NASA’s Artemis II Moon Mission Will Put These Technologies to the Test
NASA’s Artemis II, slated for an April 1 launch, will carry four astronauts on a ten‑day lunar flyby, marking the first crewed deep‑space mission since Apollo. After resolving hydrogen‑leak and helium‑flow issues on the Space Launch System, the crew will test Orion’s regenerative life‑support, manual piloting, and an upgraded heat‑shield during re‑entry. The mission’s objectives are designed to validate systems needed for Artemis III’s 2027 lunar landing and the subsequent Artemis IV surface expedition. Success will set the technical baseline for sustained lunar exploration.
When It Comes to Catastrophic Space Weather, the UK Is Holding a Cocktail Umbrella
The UK National Audit Office warned that the nation is ill‑prepared for a severe space‑weather event, despite improved forecasting from the Met Office. Recent solar storms have already displaced thousands of satellites, highlighting vulnerability. The government estimates a 5‑25 percent chance...
Seraphim: The Space-Focused Fund That's Ready for Lift-Off
Seraphim Space Investment Trust (LSE: SSIT) emerged as the top‑performing UK investment trust in 2025, climbing another 10% year‑to‑date. The trust gives private investors exposure to early‑stage space firms, a segment traditionally dominated by governments and defence contractors. Its portfolio...
Swissto12 to Build Small Optical Relay GEO Satellite for Space Compass
Swissto12 has secured a contract with Japan’s Space Compass to build SC‑A, the first SmallSat‑class optical relay satellite in geostationary orbit. The spacecraft will use Swissto12’s HummingSat platform and is slated for delivery in Japan’s fiscal year 2028. SC‑A serves as a...
The Global Space Economy in 2024: What the Numbers Actually Reveal
The European Space Agency’s 2025 report shows the global space economy reaching a record €122 billion in public budgets for 2024, a 9 % increase driven largely by defence spending. Private capital surged to €7 billion, with Europe capturing a historic €1.5 billion –...
Aurora Avionics Expands Into Edinburgh Hub as Europe’s Launch Race Heats Up
Aurora Avionics has moved its headquarters and R&D to the Edinburgh Innovation Hub, scaling up operations as Europe intensifies its launch capabilities. Backed by £320,000 in funding, the startup secured partnerships with Pangea Propulsion and ATMOS Space Cargo to integrate...
Who Is Buying Space? Market Segmentation by Customer Type in the $613 Billion Space Economy
The Space Foundation’s 2025 Q2 report puts the global space economy at $613 billion, with the commercial sector accounting for roughly 78 % of that value. Defense and national‑security customers spend over $60 billion annually, driving much of the upstream supply chain. Fast‑growing...
Earth Observation Market Analysis 2026
Earth observation has transitioned from a niche, agency‑driven activity to a core operational layer across the modern economy. Global revenues for EO data and value‑added services grew to €3.4 billion in 2023 and are projected to reach nearly €6 billion by 2033....
Paving the Way for Real‑Time Earth Observation: Space Compass and SWISSto12 Sign Contract for First Commercial GEO Optical Data Relay...
Space Compass and Swiss‑based SWISSto12 have signed a contract to develop the first commercial geostationary (GEO) optical data‑relay satellite. The platform will host Space Compass’s high‑resolution imaging payload and use SWISSto12’s proven satellite bus to deliver near‑real‑time Earth observation data....
GNSS Market Analysis 2026
The EUSPA GNSS market report shows global GNSS revenues at €260 billion in 2023, projected to more than double to €580 billion by 2033, reflecting an 8% CAGR. Device shipments are set to hit 2 billion units annually by 2027, pushing the installed...
How Ukraine and Iran (and Satellites) Are Rewriting Military Doctrine
The Ukraine war turned SpaceX’s Starlink from a civilian internet service into a core military communications network, exposing both strategic advantages and vulnerabilities when Russian forces repurposed the terminals. In response, SpaceX launched the hardened Starshield constellation, providing encrypted, jam‑resistant...
What Is Electronic Space Warfare, and Why Is It Important?
Electronic space warfare—jamming, spoofing, directed‑energy attacks, and cyber intrusion—has moved from theory to active combat. The U.S. Space Force publicly employed space‑based electronic warfare during Operation Epic Fury in February 2026, disrupting Iranian satellite communications and GPS signals. Twelve countries now field or...
