Deep Space Extra

Here is a list of news that were published in our Newsletter the week of July 14, 2025:

Human Space Exploration

• Final ML-2 tower module added as Artemis and SLS Block 1B receive a funding reprieve
  Coalition Members in the News – Axiom Space, Bechtel, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman;
• ‘Doghouse’ days of summer Boeing’s Starliner won’t fly again until 2026, and without astronauts aboard
  Coalition Member in the News – Boeing;
• On this day in space! July 16, 1969: Apollo 11 launches to the Moon;
• Korea plans lunar base and Mars lander by 2045 in new space exploration roadmap;
• A handshake in orbit 50 years ago transformed the space race;
• Axiom private space mission could be glimpse of the future as ISS retirement looms
  Coalition Member in the News – Axiom Space;
• Private spaceflight ends with a Pacific splashdown for astronauts from India, Poland and Hungary
  Coalition Member in the News – Axiom Space;
  
• China launches new spacesuits, other supplies to Tiangong space station (video);
• NASA, JAXA astronauts discuss upcoming Crew-11 launch to ISS
  Coalition Member in the News – Boeing;
• Axiom Space, Oakley partner on spacesuit visor for Artemis missions
  Coalition Member in the News – Axiom Space;

Space Science

• A rare object found deep in the Kuiper belt;
• Alien rock from Mars reveals ancient volcanic secrets;
• HWO could find irrefutable signs of life on exoplanets;
• James Webb finds a mature galaxy cluster just 650 million years after the big bang;
• Lunar soil could support life on the Moon, say scientists;
• Clues to extraterrestrial life found in deep sea on Earth;
• The Perseid meteor shower kicks off summer ‘shooting star’ season this week. Here’s how to see it;
• Parker Solar Probe takes images close to the Sun as primary mission winds down;
• The Milky Way could be surrounded by 100 satellite galaxies;
• Scientists may have found the secret to detecting dark matter;
• Scientists find Uranus is surprisingly warm, heating up the case for a new planetary mission;
• A newly discovered interstellar object might predate the solar system;
• As NASA’s budget shrinks, Europe doubles down on Earth science: ‘Climate change is the defining challenge of our generation’;

Other News

• Senate appropriators retain funding for NOAA’s TraCSS space traffic system;
• New study calls for rapid development of space nuclear power systems
  Coalition Members in the News – Aerojet Rocketdyne, L3Harris;
• Amazon begins Project Kuiper deployment;
• Strong U.S. defense spending draws investors to space startups, report says;
• House appropriators also reject Trump-proposed NASA cuts, fund National Space Council;
• Japan shifts space policy from science to security;
• Austin-area rocket maker Firefly Aerospace files to go public as FLY;
• ESA selects five companies for next phase of launcher competition;
• Space Force picks Boeing for $2.8B strategic communications program
  Coalition Members in the News – Boeing, Northrop Grumman;
• Pentagon should boost fees for rocket launch companies, audit says;

Major Events This Week:

• • Regarding civil space, the U.S. House Commerce, Justice and Science subcommittee is scheduled to host a markup in the appropriations measure that includes NASA’s 2026 budget proposal on Tuesday, though a subcommittee and full committee slated for last week was postponed.
  • Axiom Space’s fourth, four-person private astronaut mission planned for departure from the ISS early Monday, is to lead to a Pacific Ocean splashdown and recovery on Tuesday, weather conditions permitting.
  • Also Monday, China plans to launch its next resupply mission to the three-person Tiangong space station, which has been permanently staffed since late 2022.
  • On Tuesday, the Washington Space Business Roundtable (WSBR) will host a luncheon on Space Nuclear Strategy with Bhavya Lal, NASA’s first associate administrator for technology policy, who is now a professor at RAND’s School of Public Policy. She is to present findings of her new report “Weighing the Future: Strategic Options for U.S. Space Nuclear Leadership.” As context, the White House budget proposal for 2026 proposes to zero out NASA nuclear thermal and electric propulsion development efforts.

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