Vol 45, Week 45

NASA & NEWSPACE

• Intuitive Machines was selected by JPL to provide the spacecraft platform and system integration for the FALCON-RADAR Earth science mission planned to launch in 2029.
• Despite successes of Otter Pup prototypes, Starfish Space lost contact with its first full-scale Otter spacecraft, prematurely ending a $15 million NASA mission.
• NASA announced plans for the X-70 Fractal, a modular crewed experimental aircraft expected to fly within two years.
• Vienna-based startup Tumbleweed raised a record €6.9 million for its orbital microgravity labs (aka Pods).

GLOBAL REPORTS

• Building on prior lunar power contracts awarded to MDA Space, Volta and CSMC Nuclear, the Canadian Space Agency issued an RFI for a lunar surface nuclear microreactor.
• China announced its official “two launches, lunar orbit rendezvous” plan, along with its progress on successful tests of Long March 10, Mengzhou crewed spaceship and Lanyue lunar lander.
• Ten Philippine Space Agency engineers completed training in South Korea to prepare for an early 2027 demo launch of the BW0.1 liquid-fueled rocket.

BEYOND EARTH

• Hubble’s future is being evaluated through a NASA RFI that seeks commercial options to reboost, service or control the re-entry of the telescope. 
• Japanese scientists have confirmed that all five essential genetic nucleobases used in DNA and RNA are present in samples from the asteroid Ryugu.
• A new paper revealed an alert system successfully timed a May 2026 NASA sounding rocket launch to observe volatile solar flares.