Thales Alenia Space Previews Sovereign Constellations and LEO-PNT Milestones for SATShow 2026
Thales Alenia Space (TAS) unveiled its 2026 roadmap at SATShow, emphasizing high‑revisit Earth observation and Europe’s sovereign satellite constellations. The company confirmed its lead‑engineering role in the IRIS² program and highlighted the upcoming launch of the Celeste IOD‑2 CubeSat, a...
SpaceX Offers Details on Orbital Data Center Satellites
SpaceX disclosed technical details for an ambitious orbital data center constellation, targeting up to one million satellites powered by high‑end AI processors. The initiative, called Terafab, aims to produce one terawatt of chips annually—about 50 times current advanced‑chip output—and will...
Jeff Bezos’ Space Company Unveils Plans for Orbital Anti-Asteroid Defense Weapons
Blue Origin announced a Near‑Earth Object (NEO) Hunter mission concept in partnership with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, aiming to test multiple asteroid‑deflection techniques such as ion‑beam propulsion and direct kinetic impact. The plan leverages the in‑development Blue Ring spacecraft, which...
High Fire Volume Systems: An Alternative to Space-Based Interceptors
Payload Space’s latest analysis highlights high‑fire‑volume missile defense systems as a viable alternative to costly space‑based interceptors. The piece argues that ground‑based rapid‑launch batteries can engage multiple threats simultaneously, reducing reliance on orbital platforms. It cites recent test data showing...
Russia Launches First Rocket From Repaired Baikonur Launch Pad
Russia successfully launched a Soyuz‑2.1a rocket carrying the Progress MS‑33 cargo spacecraft from a repaired launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome on March 22, 2026. The launch restores the only Baikonur pad capable of handling Soyuz crew and cargo missions after it was...
Eutelsat Ends Capacity Lease On Two Russian Satellites
Eutelsat has terminated its 15‑year capacity lease on Russia’s Express‑AT1 and Express‑AT2 geostationary satellites. Express‑AT1 was declared lost after a technical failure, while Express‑AT2 faces operational limits due to Western sanctions linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The lease, which...
Some European Launcher Challenge Funding Remains in Limbo
The European Space Agency (ESA) earmarked over €900 million for the European Launcher Challenge, but roughly €140 million remains unallocated, largely from the United Kingdom. A portion of the funding was tied to Orbex, which entered administration, removing €34.9 million from the pool....
Canada Cancels Small Lunar Rover that Was to Fly on Firefly’s Blue Ghost Lander in ’29
The Canadian Space Agency announced the cancellation of its planned lunar rover, which was to hitch a ride on Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lander in 2029. The rover, built by Canadensys, would have been Canada’s first surface vehicle on the...
Private Mission to Apophis Gets Another Customer, Two Student-Built Landers
Exlabs' ApophisExL mission, the first commercial deep‑space rideshare, has secured a second payload customer: Japan's Chiba Institute of Technology. The university team will launch two student‑built landers to touch down on asteroid Apophis during its April 13, 2029 close fly‑by....
Pentagon Report: Space Force ATLAS Program Falls Short of Decommissioning Targets
The Pentagon’s Director of Operational Test & Evaluation reported on March 16, 2026 that the Space Force’s Advanced Tracking and Launch Analysis System (ATLAS) is not yet mature enough to retire the 1979‑era Space Defense Operations Center (SPADOC). Although ATLAS achieved operational...
Sweden’s Esrange Spaceport Signs Launch Deal with Swedish Military
Sweden’s Esrange spaceport signed a roughly $22 million launch agreement with the Swedish Armed Forces, earmarking the facility for military and allied satellite missions. The contract is part of a broader $100 million government investment to expand Sweden’s space capabilities through 2032,...
JWST Probes Emerging Young Star Clusters in Nearby Spiral Galaxy NGC 628
An international team led by Helena Faustino Vieira used JWST’s NIRSpec to study emerging young star clusters (eYSCs) in the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 628. The FEAST program targeted 14 eYSCs, detecting helium and hydrogen recombination lines, molecular hydrogen transitions, and strong...
