SPACE UPDATE NASA & NEWSPACE NASA and Northrop Grumman are repurposing Gateway HALO technologies into three Lunar Infrastructure Demo (LID) missions to tackle extreme temperature swings at the lunar South Pole. SpaceX stock has fallen significantly from its post-IPO peak above $200, though the company’s 2026 second-quarter revenue hit $7.8

SPACE UPDATE NASA & NEWSPACE The upper stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will impact the Moon, creating a flash of light and plume of ejecta, on August 5 at 06:34:33 UTC near the Einstein and Bell craters (the Earth-facing edge around the 10 o’clock position). Rocket Lab was

SPACE UPDATE NASA & NEWSPACE Highly anticipated SpaceX Starship Flight 13 achieved many mission successes: Super Heavy hard splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico, deployed 20 Starlink satellites, Starship soft landing in Indian Ocean. Astronauts and engineers increasingly question whether a safe, practical landing at the lunar south pole is

SPACE UPDATE NASA & COMMERCIAL PARTNERS SpaceX Starship Flight 13 automatically aborted as multiple raptor engines failed to ignite. May attempt flight as early as July 20. NASA and Draper cancel lunar lander CLPS CP-12 contract – this mission was the Team Draper Commercial Mission 1 (aka ispace Mission 3) to

SPACE UPDATE NASA & COMMERCIAL PARTNERS Fire on the Moon combustion experiment, recently detailed by astronaut Butch Wilmore, is expected to be among the payloads aboard Astrobotic’s Griffin-1 mission launching in late 2026. NASA’s CAPSTONE spacecraft concluded a successful extended mission testing lunar technologies, serving as a cost-effective testbed for

SPACE UPDATE NASA & COMMERCIAL PARTNERS Another round of awards, totaling nearly $600 million, to be given to NASA commercial partners for lunar missions (Astrobotic $297.9M, Firefly Aerospace $144.2M, Intuitive Machines $148.3M). Engineering model of Perseverance rover (dubbed “Promise”) may be repurposed for lunar mission with multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator.

LUNAR NEWS NASA & ARTEMIS NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman to discuss the next set of lunar lander missions and awards this Tuesday 30 June. Eric Berger reports the work for the Lunar Gateway’s planned Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) has ceased. A NASA Office of Inspector General (OIG) analysis indicates aging infrastructure will need $1

LUNAR NEWS Chang’e-6 lead isotope data shows that a massive impact, rather than just the early Lunar Magma Ocean, heavily modified the lunar crust in the South Pole–Aitken region. | Astrobotic Griffin-1 lander is to be sent to JPL later this month for environmental testing, in preparation for its launch

LUNAR NEWS Falcon 9 upper stage (4,000 kg dry) now expected to impact lunar surface at 06:35 UTC on August 5, 2026. | Artemis III test mission set for 2027, names 4 crew members. | The details of Japan’s SLIM lander deploying a baseball-sized rover (LEV-2) on the lunar surface

LUNAR NEWS SpaceX likely will go public at a multiple of the combined market capitalization of all other space companies. | FAA requires an investigation into uncontrolled landing of SpaceX Super Heavy booster on Starship Flight 12. | Blue Origin mission schedule is said by others to be set back

June 1-7, 2026 | Vol 45, Week 22 | Hawai`i Island, USA NASA Personnel Announce Timeline for USA on the Moon, Project Awards, Moon Base Website Live-streamed and recorded NASA news conference May 26 on Moon Base plans featured Jared Isaacman, Lorie Glaze and Carlos García-Galán. Isaacman restated the intention

May 25-31, 2026 | Vol 45, Week 21 | Hawai`i Island, USA Shenzhou 23: Imminent Launch Followed by Shenzhou 24: International Collaboration in Autumn The Shenzhou 23 mission is scheduled to launch NET May 24. Although originally planned for November, the craft was moved sooner consequent to the space debris

