Polish Space Agency Exec Outlines Poland’s Growing Space Ambitions
Polish Space Agency Vice President Col. Marcin Mazur told SmallSat Europe that Poland is scaling up its space programme as defence spending climbs to nearly 5% of GDP. The agency’s roadmap centres on Earth observation, satellite communications and space‑situational‑awareness to serve both military and civilian markets. Poland now backs roughly 60 domestic space firms and ranks among the seven largest contributors to the European Space Agency. Upcoming projects include the five‑satellite CAMILA constellation and participation in the EU‑led IRIS² communications programme, positioning space as a growth engine for the economy.
PLD Space Triples Investment in Launch Facility to €35 Million
PLD Space announced it will invest €35 million (≈ $38 million) in its dedicated launch facility at the Guiana Space Centre, more than triple its original budget. The expanded program, funded by a recent €180 million Series C round and a €30 million European Investment Bank...
From Artemis II to Deep Space: Why Space-Grade Chips Must Be Built for the Harshest Conditions
Artemis II highlighted the critical role of space‑grade semiconductors that can survive extreme temperature swings, high radiation, and vacuum. GlobalFoundries (GF) is advancing both radiation‑hardened‑by‑design (RHBD) and radiation‑hardened‑by‑process (RHBP) technologies, leveraging its global fabs to deliver resilient chips for lunar, deep‑space,...
Blue Origin's Lunar Lander Just Passed Its Toughest Test Yet
Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 1 lunar lander, dubbed Endurance, successfully completed NASA’s Chamber A thermal‑vacuum test, proving it can survive extreme lunar temperature swings and vacuum conditions. The uncrewed cargo vehicle will carry two science payloads—a high‑resolution stereo camera suite and...
China Successfully Completes Maiden Launch of Its Long March 12B Rocket
China unexpectedly launched its new Long March 12B rocket from Jiuquan, completing its maiden flight without issuing any pre‑launch NOTAMs. The mission placed a batch of Qiafan (SpaceSail) internet‑communication satellites into orbit, pushing the constellation past the 200‑satellite mark. The launch...
SpaceCamp Celebrates 40 Years of Training Future Space Professionals
SpaceCamp commemorated its 40th anniversary, underscoring four decades of hands‑on astronaut training and public outreach. The milestone spotlights more than 200,000 alumni, partnerships with NASA, and a legacy that continues to feed the talent pipeline for today’s commercial space industry.
Maritime Launch Services Details Next Phases of Spaceport Nova Scotia Construction
Maritime Launch Services (MLS) reported a $200 million lease with Canada’s Department of National Defence and Q1 revenue near $1 million, while confirming repayment of a $5.03 million EDC loan. The company’s civil contractor, Nova Construction, restarted work in March, completing the first...
NASA's Core Module Plan Fails, Commercial Vendors Rejoice
The NASA proposal to create a government-led “core module” to assist commercial space stations (CLDs) appears to be dead. Most of the CLD vendors will celebrate this.
Northrop Grumman Partners with Apex on Space-Based Interceptors for Golden Dome
Northrop Grumman has partnered with satellite startup Apex to develop space‑based interceptors for the Pentagon’s Golden Dome missile‑defense program. The collaboration leverages Apex’s low‑cost, rapid‑production satellite buses to accelerate development and achieve an on‑orbit demonstration by 2027. Golden Dome, part...
Blue Origin Investigates New Glenn Explosion as Mission Delays Loom
Blue Origin’s heavy‑lift New Glenn suffered a launch‑pad explosion at Cape Canaveral on Thursday, prompting an immediate investigation. The incident threatens the scheduled flights of commercial payloads from Amazon Leo and AST SpaceMobile, as well as NASA and a U.S. Space...
Viasat Orders Four Swiss HummingSat L‑Band Satellites
The mystery customer for startup small-GEO satelite builder @Swissto12's 7th HummingSat is @viasat, which now has 4 of them on order as part of refreshment of its L-band fleet. @SES_Satellites @esa @SpaceCompassCo1 @HPS_GmbH #AstrumMobile.https://t.co/IkhNCFtWgX https://t.co/FMvBOy7YDZ
ICEYE Secures €28 Million Grant to Advance Sovereign Space Intelligence
ICEYE, a leading SAR satellite provider, secured a €28.3 million ($31 million) continuation grant from Business Finland, completing a multi‑year R&D investment. The funding will accelerate next‑generation radar sensors, AI‑driven analytics, and multi‑source data fusion for sovereign defense and maritime security. ICEYE...