Newly Discovered Photos Show Astronaut Neil Armstrong After the Gemini 8 Emergency
Never‑before‑seen photographs of Neil Armstrong and David Scott after the Gemini 8 emergency have been donated to the Armstrong Air and Space Museum. The images, captured by Army veteran Ron McQueeney, show the astronauts on a U.S. Navy recovery ship, waving to...
Artemis 2 Returns to the Pad for April Launch Attempt
NASA’s Artemis 2 mission rolled back to Launch Complex 39B on March 20 and is now positioned for a launch window opening April 1. The rollout followed a February‑March fix of a helium‑line seal that caused upper‑stage blockage and hydrogen leaks during earlier wet‑dress...
Diary of the 12th Man on the Moon
Former Apollo 17 lunar module pilot Harrison Schmitt has published a new chapter in his online “Diary of the 12th Man,” focusing on the origin of life. The section ties the geology of Taurus‑Littrow’s regolith to Earth’s water‑rich beginnings and references NASA’s...
Key Space Force C2 Upgrade Still Faces Issues: Pentagon Report
The Pentagon’s Director of Operational Test & Evaluation reported that the Advanced Tracking and Launch Analysis System (ATLAS) still cannot meet the minimum viable capability required to retire the legacy Space Defense Operations Center (SPADOC). Although the Space Force approved...
March 20, 2026 Zimmerman/Batchelor Podcast
Robert Zimmerman’s new title *Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8* chronicles the historic 1968 mission that first took humans around the Moon. The book is now released in three formats—print, ebook, and audiobook—each with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a...
The $190 Million Military Contract That Makes Rocket Lab America’s Hypersonic Test Pilot
Rocket Lab secured a $190 million contract with the U.S. Department of Defense, the company’s largest launch deal to date. The agreement funds 20 HASTE (Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron) flights over four years, making the suborbital Electron variant the primary...
The Best Space Warfare Books Available on Amazon
Space warfare has moved from speculative fiction to a mature strategic discipline, a shift highlighted by a curated list of serious titles available on Amazon. The article identifies foundational works such as Bleddyn Bowen’s "War in Space" and John J....
The Jilin-1 Constellation: China’s Commercial Eye in the Sky
China’s Chang Guang Satellite Technology has expanded the Jilin‑1 constellation from four test satellites in 2015 to more than 117 operational units by early 2026. The fleet delivers sub‑meter optical imagery, hyperspectral, video and a synthetic‑aperture radar, offering 20‑plus daily revisits...
The Pentagon’s SmallSats Have An Amnesia Problem
The Pentagon’s SmallSat programs rely on commercial volatile memory, which loses data during power interruptions caused by radiation or EMP events. Such “amnesia” forces satellites to reboot, delaying hypersonic tracking and breaking the kill chain. Engineers mitigate the risk with...
Officina Stellare Wins $2 Million Contract for Lasercom Ground Station in Spain
Officina Stellare, an Italian opto‑mechanical specialist, secured a €1.84 million contract with Barcelona’s Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO) to build an optical ground station for laser and quantum‑encrypted space‑to‑Earth links. The system will include a telescope, dome, testing platforms and integrated...
The FCC’s Agenda at Its Next Meeting Includes an Item for “Weird Space Stuff”
The FCC’s March 26, 2026 open meeting agenda features an item titled “Spectrum Abundance for Weird Space Stuff,” aimed at addressing a looming shortage of radio spectrum for telemetry, tracking, and command (TT&C) functions in emerging private space operations. The...
Rocket Lab Launches Eighth Synspective Radar Imaging Satellite
Rocket Lab’s Electron lifted off from New Zealand on March 20, delivering Synspective’s eighth synthetic‑aperture radar (SAR) satellite into a 573‑km, 50.2° orbit. The launch brings Synspective closer to its goal of a 30‑satellite constellation by 2028, supported by a new contract...
Noted Test Pilot of SpaceShipOne, Michael Melvill, Passed on March 19
Mike Melvill, the first commercial astronaut and test pilot of SpaceShipOne, died on March 19. He piloted the historic September 29, 2004 flight and the follow‑up October 4 mission that secured the Ansari X Prize for Burt Rutan’s team. Those flights...
