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NASA Targets Early September for Roman Space Telescope Launch
Apr 22, 2026
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope team now is targeting as soon as early September 2026 for launch, ahead of the agency’s commitment to flight no later than May 2027.
“Roman’s accelerated development is a true success story of what we can achieve when public investment, institutional expertise, and private enterprise come together to take on the near-impossible missions that change the world,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, who announced the update at a news conference on April 21 at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Roman will pair a large field of view with crisp infrared vision to survey deep, vast swaths of sky. While the mission was designed with dark energy, dark matter, and exoplanets in mind, Roman’s unprecedented observational capability will offer practically limitless opportunities for astronomers to explore all kinds of cosmic topics.
By the end of its five-year primary mission, Roman is expected to amass a 20,000-terabyte data archive. Scientists can draw on it to identify and study 100,000 exoplanets, hundreds of millions of galaxies, billions of stars, and rare objects and phenomena — including some that astronomers have never witnessed before.
Roman will launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA and SpaceX will share more information about a specific launch date, and the agency will continue to share updates concerning prelaunch preparations as new information becomes available.
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is managed at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, with participation by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Caltech/IPAC in Southern California, the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, and scientists from various research institutions.
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/nasa-targets-early-september-for-roman-space-telescope-launch/
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/roman-space-telescope/
other NASA 2
https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/langley/nasas-777-aircraft-returns-home-with-science-flights-on-the-horizon/
https://mars.nasa.gov/raw_images/1580767/
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/thats-just-not-a-winning-strategy-congress-objects-again-to-trumps-planned-nasa-budget-cuts
https://aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org/house-science-committee-members-vow-to-reject-nasa-budget-cuts/
https://www.thenationalnews.com/future/space/2026/04/23/jordan-joins-artemis-accords-space/
NASA associate administrator visits Purdue, tours research facilities
April 22, 2026
NASA Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya visited Purdue on Tuesday (April 21) to learn more about the university’s state-of-the-art research facilities that support key NASA programs.
Purdue’s robust aerospace and planetary science ecosystem provides research strengths that span the entire arc of space systems and areas aligned with NASA’s mission needs, including atmospheric entry, in-space propulsion, mission design, planetary surface exploration and human habitation.
Kshatriya toured labs in the colleges of Engineering and Science that help advance high-impact research central to NASA’s future missions.
Across these labs, researchers study conditions associated with extreme flight environments to develop tools that make complex missions possible and advance technologies that support sustained human activity beyond Earth.
For instance, cutting-edge capabilities like hypersonic wind tunnels and rocket combustion test cells help generate data that inform hypersonic flight and propulsion in space.
Purdue teams are also translating complex orbital mechanics into visual insights that support mission design and analysis, as well as operating instruments that interpret surface composition and contribute to real-time decisions on Mars rovers.
At the same time, researchers are performing experiments to explore how fluids and systems behave in low-gravity environments and are developing smart, autonomous deep-space habitats capable of operating far from real-time support on Earth.
Taken together, the work on display illustrates Purdue’s role in contributing foundational research, validated technologies and systems-level insight across multiple phases of space exploration.
Kshatriya serves as the highest-ranking civil servant and chief operating officer at NASA. He leads the agency’s 10 center directors as well as the mission directorate associate administrators at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C.
In addition to touring research facilities, Kshatriya attended the inaugural Neil Armstrong Space Prize winner announcement. This transformative prize leverages Purdue’s unparalleled space heritage, having produced numerous astronauts and developing pioneering aerospace education and research.
Known as the Cradle of Astronauts, Purdue has 30 alumni who have flown in space or been selected as NASA astronaut candidates.
With the upcoming Virgin Galactic Purdue 1 suborbital flight mission, the university is set to send five more Boilermakers into space.
https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/2026/Q2/nasa-associate-administrator-visits-purdue-tours-research-facilities/
Rocket Lab launches Japanese 'origami' satellite, 7 other spacecraft to orbit
April 22, 2026
Rocket Lab sent eight Japanese satellites to orbit from New Zealand on Wednesday night (April 22), including one with a unique "origami" construction.
