We are cutting through the orbital debris for you. In other words, we’re keeping an eye on space news on the web so you don’t have to.
Here is our round-up of the most important, and interesting, space news stories of April (space orders can also be found in another post):
Anomalies, delays and failures
Chinese three Dro lunar relay satellite constellation is in place but its rescue was complicated
Mystery Russian satellite Cosmos 2553 which is thought to be testing radar detection for possible EM-pulse ASAT weapon, fell into tumble
NASA’s Psyche asteroid mission has a propellant line issue affecting electric thrusters
Human space and Space Stations
Soyuz MS-26 brings back ISS astronaut Don Pettit back to Earth with two others on his 70th birthday
Shenzhou-19’s Chinese astronauts return to Earth as Shenzhou-20 docks with Tiangong space station
Blue Origin launches six-woman crew including singer Katy Perry on suborbital spaceflight but she and the rest of the crew receive a public backlash
NASA has decided to extend flying its astronauts on Soyuz missions albeit that they will be fewer
The commercial FRAM2 crew dragon mission carrying first orbiting humans over the poles returns safely
NASA launches supplies to ISS via Cargo Dragon CRS-32
Space Science
Chemical signature of life found on extra-solar system planet
China shares its Chang’e 5 moon rocks and dust samples
Vast signs three science payloads for Haven-1 space station
Space Agencies and Politics
It is not just US Space Command’s HQ that is being fought over by individual US States, so is NASA HQ
Mooted major cuts to NASA science budget draws criticism and worry
A formal inauguration ceremony in Cairo, Egypt starts the African Space Agency (AfSA)
Space Technology
Companies – including Axiom – are seriously exploring and testing the idea of putting data centres in orbit and on the Moon
Elon Musk’s stainless steel design decision for Starship has led China to copy him for Long March 9 and other rockets
Having been recovered by chopstick landing, SpaceX’S Super Heavy Booster 14 has a successful stating firing test
JAXA thinks about ditching supersonic parachutes for simpler inflatable aeroshells for descent of interplanetary missions
United Spaceports offers to build and fly a small sat for you…if you have US$5.5 million
Catching up with the sci-fi: ISS experiment to grow food from cells
Dust repellent coating is tested on the Moon’s surface via Blue Ghost lander
UK firm Pulsar Fusion designs nuclear fusion rocket engine
Firefly Aerospace gets US Air Force contract to develop nozzle using new material
LeoLabs unveils mobile tracking radar
Honda to test out its fuel cell technology on ISS after being carried there on Dream Chaser flight
Space Exploration
China lays out its long term plans for solar system exploration
China and Russia plan to power lunar base with nuclear power plant
Military Space
US Space Force updates its ‘Capstone Doctrine’ as it publishes its new
‘warfighting’ guide – here is the guide
China expands its counterspace effort particularly targeting systems like Starlink, while even smaller nations are also exploring space warfighting capabilities, says SWF report
TJS-17 is one of four ‘King’ sats in GEO
While questions remain about how Golden Dome defence system will shoot down missiles, L3Harris demonstrates how to detect them
Both US & UK militaries to use suborbital Rocket Lab Electron Haste launches for hypersonic testing
Military suborbital cargo delivery test flight for Astra Rocket 4
Boeing’s subsidiary, Millennium Space, is almost doubling its satellite manufacturing capacity to fulfil a backlog of military contracts
Space Companies
Axiom announced its new CEO – so did Rocket Factory Augsburg, but rather quietly
US Tariffs: European aerospace companies call for retaliation while Iridium protects its supply chain
Payload’s analysis shows some space companies growing fast but that recession fears maybe slowing sector
GEO and LEO comsat battle is about to restart after FCC decides to reexamine spectrum rules …as SpaceX uses own Starlink sats to monitor others
Amazon’s Kuiper internet constellation is underway via first launch of production satellites
Fundraising
After the successful launch of its Droid 002 space situational awareness spacecraft Turion Space gets investment from Washington Harbour
Defence startup True Anomaly secured US$260 million which it will use to support four space missions over the next 18 months
Satellite manufacturing startup Apex closed a US$200 million Series C fundraising round
Aetherflux, the space solar power startup backed by the likes of actor Jared Leto, raised US$50 million
Portal Space raised US$17.5 million in funds as it plans the first launch of its ‘solar thermal propulsion’ Supernova bus spacecraft in 2026
InfinAstro, a Chinese startup providing orbital logistics services, has raised tens of millions of yuan in an angel round of financing
M&A
Spire Global finally closed the sale of its maritime tracking business to Kpler, a Belgian analytics firm, for US$241 million
Launch provider Phantom Space has partnered with Ubotica to add on-board AI processing capabilities
Two become one: Katalyst Space Technologies acquired Atomos Space – both US startups have been developing in-space servicing and orbital transfer vehicles
Canadian MDA Space revealed plans to buy Israeli satellite chipmaker SatixFy in a $269 million deal
Spaceports
China wants an equatorial launch site and looks to Malaysia
Slingshot Mentions
Slingshot targets international market with sovereign space tracking systems
DoD Taps Slingshot to Track Adversaries on Orbit
Sources include Cision, BBC, CNBC, msn.com, NASA, Orbitaltoday, Payload, phys.org, Politico, scmp.com and SpaceNews with links provided to each story.