South Korean Rocket Failed 33 Seconds In — Now Engineers Know Why
South Korean startup INNOSPACE’s HANBIT‑Nano rocket broke apart 33 seconds after liftoff from Brazil’s Alcântara Space Center on 22 December 2025. A joint investigation with Brazil’s aerospace accident agency CENIPA identified a mis‑compressed sealing component in the forward chamber plug as the...
Artemis 2 Moon Rocket Reaches Launch Pad as April 1 Launch Window Approaches
NASA’s Artemis 2 mission progressed as the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft were rolled out to Launch Pad 39B on March 20, marking the start of final pre‑launch activities. The crew—Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and...
Teledyne to Demonstrate Integrated Satcom Capabilities at SATShow Week 2026
Teledyne Technologies will showcase its end‑to‑end satellite communications portfolio at SATShow Week 2026 in Washington, DC, booth 2729. The exhibit features live demos of the EV10AS940 ADC employing non‑uniform sampling and a 16‑core radiation‑tolerant Arm Cortex‑A72 processor running real‑time AI...
SpaceX Still at Odds on Sharing Rules with SES, Viasat
SpaceX is intensifying its fight with incumbent satellite operators over proposed FCC rule changes that would raise power limits for low‑Earth‑orbit (LEO) broadband constellations in the 10.7‑12.7 GHz, 17.3‑18.6 GHz and 19.7‑20.2 GHz bands. The company contends that existing equivalent power flux density...
New Satellite Constellations Could Ruin the Night Sky, Astronomers Warn
Astronomy groups are alarmed after SpaceX and Reflect Orbital filed FCC applications for massive satellite constellations—up to one million AI‑data satellites and 50,000 reflective mirrors. The proposals would dramatically increase visible objects in low‑Earth orbit, potentially brightening the night sky...
NASA Selects University Finalists for Technology Concepts Competition
NASA announced 14 university teams as finalists in the 2026 Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts – Academic Linkage (RASC-AL) competition. The challenge asks students to devise rigorous concepts for lunar and Martian operations across four mission themes, from communications to power...
Smiles and Spacesuits
NASA astronaut Chris Williams performed a spacesuit fit verification on Jan 2, 2026 inside the ISS Quest airlock, confirming airtight integrity, comfort and mobility. On March 18, 2026 Williams and fellow astronaut Jessica Meir completed a 7‑hour‑2‑minute EVA. The spacewalk focused on preparatory work for installing...
Ursa Major Test Flies a New Liquid-Fueled Missile Engine for Air Force
Ursa Major announced that its Draper liquid‑fueled rocket engine completed a successful flight on the Air Force Affordable Rapid Missile Demonstrator on Jan. 27, 2026. The sub‑orbital test reached supersonic speeds, providing the first in‑flight validation of propellant stability and throttling performance....
NASA Wants to Know How the Launch Industry's Chic New Rocket Fuel Explodes
NASA and the U.S. Space Force are conducting controlled detonations of methane‑liquid‑oxygen (methalox) propellants to quantify their explosive potential. Tests at Eglin Air Force Base began with C‑4 baselines, progressed to unmixed methane and LOX, and will scale to 20,000‑pound...
India’s Second Spaceport to Be Completed Next Year
India plans to commission its second spaceport at Kulasekarapattinam in Tamil Nadu during the 2026‑27 financial year. The facility, named the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) Launch Complex, will support polar launches of the SSLV and other commercial rockets, targeting...
Space Force Switches From ULA to SpaceX Rocket for Upcoming GPS Launch
The U.S. Space Force has shifted an upcoming GPS III satellite launch from United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket to SpaceX’s Falcon 9 after a February anomaly halted Vulcan’s military flights. The GPS payload, originally slated for this month, will now launch no...
NASA Seeks SmallSat Mission Concepts Using Adaptive Sensing and Edge AI
NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office announced the Space to Soil Challenge, inviting proposals for SmallSat missions that leverage adaptive sensing and edge AI. The initiative aims to advance onboard processing capabilities that can deliver rapid, high‑resolution data for land‑resilience applications...
Private Company to Land on Asteroid Apophis as It Flies Close to Earth
In 2029, asteroid Apophis will skim Earth at just 32,000 kilometres, a once‑in‑millennia event visible to the naked eye. A private U.S. company plans to deploy two landers as part of an international armada that includes spacecraft from Europe, Japan...
