Policy

China Could Beat the US to the Moon, Experts Warn

Yesterday, four space industry and China experts appeared before the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology’s Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics testifying that if the US doesn’t step up, it risks ceding space superiority to China. That risk, according to witnesses, comes on all fronts—from the Moon and planetary science, to PNT systems and LEO security.

BusinessEO

BlackSky Beams Gen-3 Images Home at Record Speed

Less than 24 hours after launch, BlackSky’s ($BKSY) latest Gen-3 imaging sat had deployed, captured very high-resolution images from orbit, and sent those images home for delivery into a customer’s hands.

EuropeLunar

Thales Alenia Space Picks its Lunar Lander Team for Argonaut

It’s been almost a year since Thales Alenia Space’s Italian subsidiary won the initial ESA contract to build a descent module for a lunar lander. Getting down to the lunar surface will be a team effort, though, and on Friday the space firm announced it has picked its team.

Military

Space Force Releases Vector 2025

The Space Force is plotting for a complex future in Earth’s orbit, and that takes a lot of big-picture thinking and coordination. To set the stage for that future, the branch released a new type of strategic guidance document on Friday, which it’s dubbed Vector 2025.

Deep SpaceLaunch

New Glenn Launches ESCAPADE, a NASA Mission to Mars

After a five-year gap in new missions focused on Mars, NASA is on its way back.

Yesterday afternoon at 3:55pm, Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket launched for the second time, carrying its first NASA mission—the Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers project, better known as ESCAPADE.

Civil

NASA Lays Off ISS Workers at Marshall Space Flight Center

In anticipation of the ISS decommissioning and deorbit planned for the end of this decade, NASA has made a sweeping round of layoffs targeting staff working on programs related to the space station at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL.