Space News for Monday, April 13, 2026

In this episode, we aggregate and summarize today's top space news stories. Enjoy!(00:10) Podcast Introduction(00:20) Sophia and Kepler to marry orbital compute with optical links(00:56) Rocket Lab wins contract for three more iQPS launches(01:40) China Accelerates Orbital Internet Deployment with Successful Smart Dragon-3 Sea Launch(02:17) Smallsats Dominate 2025 Launch Landscape as Mass Efficiency Peaks(02:51) MIT STAR Lab Expands Scope from Lasercom Innovation to Space Policy Architecture(03:27) NRL to Showcase Sovereign Space Capabilities at 41st Space Symposium(03:49) Artemis II Splashes Down(04:24) Ship 39 and Booster 19 Roll out for Static Fire Testing(05:07) Falcon 9 launches CRS NG-24 cargo ship to ISS(05:25) Hawkeye 360 Files For IPO(05:59) A worst-case solar storm could knock out satellites, GPS and power grids, report warns(06:40) 'The most special thing that will ever happen in my life': Artemis 2 astronauts describe their epic moon mission(07:26) SpaceX launches huge 'Cygnus XL' cargo ship carrying over 5 tons of supplies to ISS astronauts (video)