Building a Lunar Digital Engineering Community with LUNAverse
The Aerospace Corporation unveiled LUNAverse, a digital‑twin platform that creates a common operating picture of the Moon for mission planners. Designed as a multi‑compatible environment, it will enable data sharing, standardization, and coordination across government, industry, and international partners. An...
Movers…In Our Orbit: Bob Patterson, Before Live Was Normal
Bob Patterson recounts how the 1969 Apollo 11 live broadcast sparked his career in satellite communications, leading him to pioneer the first domestic satellite telecasts of MLB, NBA, and NHL games in 1975 and the world’s first HDTV broadcasts in...
Blue Origin’s New Glenn Rocket Explodes in Florida Static‑Fire Test, Raising Industry Concerns
Blue Origin’s New Glenn heavy‑lift vehicle detonated during a Thursday night static‑fire test at the company’s Florida launch site, sending a fireball and debris across the coast. NASA, the US Space Force and industry observers are mobilising to assess damage, while...
Spaceport Facility Bonds Are Now Law – and They Fundamentally Change Space Infrastructure Finance
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) has authorized tax‑exempt private‑activity spaceport facility bonds, opening the U.S. municipal bond market to space infrastructure. This gives spaceports and adjacent manufacturing sites access to low‑cost, long‑term capital without size caps, aligning financing...
Networks in Orbit: How the Physics of Space Is Driving Smarter 5G Satellite Design
Satellite‑based 5G is shifting focus from launch volume to the physics of the space environment. Doppler shifts, long distances, and harsh thermal and radiation conditions force a redesign of the physical layer, from chips to cooling systems. Efficiency metrics such...
Space Sector to Become Key Component of India's Overall Economy: Jitendra Singh
India’s space economy, now valued at roughly $8.5 billion, is projected to reach $40‑45 billion within the next ten years, according to Minister Jitendra Singur. The surge follows liberalisation measures that opened the sector to 100% foreign direct investment and created a single‑window...
Unastella, a South Korean Rocket Startup that Launched From Home, Raises $24M
South Korean rocket startup Unastella raised a $24 million Series B, bringing its total capital to $44 million, and successfully launched its UNA EXPRESS‑I orbital vehicle in May 2025. The company focuses on small‑satellite launch services, employing a kerosene‑liquid‑oxygen engine paired with an electric motor...
China Launches Test Direct-to-Device Satellites for Multiple Projects
China capped a busy May with the launch of four satellite‑internet test satellites aboard a Long March 2D from Xichang. The hypergolic rocket placed the payloads into orbit to experiment with direct broadband links to mobile phones and integrated space‑ground networks. At...
Bolted to Pioneer 10 Is a Plaque Showing Two Humans and a Cosmic Map Back to Earth, While the Spacecraft...
Pioneer 10, launched in 1972, carries a gold‑anodised aluminium plaque depicting a man, a woman, and a pulsar‑based map pointing toward Earth. The spacecraft’s radio transmitter fell silent after its last faint signal in January 2003, leaving it an untracked ghost drifting...
Sweden’s Esrange Space Center Launches Suborbital Rocket
On 28 May SSC Space launched SubOrbital Express‑5 from Sweden’s Esrange Space Center, marking the 17th MASER rocket mission since 1987. The flight delivered twelve scientific experiments from nine countries, using four modules that studied metals, medical fluids, blood behavior, and...
Is China Right to Doubt Elon Musk’s Starship?
SpaceX’s Starship completed its twelfth test flight on May 22, 2026, but the Super Heavy booster failed to return and the upper stage landed with reduced margin. Chinese space analysts cite engine reliability, launch cadence, and financing as key doubts about...
When the Apollo 11 Crew Prepared to Leave the Moon, They Found the Circuit Breaker that Armed Their Ascent Engine...
During Apollo 11’s lunar stay, a bulky PLSS backpack knocked the engine‑arm circuit breaker off its panel, leaving the ascent engine unarmed. Buzz Aldrin used a Duro felt‑tip pen to push the broken plastic switch back into place, avoiding metal contact...