May 18-24, 2026 | Vol 45, Week 20 | Hawai`i Island, USA SMILE Sun, You’ll Soon Be on Camera! The first mission to observe Earth’s magnetosphere in X-ray light, SMILE (Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer), is prepared to launch May 19 via Vega-C rocket from Guiana Space Center. SMILE

May 11-17, 2026 | Vol 45, Week 19 | Hawai`i Island, USA SpaceX’s Plans 5 Flights This Week, Including Starship Version 3, and IPO in June SpaceX plans 5 launches this week, which would bring 2026 launches to 61, the Falcon 9 rocket flying 59 times, Falcon Heavy once, and

May 4-10, 2026 | Vol 45, Week 18 | Hawai`i Island, USA Canada is Building a Spacefaring Nation — Mirroring May 5 Canadian Space Launch Conference Canadian Space Agency (CSA-ASC) Astronaut Jeremy Hansen was part of the Artemis II lunar flyby crew, and Canada contributes to the Artemis program, yet CSA-ASC terminated

April 27 – May 3, 2026 | Vol 45, Week 17 | Hawai`i Island, USA Amazon Leo Constellation to Gain 61 Additional Satellites this Week Two launches, April 27 + 28, are planned for the Amazon Leo project for global internet, using different launch providers and vehicles. United Launch Alliance

April 20-26, 2026 | Vol 45, Week 16 | Hawai`i Island, USA ULA Vulcan-Centaur Rocket Needs Northrop Grumman Boosters to Pass the Test United Launch Alliance (ULA) plans a static fire test this week of its Vulcan-Centaur (VC) rocket. Although a VC deployed two satellites to geosynchronous orbit in February,

April 13-19, 2026 | Vol 45, Week 15 | Hawai`i Island, USA From Humans to Hardware, 2026 Moon Missions Plan Next-Gen Telescope and Hopping Probe As Artemis II crew readjusts to life back on Earth after their unprecedented lunar-far-side flyby, robotic Moon missions for 2026 are next up. China National

April 6-12, 2026 / Hawai`i Island, USA Vol 45, Week 14: Lunar Broadcast Precursor — Terrestrial Edition 14 in Space! And Could the ISS Become the Artemis Moon Gateway? Artemis II four Astronauts are spending 9+ days on a trip around the Moon, while the International Space Station has been continuously

March 30 – April 5, 2026 / Hawai`i Island, USA Vol 45, Week 13: Lunar Broadcast Precursor — Terrestrial Edition Artemis II to Show the Way, Closely Observe the Moon Artemis II crewed lunar flyby, likely April 5 with April 1 launch, will travel beyond Apollo 13 distances and also restore

March 23-29, 2026 / Hawai`i Island, USA Vol 45, Week 12: Lunar Broadcast Precursor — Terrestrial Edition Rocket Lab Electron to Take ʻDaughter of the Stars’ to LEO for PNT From New Zealand, Rocket Lab launch NET March 24 of its carbon-fiber / polymer rocket Electron is set to enhance precision

March 16-22, 2026 / Hawai`i Island, USA Vol 45, Week 11: Lunar Broadcast Precursor — Terrestrial Edition Isar Spectrum “Onward and Upward” Mission to Launch Multiple Payloads Set for March 19, the 2nd test launch of the 28-meter Isar Spectrum aims to carry 5 cubesats to SSO and 1 non-separable experiment,

March 9-15, 2026 / Hawai`i Island, USA Vol 45, Week 10: Lunar Broadcast Precursor — Terrestrial Edition Artemis 2 Still NET April, Artemis 3 Now 2027 Orbital Test, Artemis 4 First Crewed Lunar Landing 2028 NASA has restructured the Artemis program, including the shift of Artemis III from a lunar landing

March 2-8, 2026 / Hawai`i Island, USA Vol 45, Week 9: Lunar Broadcast Precursor — Terrestrial Edition Hawaiʻi Space Ambitions: Bonds Proposed to Fund Fenix Horizontal Launch at Hilo Recently introduced Hawaiʻi House Bill 1608 would authorize issuance of US$40M worth of special-purpose revenue bonds to assist Fenix Space Incorporated, a