An Electron vehicle launched the "Kakuchin Rising" mission from Rocket Lab's New Zealand site on Wednesday at 11:09 p.m. EDT (0309 GMT and 3:19 p.m. local New Zealand time on Thursday, April 23).
The satellites were deployed into low Earth orbit, at an altitude of 336 miles (540 kilometers), a little under an hour after launch as planned, Rocket Lab announced via X.
"Kakuchin Rising" is the second of two contracted Electron missions for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration Program.
The first such flight, which Rocket Lab called "RAISE and Shine," occurred last December. It sent JAXA's Rapid Innovative payload demonstration Satellite-4, known as RAISE-4, to low Earth orbit to test a variety of technologies.
The eight satellites flying on "Kakuchin Rising" are a diverse bunch.
They include "educational smallsats, an ocean monitoring satellite, a demonstration satellite for ultra-small multispectral cameras, and a deployable antenna that can be packed tightly using origami folding techniques and unfurled to 25 times its size," Rocket Lab wrote in a mission description.
"Kakuchin Rising" was the 79th launch to date for the 59-foot-tall (18-meter-tall) Electron, which gives small satellites dedicated rides to Earth orbit and beyond.
Rocket Lab also flies missions to and from suborbital space using a modified version of Electron called HASTE. Customers book HASTE missions primarily to test hypersonic technologies.
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/rocket-lab-launch-eight-japanese-satellites-kakushin-rising-mission
https://rocketlaunch.org/mission-electron-kakushin-rising-jaxa-rideshare
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R933NMzP1T0
Can Chinese scientists bring Nasa’s ‘space spider’ dream to life?
2:00pm, 23 Apr 2026Updated: 3:18pm, 23 Apr 2026
For years, Nasa funded a project called SpiderFab – a spider-like robot that would crawl through orbit, weaving solar power stations and giant antennas from spools of carbon fibre – creating structures too large for any rocket to carry whole.
Although SpiderFab never ended up in space, scientists from the Shenyang Institute of Automation in northern China say they have built the key technologies to reach a similar goal.
The team first made the building blocks from a carbon-fibre composite, shaping it into long, hollow tubes using heat and pressure.
They then added 3D-printed connectors, bonding the tubes to the joints with lasers to create strong, lightweight links without bolts or glue.
The researchers built a scaled-down antenna structure in the lab to show that the idea worked, they reported in the journal Space: Science & Technology on April 3.
The study offers a lightweight, high-strength and reliable approach to building large space structures in orbit, according to the institute, which was added to the US Entity List in 2022 over alleged links to China’s military, hampering its access US technology and tech resources.
“Building structures in orbit removes the need to fold them into rockets or worry about size limits. Parts can be made, joined and assembled directly in space – potentially a core technology for next-generation space systems,” the institute said.
Today’s spacecraft are built on Earth and launched into orbit, but transporting them by rocket imposes hard limits.
Rocket fairings can only hold objects of a certain size, and the intense force of launch restricts the shipment of delicate structures. That makes it hard to build systems stretching hundreds of metres or more.
The idea of assembling items in space is not new. Astronauts have been bolting together pre-built modules since the 1980s, including the 109-metre-long (358-foot) International Space Station, which took more than 40 launches over 13 years to complete.
What engineers have long dreamed of is something more radical: manufacturing structures directly in orbit from raw materials, so size is no longer a constraint.
Over the years, the United States and Europe have proposed a series of projects to build and service structures in space, from Nasa’s SpiderFab to newer efforts aimed at manufacturing and assembling satellites in orbit, although none has yet left the ground.
The team in Shenyang focused on two key challenges: how to produce strong structural parts efficiently, and how to connect them reliably.
By fine-tuning temperature and processing speed, they optimised the material for strength, stiffness and durability in space, according to the paper.
Their laser-based joining method also avoided the weaknesses of traditional bolts or glue, producing more even, stable connections suited for long-term use in orbit.
The next step was to see how the materials held up in real space conditions, particularly how exposure to ultraviolet light and cosmic radiation might affect their long-term stability, the team said.
