Space News for Wednesday, May 27, 2026

In this episode, we aggregate and summarize today's top space news stories. Enjoy!(00:10) Podcast Introduction(00:22) Nations opt for a mix of sovereign, bilateral, federated and commercial space capabilities(00:53) SpaceX wins $2.29 billion Space Force contract for military data network(01:33) Starcloud orders Starlink lasers for orbital data center network(02:08) Preview: NASA updates progress towards established a Moon Base, Artemis 3 mission(02:42) SpaceX launches 24 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg SFB(03:29) Procurement is the choke point. Everything else on Day 1 is downstream of that.(04:05) RKLB Stock Surges Past $135 on $90M Space Force Contract, Q1 Revenue Hits $200.3M(04:39) Ever Restless Mount Dukono Erupts(04:58) NASA to Announce Artemis III Crew, Provide Mission Progress Update(05:33) NASA Astronauts to Answer Questions from Students in New York(06:06) NASA Provides Update on Moon Base Rovers, Landers, Missions(06:18) Chennai City Lights(06:55) Following Starship V3 debut, SpaceX prepares for follow up(07:36) Op-ed: Commercial Demand in LEO is Lacking. The Government Can Help.(08:23) Optical Links: When to Incorporate Them? When Not To?(09:00) Satellogic Lands $18M+ Defense-Monitoring Contract(09:50) SpaceX Launches Starship V3 for the First Time(10:39) Watch 2 Russian cosmonauts take 5-hour spacewalk outside the ISS today(11:24) Artemis moon base will cover 'hundreds of square miles' with hopping drones and new lunar rovers, NASA says(12:13) Seeing double with the Artemis 2 rocket boosters | Space photo of the day for May 26, 2026(12:53) Could a cosmic uncertainty principle help explain dark matter?