SpaceX Offers AI Coding Startup Cursor $60B to Save Elon Musk's Failing xAI Software SpaceX plans to acquire AI startup Cursor for $50 billion, aiming to enhance its software division and compete with industry rivals. The deal highlights Musk's commitment to advancing AI technology.

Désormais fusionnée avec xAI, SpaceX se voit obligée d'investir massivement et de s'allier à Cursor pour tenir la route dans l'IA.
Un effort coûteux mais symbolique : il faudra que SpaceX affirme que tout va bien dans 2 mois pour son introduction en bourse.

www.ibtimes.co.uk/spacex-acqui...

Pentagon officially ends OCX program, citing risk and delays Pentagon officially ends OCX program, citing risk and delays Pentagon officially ends OCX program, citing risk and delays

OCX was the ground control segment that was supposed to coordinate the upgraded M code for GPS that makes it harder to jam/spoof. In this day and age where GPS is constantly getting interfered with, it's unbelievable that this was fumbled so badly
spacenews.com/pentagon-off...

Trump taps Raytheon executive for top military space acquisition post Erich Hernandez-Baquero is currently vice president for space intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance at Raytheon

Trump taps Raytheon executive for top military space acquisition post

Erich Hernandez-Baquero is currently vice president for space intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance at Raytheon

My new article is up: thespacereview.com/article/5205/1

"The Bundeswehr has inquired with U.S. manufacturer L3Harris about the cost and delivery timeline for its mobile Meadowlands systems, which the U.S. military already uses." Meadowlands is a jammer and one of 3 acknowledged offensive counterspace capabilities the US has 1/2

Shifting gears: Space Force moves to embrace space mobility for orbital warfare - Breaking Defense The service's new Objective Force plan calls for demonstrating on-orbit refueling and fielding operational "space tugs" by 2030.

"It calls for demonstrating on-orbit refueling and fielding operational “space tugs” that it characterizes as “Augmented Maneuver” systems between 2025 and 2030."

breakingdefense.com/2026/04/shif...

AST SpaceMobile, the customer for today's Blue Origin New Glenn launch that placed the payload in an "off-nominal" orbit, says the satellite "is too low to sustain operations with its on-board thruster technology and will de-orbited."

www.businesswire.com/news/home/20...

I really would like to see the images, but Stephen Chen never mentions the source in his articles

3 satellites to track all? Chinese radar images confirm US military fears Breakthrough suggests ability to achieve global, 24/7, all-weather reconnaissance coverage of high-value targets.

"In 2023, China launched the world’s first GEO SAR satellite: Ludi Tance 4-01...The Ludi Tance 4-01 showed a monitoring and positioning margin of error of only 3km when tracking the Towa Maru." www.scmp.com/news/china/s...

The BlueOrigin/AST_SpaceMobile
launch has been tracked by Space Force as catalog 68765, 2026-85A, in a 154 x 494 km x 36.1 deg orbit. Epoch is 1138 UTC which is the time of SECO-1, so this may not be the final orbit. (If it is, then they are indeed toast).

Space Force weighs Vulcan flights without solid boosters  Vulcan would be allowed to fly lower-energy missions as investigation of solid rocket motors anomaly continues

Space Force weighs Vulcan flights without solid boosters 

Vulcan would be allowed to fly lower-energy missions as investigation of solid rocket motors anomaly continues

Palantir put out the most cartoonishly evil statement possible. They’re so arrogant and self-confident they don’t seem to believe their fascistic plans can be opposed.

We must get rid of Palantir altogether.

twitter-thread.com/t/2045574398...

NASA Shuts Off Instrument on Voyager 1 to Keep Spacecraft Operating - NASA Science On April 17, engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California sent commands to shut down an instrument aboard Voyager 1 called the

NASA shuts down Low-energy Charged Particles experiment on Voyager 1 to keep the nuclear-powered spacecraft operating, nearly 49 years after launch.
science.nasa.gov/blogs/voyage...

Antitrust Authority Approves Creation of Rheinmetall-OHB Satellite Joint Venture Germany’s independent competition authority has approved the creation of a Rheinmetall-OHB joint venture to bid on a military satellite communications contract.

Germany’s independent competition authority has approved the creation of a Rheinmetall-OHB joint venture to bid for a satellite communications constellation for the country's armed forces.
europeanspaceflight.com/antitrust-au...

NorthStar to go public via SPAC to expand space-based SSA network NorthStar Earth and Space plans to raise funds to expand the space-based sensor network behind its space situational awareness business by merging with Viking Acquisition Corp. I, a publicly listed shell company.

NorthStar to go public via SPAC to expand space-based SSA network

NorthStar Earth and Space plans to raise funds to expand the space-based sensor network behind its space situational awareness business by merging with Viking Acquisition Corp. I, a publicly listed shell company.

As Artemis II is celebrated, the world faces hard questions about US leadership in space The US disregards international law on Earth. Is that what we want on the Moon?

"A disregard for international law on Earth leads us to question how the US will ultimately act in space." theconversation.com/as-artemis-i...

