s Artemis program and intensifies...
The Small Changes to Dragonfly’s Rotors that Could Make a Big Difference
NASA’s Dragonfly rotorcraft will perform a powered‑flight transition on Titan in 2034, spinning its four rotors while still descending through the moon’s dense atmosphere. To counter cross‑winds and yaw instability, engineers increased each rotor’s blade count to three, shortened the...
Starlink Is Finally Legal in Uganda After Months of Tension
After months of regulatory friction, Uganda legalized Starlink on May 15, 2026, imposing a national gateway and local staffing requirement. Kenya gave Elon Musk’s platform X a 90‑day deadline to open a Nairobi office, tying compliance to local accountability. Meanwhile,...
12th Starship/Superheavy Test Delayed One Day to May 20, 2026
SpaceX announced that the 12th Starship/Superheavy orbital test flight has been pushed back by one day, now scheduled for May 20, 2026 with a launch window opening at 5:30 pm Central. The company gave no official reason, though short delays often stem from...
Taiwan Eyes Role in NASA Moon Program After Receiving Proposal Request
Taiwan has been invited to submit proposals in response to NASA’s request for information (RFI) targeting 32 technical gaps in the Artemis lunar exploration program. The invitation lets Taiwanese firms bypass traditional subcontractors and pitch directly to NASA, potentially positioning...
Chang Zheng 8 Launches 18 Qianfan Internet Satellites
LAUNCH at 1443 UTC May 17 of a Chang Zheng 8 from Hainan with eighteen Qianfan commercial internet satellites.
Green Bank Telescope Captures First Radio Image of Artemis 2 Crew Around the Moon
The National Science Foundation’s Green Bank Telescope recorded a pixelated radio image of NASA’s Orion capsule as Artemis 2 orbited the Moon, confirming the crew’s position within 0.2 mm/s of NASA’s projections. The five‑day observation marks the inaugural visual confirmation of a...
The ISS Travels at 17,500 Miles per Hour, Which Means Astronauts Inside It Are Aging Measurably Slower than People on...
NASA’s year‑long mission showed that the International Space Station’s orbital speed of about 17,500 mph creates a measurable relativistic time‑dilation effect. Astronaut Scott Kelly, after 340 days aboard the ISS, was calculated to be roughly five milliseconds younger than his identical...
Space Force Grants Northrop Grumman $398 Million for Protected Tactical Satellite Prototype
The U.S. Space Force awarded Northrop Grumman a $398 million contract to build a prototype communications satellite that will demonstrate anti‑jamming and cyber‑resilient technologies. The Enhanced Protected Tactical Satellite Communications‑Prototype (Enhanced PTS‑P) is slated for launch no earlier than 2030 and...
Directory of Hyperspectral Satellite Operators
The May 17 2026 directory catalogs the rapidly maturing hyperspectral satellite ecosystem, listing commercial constellations such as Pixxel, Orbital Sidekick, Wyvern, Kuva Space, Xplore, Planet’s Tanager‑1, and GHGSat alongside public science missions like EnMAP, PRISMA, DESIS and EMIT. It highlights each operator’s...
NASA and Eta Space Finalize Integration for LOXSAT Cryogenic Fuel Demonstration
NASA confirmed that the LOXSAT cryogenic fuel demonstration has entered final pre‑launch testing at Rocket Lab’s Long Beach facility. Developed by Eta Space under a NASA Tipping Point contract, the payload will launch on an Electron rocket from New Zealand no...
JWST Finds LAP1‑B, Most Chemically Primitive Galaxy Yet, Illuminating First Stars
An international team led by Associate Professor Kimihiko Nakajima used JWST to identify LAP1‑B, a galaxy 13 billion light‑years away with an oxygen abundance just 1/240th that of the Sun. The find provides the clearest observational link to the universe’s first...
African Space Agency Calls for $25 Billion Boost to Continental Space Economy
The African Space Agency urged investors and governments at Nairobi's African Forward Summit to pour more capital into Africa’s nascent space industry. The appeal coincided with French President Emmanuel Macron’s announcement of a €23 bn ($25 bn) investment package for the continent, underscoring...
Graphene-Engineered Wood Lowers the Power Barrier for Laser Propulsion
Researchers have engineered a graphene‑delignified wood (GDW) that serves as a low‑intensity laser‑ablation propellant, achieving a specific impulse of 800 s and an ablation threshold of 0.54 MW m⁻². Natural wood, without graphene, delivered an even higher specific impulse of 908 s but required...
