Deep Space Extra

Here is a list of news that were published in our Newsletter the week of May 5th, 2025:

Human Space Exploration

• The best way to prepare humans for Mars? The Moon;
• Glaze: Artemis II could launch as early as February 2026;
• India delays 1st Gaganyaan astronaut launch to 2027;
• Vast to complete Haven-1 primary structure in July 2025, ahead of target May 2026 launch date;
• What Trump’s proposed NASA budget cuts really mean for the space agency;
• NASA budget proposal draws strong criticism
  Coalition for Deep Space Exploration and Coalition Members in the News – Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman;
• CDSE warns against deep NASA cuts in proposed budget;
• ESA reacts to proposed NASA budget cuts;
• What President Trump’s proposed budget could mean for Johnson Space Center and local jobs;
• NASA’s Artemis II Moon rocket gets 2nd stage even as Trump tries to scrap Space Launch System (photos);
• Trump proposes $6 billion cut to NASA
  The Coalition for Deep Space Exploration in the News;
• NASA just got the Orion spacecraft that will fly astronauts around the Moon on Artemis II in 2026
  Coalition Member in the News – Lockheed Martin;

Space Science

• A stadium-sized asteroid will fly past Earth on May 9, and you can watch it live (video);
• NASA still looking for a way to get VIPER to the Moon;
• Resilience lunar lander enters orbit around the Moon;
• Old Soviet Venus lander’s fall to Earth will be no ordinary space junk crash;
• ClearSpace completes second phase of U.K. debris-removal mission;
• The Centennial Gleissberg Cycle;
• ‘Right now, we are in what has to be a Golden Age of asteroid exploration.’ Scientists celebrate NASA’s latest space rock flyby;
• NASA’s NICER maps debris from recurring cosmic crashes;
• Asteroid Vesta could be a fragment of a solar system planet, but which one?;
• What time is it on the Moon? U.S. House space committee wants a standard lunar clock;
• Mars surface patterns resemble Earth, revealing secrets of its past;
• Trump’s proposed budget would mean ‘disastrous’ cuts to science
  The Coalition for Deep Space Exploration in the News;
• A Soviet probe orbiting Earth since 1972 will soon reenter the planet’s atmosphere;

Opinion

• The U.S. is risking its economic and defense leadership in low Earth orbitPlans by NASA to deorbit the aging ISS in 2030 could have unfavorable economic consequences for commercial sector tenants of the seven-person orbital lab that has been staffed continuously for more than 24 years, according to an op-ed from Mark Gittleman, who chairs the ISS National Laboratory User Advisory Committee and the Aegis Aerospace Board of Advisors. Planned NASA budget cuts would slow the pace of crew and cargo missions to the ISS prior to its deorbit as well.

Other News

• U.S. Space Force test fires thrusters for Moon surveillance spacecraft;
• China uses ‘gravity slingshot’ to rescue pair of wayward Moon satellites;
• White House taps former Air Force colonel for NASA Deputy Administrator role;
• Laurie Leshin steps down as JPL director;
• Space Force awards contracts for missile-warning ground systems
  Coalition Member in the News – Northrop Grumman;
• Space Force remains skeptical on satellite refueling: ‘Show me the military advantage’
  Coalition Member in the News – Northrop Grumman;
• Inversion completes first flight of reentry vehicle, but without reentry;
• Who gets to be called an astronaut? Private space travel has reignited debate over use of prestigious title;
• SpaceX’s ‘Starbase’ becomes official city after voter approval;

Major Events This Week:

• The top line 2026 federal budget request unveiled by the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on Friday is anticipated to continue generating significant civil as well as national security reverberation as the week unfolds.
• On the civil space policy front, Wednesday morning will feature two live streamed presentations led by Nicky Fox, the head of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.
  • At 10 a.m. EDT she is to address lunar non-polar science mission objectives, which are National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) program objectives beyond efforts by NASA to establish a sustainable human presence at the Moon’s water ice laden south pole.
  • At 11 a.m. EDT Fox is to lead a discussion updating NASAs across the board Artemis program objectives with Niki Werkheiser from NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate and Jacob Bleacher from NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate.

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