Space News for Sunday, April 26, 2026

In this episode, we aggregate and summarize today's top space news stories. Enjoy!(00:10) Podcast Introduction(00:21) Artemis 2 came home in triumph. Artemis 3 must survive the real test.(00:57) FAA to begin collecting user fees for commercial launches and reentries(01:27) China launches PRSC-EO3 for Pakistan, lofts internet test and environment monitoring satellites(01:43) NASA reserves science payload space for Mars telecommunications mission(01:57) Space Force faces surge in demand for heavy-lift launches(02:12) SpaceX flies 25 Starlink satellites to orbit on its 50th Falcon 9 launch of the year(02:48) Vision Meets Profit: Why Modern Space Exploration Requires Both Dreamers and Business(03:20) How CubeSat Proliferation is Redefining Sovereignty and Diplomatic Leverage at the United Nations(04:00) FCC Modernization of Spectrum Rules Unlocks Sevenfold Gain in Satellite Capacity(04:41) Bad news, but good news followed(05:16) Space Force Awards $3.2 Billion in Golden Dome Contracts for Orbital Interceptor Constellation(05:33) I Am Artemis: Peter Rossoni(06:21) The Day of the Trifid Nebula(07:00) NASA Astronauts to Answer Questions from Missouri Students(07:46) Curiosity Rover uncovers fresh organic clues on Ancient Mars(08:18) Progress MS-34 to launch from Baikonur for ISS cargo delivery(08:36) Meta Secures Overview Energy Space Solar Power Capacity(09:09) Pentagon Taps 12 Companies for Golden Dome SBI Tech(09:48) Astra Targets Golden Dome With Small Rockets, Says CEO Chris Kemp(10:24) Trump Taps Space Execs For Military Space Roles(11:01) Astrobotic fires next-generation 'rotating detonation rocket engine' in record-breaking test (video)(11:46) AI sped up James Webb Space Telescope data analysis from years to days. What can it do for the groundbreaking Rubin Observatory?(12:35) NASA wants to use a fleet of MoonFall drones to scout the lunar south pole: 'We believe we can do it'(13:16) SpaceX launching powerful Falcon Heavy rocket today for 1st time in 18 months: Watch it live(13:50) The 'Oscars of Science': Breakthrough Prize 2026 awards over $18 million for discoveries across space, physics and more(14:27) Artemis II broke Fred Haise's distance record, but he is happy to pass it on