Space News for Friday, May 22, 2026

In this episode, we aggregate and summarize today's top space news stories. Enjoy!(00:10) Podcast Introduction(00:20) Ground equipment problem scrubs Starship launch attempt(00:34) Sixth Varda mission successfully returns(00:49) Space Force on path to double active-duty force by 2030(01:40) SpaceX scrubs first launch attempt of its Starship Version 3 rocket(02:14) SmallSat Europe Speaker Focus: Celia Pelaz, Spire Global(02:43) From Disposable Assets to Multi-Mission Robotics: US Prepares for First In-Orbit Servicing Mission(03:01) SpaceX Is Worth $1.75 Trillion. Only 7% of That Is Real.(03:34) Software-Defined Modems and Hardware Bottlenecks Strain Proliferated Defense Space Architectures(03:55) Tornado Draws a Jagged Line in Mississippi(04:38) NASA Joins Artemis Accords Workshop as Global Signings Rise(05:04) NASA Seeks Interest for Artemis Mission CubeSats(05:26) ESA Chief Calls on Europe to Double Funds for Space(06:03) Better Moon-Tech Tops NASA Stakeholder Wishlist(06:50) ESA Approves Two Scout Science Missions(07:24) SpaceX's 1st Starship V3 megarocket launch scrubbed at last minute. Sorry, Nicki Minaj(07:50) Watch Rocket Lab launch private Japanese Earth-observing satellite this morning(08:06) This exoplanet weather forecast by the James Webb Space Telescope calls for sandy skies and a clear (alien) sunset(08:54) 'Stop lying!' Conspiracy theorist confronts Artemis 2 astronauts, accuses them of faking their moon mission(09:19) Lunar Outpost has big plans for the moon. The new Pegasus lunar rover is just the start(10:06) Ground system issue scrubs first launch of SpaceX's Starship V3 rocket(10:40) JWST maps the weather on a hot gas giant 700 light-years away