LAUNCH at about 2318 UTC Apr 16 of one or more Kosmos satellites by Soyuz-2-1b from Plesetsk to a 457 x 547 km x 98.3 deg orbit

ESA’s Mars Rover to Launch Aboard SpaceX Falcon Heavy in 2028 - European Spaceflight NASA has selected a SpaceX Falcon Heavy to launch the European Space Agency's Rosalind Franklin Mars rover in 2028.

NASA has selected a SpaceX Falcon Heavy to launch ESA’s Rosalind Franklin Mars rover in 2028. The rover will be tasked with drilling into the Martian surface in search of signs of past life.
europeanspaceflight.com/esas-mars-ro...

Boeing and its subsidiary Millennium Space team on new mid-size satellite The new satellite platform is being positioned to compete in the emerging “micro GEO” market for space-based communications and sensing

Boeing and its subsidiary Millennium Space team on new mid-size satellite

The new satellite platform is being positioned to compete in the emerging “micro GEO” market for space-based communications and sensing

"The advanced space domain awareness capability doubles the field of view, doubles the search speed and more than triples the sensitivity of what the U.S. Space Force can see on orbit." www.ussf-cfc.spaceforce.mil/News/Article...

Space Force reorg signals end of SDA as standalone agency Officials say the Space Development Agency’s ‘go fast’ model will live on under new portfolio-based organization

Space Force reorg signals end of SDA as standalone agency

Officials say the Space Development Agency’s ‘go fast’ model will live on under new portfolio-based organization

NASA seeks proposals for commercial TDRSS replacement NASA plans to seek proposals for commercial communications services that can be backward compatible with the agency’s aging fleet of relay satellites. NASA issued April 10 a draft solicitation for Project NEXUS, a part of the broader Commercial Services Project. That is an effort by the agency to move from traditional government owned and operated communications systems to commercial services.

NASA seeks proposals for commercial TDRSS replacement

NASA plans to seek proposals for commercial communications services that can be backward compatible with the agency’s aging fleet of relay satellites. NASA issued April 10 a draft solicitation for Project NEXUS, a part of the broader Commercial…

Selon le chef d’état-major de l’armée de l’Air, la «guerre spatiale» a déjà commencé - Zone Militaire Lors du dernier salon de l’aéronautique et de l’espace du Bourget, en juin 2025, le président Macron avait affirmé qu’il fallait aller «encore plus et

"the YODA project [Eyes in Orbit for an Agile Demonstrator] was intended to prepare the EGIDE program, with the deployment of two "patrol" nanosatellites into near geostationary orbit. It is now expected to be completed in 2028, three or four years behind schedule." www.opex360.com/2026/04/15/s...

Iran used Chinese spy satellite to target US bases Leaked documents show IRGC secretly acquired system and used it to guide strikes during war in March

Resolution of Iran's satellites: TEE-01B, 0.5m (this one reportedly due to an "in-orbit transfer" from China); Noor-3, 5m; Paya, 10m; Zafar-2, 15m. The last 3 were indigenously developed, so the TEE-01B is a huge step up for Iran's imagery capabilities

www.ft.com/content/1fdd...

Saltzman unveils blueprint for Space Force’s future Saltzman unveils blueprint for Space Force’s future Saltzman unveils blueprint for Space Force’s future

"Future competition is expected to play out below the threshold of open war, through cyberattacks, electronic warfare, spoofing and other forms of disruption."
spacenews.com/saltzman-unv...

Senators seek increased funding for NASA Mars missions Several senators are asking appropriators to increase funding for NASA’s robotic Mars exploration efforts, fearing “severe and irreversible harm” if funding is not restored.

Senators seek increased funding for NASA Mars missions

Several senators are asking appropriators to increase funding for NASA’s robotic Mars exploration efforts, fearing “severe and irreversible harm” if funding is not restored.

MDA MIDNIGHT Serving the world from our Canadian home and our global offices, MDA is an international space mission partner and a robotics, satellite systems and geointelligence pioneer with a 50-year story of fir...

Is Canada getting on-orbit counterspace capabilities? "MDA MIDNIGHT™: A space control platform" that has "a suite of active and passive payload capabilities" in order "to intercept, deter or counter objects"

mda.space/midnight

Vance says that stopping funding for Ukraine is one of his proudest achievements in this administration.

​I’m watching this stunningly cruel speech from Ukraine, as Russia continues to kills us every day. Just today, they killed 8-year-old boy in Cherkasy and five people in Dnipro.

Block US radar base in Wales, first minister tells Keir Starmer Eluned Morgan urges prime minister to halt co-operation with Washington on a joint scheme because of Iran war and Trump’s ‘hostility’

Space policy, defence policy, and transatlantic relations in a Senedd election campaign with a possibly seismic political shift in Wales? Don’t threaten me with a good time!

Side‑by‑side satellite images showing ships at sea, viewed from directly overhead on the left and from an angled off‑nadir perspective on the right, captured by Planet Labs’ SkySat constellation.

Detecting ships that try to stay hidden🚢

Read the story about how SkySat imagery supported an AI model to detect suspicious maritime vessels, even from off-nadir views — opening up more flexible maritime surveillance.

earth.esa.int/eogateway/su...