Top Stories

Trump Nominates Lt. Gen. Doug Schiess as 3rd Space Force Chief

Trump has nominated Lt. Gen. Doug Schiess to lead the Space Force, replacing Gen. Chance Saltzman. Schiess is a career space operator — his background is in the operational side of military space, not the acquisition or policy tracks.

Schiess inherits a branch that has grown considerably in both budget and headcount since its 2019 founding. If confirmed, he becomes the third Chief of Space Operations in the service’s history.

Read the full story: SpaceNews

Pentagon Clears 8 Tech Firms to Deploy AI on Classified Networks

The Defense Department has signed agreements with Amazon Web Services, Google, Microsoft, NVIDIA, OpenAI, SpaceX, Reflection, and Oracle to deploy their AI systems on classified DoD networks. SpaceX’s inclusion is notable given its existing STRATCOM and Space Force relationships through Starshield.

The agreements cover classified network access — not just unclassified research environments. That’s a higher bar than most prior commercial AI pilots inside the Pentagon.

Read the full story: Breaking Defense

DARPA Awards Contracts for Ultra-Low Lunar Orbit Water Ice Search

DARPA has selected three companies to study concepts for a lunar orbiter mission targeting very low orbits — the kind needed to detect water ice deposits at the poles. DARPA has not yet disclosed the three awardees or contract values.

Very low lunar orbits are operationally difficult due to mascon-driven orbital instability. A mission designed for that regime would need active station-keeping or a short operational lifetime by design. This study phase will determine whether any architecture is viable before hardware commitments.

Read the full story: SpaceNews

SpaceX Deploys 29 More Starlink Satellites from Cape Canaveral

Starlink 10-38 lifted off from Pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on May 1 at 2:06 p.m. EDT. The Falcon 9 placed 29 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit.

This is a routine Group 10 shell deployment. As the constellation grows, KeepTrack continues tracking active Starlink satellites in real time for conjunction awareness and pass prediction.

Read the full story: Spaceflight Now

Army, Navy, and Air Force Submit $3B in FY27 Unfunded Requirements

The Army, Navy, and Air Force collectively submitted roughly $3 billion in unfunded requests for FY27 — all directed toward military construction projects. US Southern Command added $229.9 million to its own wishlist.

Some services and combatant commands submitted no unfunded requirements at all this cycle, which is unusual. Whether that reflects budget discipline or political pressure to avoid the appearance of conflict with the administration’s spending priorities is unclear.

Read the full story: Breaking Defense

Norway Formally Notified of Potential US Weapons Delivery Delays

Norway’s Ministry of Defense has received formal notification from US authorities that delays in American weapons deliveries “may occur.” No specific systems or timelines were named in the ministry’s public statement.

The notification follows broader reporting on US defense export backlogs affecting multiple NATO allies. For space-dependent systems — including missile defense and ISR platforms — delivery slippage can have downstream effects on allied space surveillance and command networks.

Read the full story: Breaking Defense

Hegseth Orders 5,000 US Troops to Withdraw from Germany

Defense Secretary Hegseth has directed the withdrawal of 5,000 US troops from Germany. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell cited a review of force posture in Europe and “theater requirements and conditions on the ground” as the basis for the decision.

No further detail on which units are affected or the timeline for redeployment has been released. European-based US forces play a direct role in operating and defending space-enabled C2 and ISR infrastructure across NATO’s eastern flank.

Read the full story: Breaking Defense

Satellite of the Day

EUTELSAT 8 WEST D

EUTELSAT 8 WEST D, also known as Xinnuo 3, is a Ku-band communication satellite operated by SINO and manufactured by CAST using the proven DFH-3 bus platform. Launched on May 31, 2007, from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center aboard a Chang Zheng 3A rocket, this 2,320 kg spacecraft was designed with an expected operational lifetime of 15 years. The satellite features 24 Ku-band transponders for relaying communications across its service region and is equipped with dual deployable solar arrays and battery systems for power generation and storage.