Telespazio Repurpose Geostationary-Focused Dish For Bouncing Radio Signals Off The Moon
On 29 May 2026 Telespazio completed an Earth‑Moon‑Earth (EME) moon‑bounce test using its 32‑meter LARIO 1 antenna, normally aimed at geostationary satellites. The 5 GHz signal was transmitted, reflected off the Moon’s surface and received by a 2.4‑meter dish, proving the dish can track...
Orbital Data Center Companies Building Space-Based Compute Infrastructure
Orbital data‑center firms have moved from laboratory demos to formal FCC filings, signaling the start of a commercial market for space‑based compute. Companies such as Starcloud, SpaceX, Blue Origin, Google, and Cowboy Space are proposing constellations ranging from tens of thousands...
If You Thought Space Was Hard Try to Get Your Satellite On a Rocket
The commercial space market is seeing a shift as SpaceX’s online portal now lets operators book rideshares with payloads as small as 50 kg, bypassing traditional brokers. This change forces brokers to add value through deployment hardware, orbital‑tug services, and regulatory...
NASA Unveils Hand‑Sized Processor That Boosts Spacecraft Computing 100‑Fold
NASA announced a hand‑sized, radiation‑hard system‑on‑a‑chip that offers 100 times the computing capacity of existing spacecraft computers. Developed with Microchip Technology, the processor aims to enable AI‑driven autonomy on future lunar, Martian and deep‑space probes.
China Launches Satellite to Test Cell-to-Satellite Communications
China launched a dedicated cell‑to‑satellite test satellite on a Long March 2D from Xichang, aiming to demonstrate direct broadband connectivity for mobile phones via orbiting platforms. The experiment seeks to bypass terrestrial towers, extending high‑speed data to remote users and showcasing Beijing’s...
Loss of Blue Origin’s New Glenn Booster: Update
Blue Origin’s New Glenn heavy‑lift booster was destroyed during a static‑fire test at Launch Complex 36, prompting a rapid response from NASA. Administrator Jared Isaacman visited the blast site at Kennedy Space Center, meeting with Jeff Bezos, Dave Limp and engineers to assess damage....
Blue Origin’s New Glenn Explodes in Hot‑fire Test, Shaking Launch Market
Blue Origin’s New Glenn heavy‑lift vehicle suffered an on‑pad explosion during a hot‑fire test on May 28, forcing the cancellation of the planned Amazon Project Kuiper satellite launch. The incident triggered a broad sell‑off in SpaceTech equities, with AST SpaceMobile plunging nearly 15%...
When Zhang Chenxing, Who Holds a PhD From MIT, Co-Founded Mega Engine Technology in Xi’an in Early 2024, China’s High-Pressure...
Chinese startup Mega Engine Technology, founded by MIT‑PhD Zhang Chenxing in early 2024, announced that its closed‑cycle kerolox engine “Chi” has accumulated 1,000 seconds of test time at rated conditions by May 2026. The engine delivers 35‑75 ton thrust at sea...
Take a Look at a Bio-Inspired Mars Robot
The German Aerospace Center (DLR) unveiled the Valles Marineris Explorer (VaMEx), a bio‑inspired robot swarm designed to scout Mars’ deepest canyon. The concept blends driving, walking and flying units, each equipped with curved wheels that let the rover "swim" through loose...
Watch This Bio-Inspired Mars Rover Concept 'Swim' Through Sand on Curved Wheels (Video)
The German Aerospace Center (DLR) and University of Würzburg unveiled a Mars rover concept that uses curved, sandfish‑inspired wheels to "swim" through loose sand. The prototype, part of the Valles Marineris Explorer (VaMEx) swarm initiative, demonstrated stable locomotion on granular terrain...
NASA Confirms Roman Telescope’s 2.5‑Meter Mirror Passes Final Inspection
NASA announced that the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s 2.5‑meter primary mirror has passed its final visual inspection, confirming flawless alignment and no defects. The milestone keeps the flagship observatory on schedule for an early‑September launch, a critical step toward...
SKY Perfect JSAT Invests $5M in Astroscale as Japanese On‑orbit Services Draw Investor Eye
SKY Perfect JSAT announced an 800 million‑yen ($5 million) equity investment in Astroscale, cementing a strategic partnership to develop on‑orbit servicing. The deal arrives as SpaceX’s upcoming IPO fuels a broader rally in space‑related equities, prompting investors to look beyond U.S. names...
