Know What's Happening in SpaceTech
Know What's Happening in SpaceTech
SpaceTech Pulse
EMAIL DIGESTS
Daily
Every morning
Weekly
Tuesday recap
EMAIL DIGESTS
Daily
Every morning
Weekly
Tuesday recap
The United States now operates a mixed network of government‑run and privately‑licensed launch sites, with twelve commercial spaceports complementing four federal facilities. Vandenberg Space Force Base tops the list with over 700 launches since 1959, while Cape Canaveral Air Force Base has conducted roughly 400 missions from its 38 pads, four of which remain active. Kennedy Space Center has transitioned to commercial use, hosting Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon flights, and smaller sites like Wallops and Mojave support niche payloads and horizontal launches. Together, these sites underpin the nation’s expanding commercial space ecosystem.
On March 31, 2026 the FCC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to broaden spectrum access for emerging commercial space activities such as in‑space servicing, lunar missions, and private orbital labs. The proposal targets the 2320‑2345 MHz band and formalizes piggyback...
Scientists at the University of Stuttgart’s ATLAS center used HLRS’s Hawk supercomputer to run 225,000 molecular‑dynamics simulations of oxygen atoms striking satellite materials in very low Earth orbit (VLEO). The data trained a machine‑learning scattering kernel that can predict particle‑surface...
NASA’s Artemis II mission, the first crewed lunar flyby in more than five decades, is slated for launch on Wednesday evening, April 1, 2026. The flight will circle the Moon before returning to Earth, marking a pivotal step toward a permanent lunar presence....
Artemis II launched with six CERN‑developed Timepix chips integrated into NASA’s Hybrid Electronic Radiation Assessor (HERA) system. The detectors will monitor real‑time radiation composition, intensity, and energy as the crew passes through the Van Allen belts and encounters galactic cosmic rays....
AIAA announced a complimentary collection of technical papers tied to NASA’s Artemis II mission, drawing from the Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets and AIAA SciTech Forum papers published between 2024 and 2026. The papers are hosted on AIAA’s Aerospace Research Central...
Sunrise behind the Artemis 2 rocket, poised To launch to the moon. #artemisii #sls #nasa #sunrise
The April‑June 2026 issue of Aerospace America is now live, featuring the cover story “The New Space Race” by Leonard David and associate editor Cat Hofacker. The article examines the United States’ renewed push to land astronauts on the Moon, a goal...
U.S. regulators are reviewing NextNav’s proposal to repurpose the lower 900 MHz band for high‑power terrestrial PNT services, a move that would displace billions of low‑power, unlicensed IoT devices. Industry groups warn that even intermittent interference could degrade or disable life‑safety...
Google has partnered with Brazil’s government to produce the nation’s first high‑resolution satellite imagery map of its 2008 forest landscape. By processing thousands of historic images and removing clouds, the map delivers detail up to six times finer than previous...
Delta Air Lines announced it will install Amazon’s Leo low‑Earth‑orbit satellite broadband on 500 aircraft beginning in 2028. The rollout targets domestic narrow‑body jets, promising faster streaming, larger entertainment libraries and new onboard commerce options.
On June 4, 1996, the Ariane 5’s maiden flight exploded 37 seconds after liftoff when software inherited from Ariane 4 overflowed a 16‑bit integer. The overflow shut down both inertial reference units, causing the flight computer to misread diagnostic data as valid...
Dispatch, a Y Combinator‑backed startup, emerged from stealth with $500,000 seed funding to develop an uncrewed orbital manufacturing station. The company will use in‑house designed, single‑use reentry vehicles to ferry payloads, starting with a 30 kg test flight in 2027 and...
Virgin Galactic has reopened suborbital ticket sales, raising the price to $750,000 per seat from $600,000 in 2023. The company plans to launch commercial flights in Q4 2026 after completing flight‑test milestones for its new Delta‑Class spacecraft. CEO Michael Colglazier said...