Space Infrastructure: The Next Trillion‑Dollar Frontier
The next trillion-dollar opportunity may be space infrastructure. From rockets to lunar infrastructure, companies like $RKLB $LUNR are building the picks and shovels of the space economy. Read the substack ⬇️ https://open.substack.com/pub/bdinvesting/p/building-wealth-from-the-239000-mile?r=1fden7&utm_medium=ios
NASA Issues Final RFP for $700 M Mars Communications Orbiter, Limiting Bidders
NASA posted the final request for proposals on May 14 for a $700 million Mars Telecommunications Network, with bids due June 15 and a contract award targeted for Oct. 1. Eligibility is restricted to firms that received 2024‑25 funding for Mars sample‑return studies, a...
Musk Wants SpaceX to Go Public. Here's How It Works
Elon Musk is pushing SpaceX toward an initial public offering, with the company slated to file its S‑1 registration statement with the SEC this week. The filing will trigger a multi‑month roadshow, including a special event for 1,500 retail investors...
Watch NASA's New Mars Helicopter Rotor Break the Speed of Sound (Video)
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory completed 137 supersonic rotor tests in a Mars‑simulated chamber, pushing blade tips to Mach 1.08. The data indicate a potential 30% lift boost, enabling future Mars helicopters to carry heavier science payloads and larger batteries. Engineers also...
SpaceX Launches Actual Cloud Computing Above Earth
Introducing the SpaceX Literal Cloud Finally, cloud computing that is actually taking place miles above your head https://t.co/Djft4IFsk1
SpaceX Files for $75 Billion IPO, Targeting $2 Trillion Valuation
SpaceX filed an S‑1 to raise up to $75 billion at a valuation above $2 trillion, accelerating its Nasdaq debut to June 12. The offering combines SpaceX’s launch and satellite businesses with its newly merged AI arm, xAI, which contributed a $4.94 billion...
AT&T, T‑Mobile and Verizon Launch Satellite Venture to Eradicate U.S. Dead Zones
AT&T, T‑Mobile and Verizon have announced a joint satellite‑based venture aimed at nearly eliminating dead zones in underserved U.S. areas. The collaboration will route mobile traffic directly to satellites, reducing reliance on traditional towers and promising more reliable service during...
OCaml Runtime Goes to Orbit, Demonstrates First In‑Space Post‑Quantum Key Rotation
On 23 April, the Borealis daemon—built on a pure‑OCaml CCSDS protocol stack—booted aboard DPhi Space’s ClusterGate‑2 payload, delivering end‑to‑end encrypted command and control with post‑quantum key rotation. The demonstration marks the first public in‑orbit use of ML‑DSA‑65 signing keys, showing that...
Rocket Lab Secures $1 Bn Defense Contracts, Targets Space‑Based Interceptor Market
Rocket Lab announced two major defense contracts—a $816 million prime deal with the U.S. Space Development Agency and a $190 million hypersonic‑flight agreement—signaling a strategic shift toward missile‑defense and a planned space‑based interceptor system. The contracts lift the company's aerospace/defense revenue, which...
NASA Releases Final RFP for Mars Communications Orbiter
NASA issued the final request for proposals (RFP) on May 14 for a Mars Telecommunications Network (MTN) orbiter, with bids due June 15 and a contract award targeted for Oct. 1. The $700 million program, funded by last year’s budget reconciliation act, aims to...
The Two Voyager Probes Are Slowly Running Out of Power, and the Engineers Keeping Them Alive Are Now Making the...
After nearly five decades in space, both Voyager probes are operating with the smallest set of active science instruments in their history. As of May 2026 Voyager 1 runs only its magnetometer and Plasma Wave Subsystem, while Voyager 2 will soon join it...
Space Stocks Surge as Firefly and Intuitive Machines Vie for Investor Favor Ahead of SpaceX IPO
Firefly Aerospace (FLY) and Intuitive Machines (LUNR) have outperformed the broader market, with shares up 36% and 46% respectively since the SpaceX IPO announcement. The rally reflects heightened investor appetite for space‑related equities as SpaceX prepares a July 2026 offering...
Graphene‑ITO Hybrid Electrodes Boost Space Solar Cell Conductivity by 60%
Scientists from the University of Salerno, Warsaw University and Lithuania's Center for Physical Sciences and Technology announced a graphene‑ITO hybrid electrode that lifts nanoscale tunneling current by roughly 60%, addressing long‑standing conductivity limits in multijunction space solar cells.
Cowboy Space Secures $275 Million to Build Orbital Data‑Center Constellations
Cowboy Space Corp., the former Aetherflux founded by Robinhood co‑founder Baiju Bhatt, announced a $275 million financing round led by Index Ventures. The funds will back a new rocket and a constellation of low‑Earth‑orbit data centers, with a prototype launch slated...