May 31, 1975: ESA Begins Operations
On May 31, 1975 the European Space Agency (ESA) began de facto operations after ten founding nations signed the ESA Convention the previous day. The agency emerged from the merger of the European Space Research Organization and the European Launcher Development Organization, ending...
The History of Soviet Human Spaceflight
The Soviet human‑spaceflight program launched with Yuri Gagarin’s 108‑minute Vostok 1 flight in April 1961, establishing the USSR as the first nation to put a person in orbit. It then pioneered multi‑crew flights, the first spacewalk, the first woman in space, and...
Nuggets in the SpaceX S-1 and Our Thoughts on the Business
SpaceX filed its S‑1 registration statement, revealing a trove of operational and financial details ahead of a potential public offering. The filing shows a 2025 revenue run‑rate of roughly $2.5 billion, driven by launch services, Starlink subscriptions, and emerging Starship contracts....
MASER‑17 Suborb
Suborbital launch at 0633 UTC May 31 of the SSC/DLR MASER 17 (Suborbital Express 5) microgravity mission from Kiruna using a two stage Red Kite/Red Kite rocket to apogee of 260 km
NASA Preps X‑59 Quiet Supersonic Plane for First Supersonic Flight in Early June
NASA announced that its X‑59 Quiet Supersonic Transport will attempt its first supersonic flight in early June, targeting 630 mph at 43,000 ft. The test will be followed by higher‑speed runs up to Mach 1.6, a key step toward proving low‑boom technology for...
Space Manufacturing Measurement and the Hidden Output of the Space Economy
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released a working paper introducing the Space Economy Manufacturing Plant Utilization Index (SEMPI), a tool that combines plant‑capacity data with space‑economy satellite accounts to gauge how fully space‑manufacturing facilities are being used. The paper...
What Is COSMIC and Why Is It Important?
NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate launched COSMIC in April 2023 to coordinate U.S. efforts on in‑space servicing, assembly and manufacturing (ISAM). Operated by The Aerospace Corporation, the consortium now includes over 300 member organizations and 1,200 individual members from government, industry,...
NASA Taps 2 Companies to Develop Buggies for Its Moon Base Program
NASA has selected Astrolab and Lunar Outpost to build the first lunar rovers for its Artemis moon‑base program, awarding each company roughly $220 million. The vehicles—named FLEX and Pegasus—are electric, four‑wheel‑drive buggies designed to transport two suited astronauts and supplies for...
Is Extracting Oxygen From Lunar Soil the Future of Space Exploration?
A new wave of lunar exploration is focusing on in‑situ resource utilization (ISRU) to produce oxygen directly from regolith. Researchers at France’s PROMES‑CNRS have demonstrated solar‑vacuum pyrolysis, using concentrated sunlight to heat simulated moon dust and release oxygen. Initial lab...
What Is CONFERS and Why Is It Important?
The Consortium for Execution of Rendezvous and Servicing Operations (CONFERS) began as a DARPA‑backed effort in 2017 and became an independent 501(c)(6) trade association in 2022. It brings together satellite operators, servicer manufacturers, insurers, regulators, and academia to create industry‑led...
Blue Origin Gets National Security Launch Task Order Hours Before New Glenn Explosion
The U.S. Space Force awarded Blue Origin a National Reconnaissance Office task order on May 28, just hours before a New Glenn rocket exploded during a hot‑fire test. The contract, part of the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 Lane 1 program, calls...
Shenzhou 22 Undocks, Lands on May 29
Shenzhou 22 undocked from the Chinese space station at 0644 UTC May 29 and landed at 1211 UTC ( I think - can someone confirm these times?)
MAVEN Detects 'Zwan‑Wolf' Plasma Squeezing, New Mechanism for Mars Atmospheric Loss
NASA's MAVEN probe recorded unexpected plasma compressions in Mars' upper atmosphere during a 2023 coronal mass ejection, a phenomenon scientists have named the Zwan‑Wolf effect. The discovery suggests a previously unknown pathway for atmospheric escape, reshaping models of Martian climate...
SpaceX Lands $6.45 Billion Space Force Contracts Ahead of Record‑size IPO
SpaceX has been awarded a combined $6.45 billion in contracts from the U.S. Space Force – $4.16 billion for a missile‑defense satellite system and $2.29 billion for a low‑Earth‑orbit communications network – just weeks before its anticipated record‑breaking IPO. The deals highlight the...