Antaris announced a $28 million Series A round led by WestWave Capital, with participation from Lockheed Martin Ventures and other investors. The capital will accelerate development of its AI‑powered Antaris Intelligence platform, especially the TrueTwin digital‑twin tool that simulates satellite operations before...
It’s a beautiful morning in Florida. We will be watching closely as they fuel up the space launch system. The Artemis two mission will carry four people to the moon. It’s a moment in history and I’ll keep you posted.#milesobrien...
NASA’s Artemis 2 mission, slated for a spring 2026 launch, will put Orion into lunar orbit for the first time since Apollo. While the launch pad remains in Florida, the mission’s critical testing and hardware development are anchored in Ohio, home...
Space Florida, created as a public corporation two decades ago, has built a sustainable aerospace ecosystem by emphasizing long‑term partnerships rather than short‑term cash incentives. The agency conducts venture‑capital‑style due diligence, aligning state infrastructure, workforce and market outlook before committing...
InterCosmos, a Chennai‑based space‑tech startup, secured early‑stage capital from the IAN Angel Fund to fast‑track its HyperX non‑toxic propulsion system. The undisclosed investment will fund development and flight qualification, positioning HyperX as a safer, high‑performance alternative to conventional toxic propellants....
Researchers at UC Santa Barbara propose "Pulverize It," a planetary‑defense concept that would shatter hazardous asteroids using Falcon 9‑launched penetrators, ranging from tungsten rods to nuclear explosives. Simulations on NASA supercomputers suggest fragments sized 13‑16 feet would vaporize in Earth’s atmosphere, minimizing ground impact....
The Earth observation (EO) industry has overused the term “use case,” often conflating raw satellite capabilities with fully operational products. A new 2026 EO Adoption Hype Cycle shows that government‑anchored verticals—defence, disaster response, maritime monitoring—are the only segments reaching the...
NASA is set to launch Artemis II on Wednesday, marking the first crewed mission to the Moon in over five decades. The launch underscores a shift toward private‑sector partnerships, with SpaceX’s involvement seen as a catalyst for renewed lunar ambitions. Meanwhile,...
Satellite RF intelligence startup Xovian Aerospace announced a $2 million strategic investment round led by Ashish Kacholia. The funding brings its total capital to $4.5 million, following a $2.5 million pre‑seed round last year. Xovian will use the new capital to accelerate satellite...
Vantor, a commercial Earth‑intelligence firm, won a $2.3 million contract from the National Geospatial‑Intelligence Agency to monitor low‑Earth‑orbit objects. The award is the first NGA Luno task order focused on non‑Earth imaging, expanding the agency’s $500 million Luno A/B framework. Vantor will...
Spain’s Council of Ministers approved a €325 million (≈$354 million) investment to add three Earth‑observation satellites to the Atlantic Constellation, expanding the joint Spain‑Portugal network to 19 spacecraft. The funding will flow through the European Space Agency as part of a broader...
You will soon be able to order sunlight the way you order a ride. That is not a metaphor. Reflect Orbital is building small satellites with deployable mirrors that can redirect sunlight to a specific area on Earth, on demand. What stands...
Japanese lunar‑services firm ispace and South Korean rover maker UEL have signed a payload service agreement to transport UEL’s SCARAB rover to the Moon. The two‑wheeled, 2 kg rover will ride aboard ispace’s ULTRA lander on Mission 3, scheduled for launch in...
Paratus Group has unveiled Paratus Essential Access, a Starlink‑powered satellite service that delivers high‑speed, low‑latency connectivity to essential‑service organisations across Africa. The offering targets law enforcement, hospitals, schools, emergency responders, and agricultural initiatives, providing preferential pricing and priority support. It...
SpaceLocker has moved from an in‑orbit hosting service to a full satellite operator with its first owned CubeSat, Out of the Box. The 16U, 20‑kg platform carries five European payloads using a patented universal space port that works like a...