Future AI Will Travel on Photons, Not Cables
Undersea fiber built the internet. Tomorrow’s AI will run on photons moving through space: across satellites, laser links, and ground stations powered by world-class optics. https://t.co/WOtV4i9ZKG
Apollo 11’s Guidance Software Couldn’t Be Patched at the Last Minute. It Was Woven with Copper Wire by Women at...
Apollo 11’s guidance computer relied on a 70‑pound Apollo Guidance Computer whose flight program was hard‑wired into 72 KB of core rope memory. The software was literally woven with copper wire by women at Raytheon’s Waltham plant, a process that took...
NASA's New AI Chip Promises 100‑Fold Boost for Deep‑Space Autonomy
NASA’s High Performance Spaceflight Computing project unveiled a radiation‑hardened AI chip that delivers up to 100 times the computing power of current spaceflight processors and shows performance roughly 500 times greater in tests. The breakthrough could let spacecraft analyze data...
BlackRock Eyes up to $10B in SpaceX IPO
Just in from @theinformation by @coryweinberg BlackRock is in discussions to invest $5- $10 bn in SpaceX’s initial public offering That is enormous, remember the size of the IPO is rumored to be $75 bn overall. Major vote of confidence from...
NASA’s Psyche Probe Uses Mars Gravity Assist to Speed Toward 2029 Asteroid Arrival
NASA’s Psyche spacecraft will perform a Mars flyby on May 15, passing 2,800 miles above the planet at 12,333 mph. The gravity assist will boost its trajectory toward the metallic asteroid Psyche, slated for arrival in 2029, and reduce propellant use...
This Week In Space Podcast: Episode 210 — ESCAPADES at Mars
Episode 210 of *This Week In Space* features Dr. Robert Lillis discussing NASA’s Mars ESCAPADE mission, a pair of low‑cost orbiters designed to measure how the Red Planet’s atmosphere is being stripped away. Built largely by Rocket Lab and launched on Blue Origin’s New Glenn, the...
NASA's LEMS Passes Lunar Night Test, Paving Way for Longer Moon Missions
NASA engineers at Goddard Space Flight Center have demonstrated that the Lunar Environment Monitoring Station (LEMS) can survive temperature swings from 300°F to -330°F, marking the first U.S. hardware expected to operate through a complete lunar night. The 66‑pound, suitcase‑size...
ClearSpace Deploys Robot to Clear Space Debris
ClearSpace Builds #Robotic Spacecraft to Remove Dead Satellites from Orbit by @spaceandtech_ #Robotics #EmergingTech #Technology #Innovation https://t.co/mC7Cw7BArv
NASA Just Put a 30-Day Clock on a $700 Million Mars Contract, and the Deadline Tells You Everything About How...
NASA has posted a 30‑day Request for Proposal to build a new Mars Telecommunications Network, a $700 million contract aimed at replacing aging relay orbiters. The agency’s current fleet—Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, MAVEN and ESA’s Trace Gas Orbiter—are well beyond design life...
Europe Launches a New Mission to Image Earth’s Magnetic Shield in 2026 While the Operational Satellite Warning of Solar Storms...
Europe’s SMILE mission, a joint ESA‑China effort, is set to launch in 2026 to capture X‑ray and ultraviolet images of Earth’s magnetic shield from a polar‑sweeping orbit. At the same time, the operational space‑weather sentinel SOHO, launched in 1995, is...
SpaceX Launches CRS‑34 Dragon Cargo Mission, Its 638th Falcon 9 Flight
SpaceX lifted off the CRS‑34 Dragon cargo ship from Cape Canaveral, delivering 6,500 pounds of hardware, food and research gear to the International Space Station. The launch was the company's 638th Falcon 9 mission and the first Cargo Dragon to make a...
AST SpaceMobile Shows Near-100 Mbps Broadband From Space on a Standard Phone
AST SpaceMobile demonstrated a peak download of 98.9 Mbps from its Block 1 BlueBird satellites directly to an unmodified smartphone in the Bahamas. The test proves that satellite‑to‑phone broadband can achieve near‑gigabit speeds without a dish or special hardware. The company is...
Poland Takes Control of Its Own Radar Satellite Constellation
Poland has taken operational control of the POLSARIS synthetic‑aperture‑radar (SAR) satellite constellation, a four‑satellite system delivered by ICEYE in just 12 months. The €200 million ($232.5 million) program provides 25 cm resolution imagery that works day‑and‑night and in any weather. Operated by the...