With dimensions of 5.7 meters in length and an 18.1-meter span when fully deployed, EUTELSAT 8 WEST D represents the capable mid-sized communication satellite architecture that has become a workhorse for regional coverage missions. The satellite’s box-plus-panel configuration with a dish antenna is optimized for fixed-beam coverage patterns typical of geostationary communication platforms. This satellite remains an important asset for communications services across Asia and beyond, having already exceeded its original design life by several years.

Track this satellite in real-time: Track EUTELSAT 8 WEST D

Upcoming Space Launches

May 3

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5:
  • CAS500-2 & Others from Vandenberg Space Force Base, Space Launch Complex 4E (06:59 UTC) A SpaceX Falcon 9 rideshare mission carrying 46 payloads, led by the CAS500-2 primary payload manifested by Korea Aerospace Industries. Booster B1071, flying for the 33rd time, will return to Landing Zone 4 at Vandenberg. The deployment sequence will continue for approximately 2.5 hours after liftoff. Watch Live Launch Preview

May 6

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5:
  • Starlink Group 17-29 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, Space Launch Complex 4E (02:00 UTC) 29 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites into low Earth orbit. Watch Live

May 9

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5:
  • Starlink Group 17-37 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, Space Launch Complex 4E (14:00 UTC) 29 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites into low Earth orbit. Watch Live

May 12

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5:

  • NROL-172 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, Space Launch Complex 4E (22:15 UTC) Thirteenth batch of satellites for a reconnaissance constellation built by SpaceX and Northrop Grumman for the National Reconnaissance Office, providing imaging and other reconnaissance capabilities.

• SpaceX Starship:

  • Flight 12 from SpaceX Starbase, Orbital Launch Pad 2 (22:30 UTC) The 12th test flight of the fully reusable two-stage Starship launch vehicle and the maiden flight of Starship V3. With a lift capacity of up to 100,000 kg to low Earth orbit, Starship is the most powerful rocket ever developed. This flight continues SpaceX’s iterative development program for the vehicle.

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5:

  • Dragon CRS-2 SpX-34 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Space Launch Complex 40 (23:16 UTC) The 34th Commercial Resupply Services mission to the International Space Station under NASA’s second CRS contract. Cargo Dragon 2 will deliver supplies and scientific payloads to support ongoing research investigations aboard the orbiting laboratory.

May 19

• Avio S.p.A Vega-C:
  • Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) from Guiana Space Centre, Ariane Launch Area 1 (ELV) (03:52 UTC) A joint mission between the European Space Agency and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, SMILE will deploy into a highly elliptical Earth orbit 57 minutes after liftoff. Using four science instruments, SMILE will study how Earth’s magnetosphere and ionosphere respond to the solar wind, advancing our understanding of solar storms, geomagnetic storms, and space weather. Planned mission life of three years. Watch Live

May 22

• United Launch Alliance Atlas V 551:

  • Amazon Leo (LA-07) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Space Launch Complex 41 (00:00 UTC) Carrying 29 satellites for Amazon’s Leo broadband internet constellation, formerly known as Project Kuiper. The full constellation is planned to comprise 3,276 satellites distributed across 98 orbital planes at altitudes between 590–630 km, with the goal of delivering high-speed, low-latency internet access to underserved and remote areas globally.

• Rocket Lab Electron:

  • Viva La Strix (StriX Launch 9) from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand (09:30 UTC) A synthetic aperture radar imaging satellite for Japanese Earth observation company Synspective.

May 31

• Rocket Lab Electron:
  • The Grain Goddess Provides (iQPS Launch 7) from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand (00:00 UTC) A synthetic aperture radar Earth observation satellite for Japanese imaging company iQPS.

Schedule Changes

• New launches added: Two new SpaceX missions on May 12 were added to the manifest — Falcon 9 Block 5 | NROL-172 (22:15 UTC) carrying National Reconnaissance Office reconnaissance satellites, and Starship | Flight 12 (22:30 UTC), the maiden flight of Starship V3. Both are listed as “To Be Confirmed.”
• Status update: Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 10-38 has been removed from the upcoming launches calendar following a status change from “Go for Launch” to “Launch Successful.”

Note: Launch dates and times are subject to change due to technical or weather considerations.