Alright, the Artemis II launch is less than a day away. So I want to address some recurring criticisms I've seen: it's too expensive, we need to solve problems down here, it's too dangerous, it does nothing for the greater...
Géraldine Naja assumed the role of Director of Space Transportation at the European Space Agency on 1 April 2026, while also serving as acting director of the newly named Commercialisation and Industry Partnership directorate. Her appointment follows the retirement of Toni Tolker‑Nielsen, who...
NASA's Perseverance rover has identified sedimentary rocks in Neretva Vallis with nickel concentrations up to 1.1% by weight and, separately, tiny ruby‑like corundum crystals near the rim of Jezero Crater. Both findings suggest a more chemically diverse and potentially habitable...
Max Space plans to launch its Thunderbird inflatable station in 2029, positioning it as a full‑scale commercial habitat to replace the ISS after its 2030 retirement. The design relies on a compact launch package that expands in orbit, delivering more...
Portal Space Systems successfully placed its Mini‑Nova payload into low‑Earth orbit as part of SpaceX’s Transporter‑16 rideshare. The tissue‑box‑sized instrument will spend six months attached to Momentus’ Vigoride‑7 to validate the “brains and critical power systems” for the company’s upcoming...
NASA’s Artemis II mission, the first crewed flight near the Moon since 1972, launched from Kennedy Space Center with two Navy test pilots at the helm. The U.S. Space Force provided range safety, abort monitoring, and will recover the Orion capsule...
The U.S. Space Force’s Space Launch Delta 45 is providing extensive range support for NASA’s Artemis II crewed lunar mission, scheduled for launch on April 1. Because the Space Launch System lacks an autonomous flight‑safety system, the range will staff roughly 28...
I think it will actually launch this time for the simple reason that NASA events and holidays (however small) just like to go together.
Excited to see that the Artemis II fueling is going so well, but can't but feel ... https://t.co/gJGnTj2Cc7
NIST researchers led by physicist Nikolai Klimov introduced a hydroxide catalysis bonding (HCB) technique that creates glass‑like, inorganic bonds between optical fibers and photonic integrated circuits, allowing the chips to survive temperature swings, radiation and vacuum. The breakthrough could accelerate...
A beautiful morning at the KSC press site. Still pretty quiet here. That’ll soon change. https://t.co/4NBvEjLo0e
At @ITU #WRC27, prepare for Round 2 of GEO v LEO fight over power limits (EPFDs) on LEOs 30 yrs ago to protect GEOs. WRC23 agreed to studies to assess of tech advances allow relaxing them. @Viasat @telesat @SES_Satellites...
China’s Lijian‑2 carrier rocket successfully launched on March 30, marking the first flight of a vehicle built around a 3.35 m common booster core (CBC) design. The 53‑metre, 625‑ton rocket can deliver up to 8 t to a 500 km sun‑synchronous orbit and...
Important news for the orbital catering and satellite direct-to-plate markets Delighted to be an advisor to Starway for its ToasterSat project https://t.co/CKD4fN6NAx
Sigh...whether or not Starship works, third parties won't have access to it at "cost" https://t.co/bcRTor02Id
I am so unbelievably excited for this Artemis launch but I really REALLY wish they weren’t doing it on April fools day… the conspiracies have already started
Wishing @NASAAdmin and the entire @NASA team the best for tomorrow's Artemis launch attempt - and a special 'bon voyage' to @centerforastro alum @Astro_Christina !
The US military is developing a strategy for the Moon. Here's where things stand. https://t.co/7DZaZ8Dmnn
NASA claims the Art. 2 reentry will be the fastest crew entry ever at "about 25000 mph" (i.e. somewhere in the range 10.95 to 11.40 km/s). However the Horizons trajectory for Art2 appears to give 11.06 km/s (inertial) while Apollo...
The countdown is on! In under a day hopefully the Artemis II crew of 4 will be on their way around the moon. 👨🚀👨🚀👩🚀👨🚀 https://t.co/kwANSZYAmO