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3351085/can-chinese-scientists-bring-nasas-space-spider-dream-life
ESA and EDA launch joint study to strengthen Europe’s Earth observation capabilities
April 23, 2026
The European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Defence Agency (EDA) have signed an Implementing Arrangement to jointly identify strategic and technological gaps in Europe’s Earth observation capabilities and develop a long-term roadmap in support of security and defence.
The agreement was signed on 22 April in Brussels by ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher and EDA Deputy Chief Anders Sjöborg.
The joint study will assess current and future Earth observation needs, identify critical capability gaps and define technology development priorities up to 2040 and beyond.
ESA said the work is intended to help ensure Europe remains prepared in a more complex geopolitical environment.
The study will build on existing cooperation between ESA and EDA and will be carried out over a period not exceeding 18 months. Both organisations will contribute equally to the costs.
ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher said: “Following the mandate given by our Member States to step up ESA’s role in security and defence, this agreement marks a meaningful move from intent to delivery.
Through initiatives such as the European Resilience from Space (ERS), ESA is already responding to Europe’s urgent security capability needs.
Strengthening our partnership with EDA allows us to align technology development more closely with both current and future operational and strategic requirements.”
ESA Director of Earth Observation Programmes Simonetta Cheli, who was present at the signature, added: “Earth observation is a cornerstone capability for security and defence.
Through this joint study, ESA and EDA will consolidate knowledge, highlight priorities and create a long‑term vision to reinforce Europe’s Earth observation capabilities in a coherent and efficient manner.”
EDA Chief Executive André Denk said: “In security and defence, knowledge is power, and from orbit, knowledge is constant, impartial, and without borders.
That’s why we invest today in foresight and resilience, creating the analytical basis to guide future research and development priorities.
Together with ESA, we will be identifying the most promising technological pathways to ensure that the EU retains Earth observation capabilities in support of the security and defence of our continent.”
ESA said the study is conducted within the framework of the 2011 Administrative Arrangement between ESA and EDA and builds on previous cooperation related to Earth observation.
It is also intended to contribute to implementation of ESA’s ERS initiative and to wider efforts aimed at strengthening Europe’s resilience and autonomy.
The Implementing Arrangement was approved by ESA Council in March 2026, following decisions made at the ESA Council at Ministerial level in November 2025 in Bremen.
https://spaceanddefense.io/esa-and-eda-launch-joint-study-to-strengthen-europes-earth-observation-capabilities/
extra ESA
https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2026/04/A_new_grip_on_space_electrostatic_capture_technology
https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/FutureEO/Space_for_our_climate/Why_is_Antarctica_s_mass_increasing
https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Plato/Plato_aces_space-like_tests
https://breakingdefense.com/2026/04/space-force-shifts-from-sda-transport-layer-to-new-space-data-network-backbone-for-orbital-relay/
extra Space Force
https://www.ssc.spaceforce.mil/Newsroom/Article-Display/Article/4467234/space-systems-command-looks-ahead-to-new-era-of-gps-success
https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4467281/daf-releases-data-ai-strategies-to-accelerate-military-dominance/
https://www.ssc.spaceforce.mil/Newsroom/Article-Display/Article/4467880/securing-the-ultimate-high-ground-how-the-space-force-is-revolutionizing-airbor
https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4467998/senior-enlisted-leaders-emphasize-partnership-as-cornerstone-of-space-superiori/
https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4466904/space-force-selects-first-air-force-reservists-to-transfer-into-part-time-work/
https://256today.com/redstone-arsenal-one-step-closer-to-landing-permanent-space-command-headquarters/
Space Force shifts from SDA transport layer to new Space Data Network ‘backbone’
April 22, 2026 3:40 pm
The Space Force once again does not plan to fund future iterations of a data relay constellation managed by the Space Development Agency (SDA), officials revealed, opting instead to build out a new constellation dubbed the “backbone” of the service’s budding Space Data Network (SDN).
“The Transport Layer for Tranche 3 is not funded,” a Space Force official said Tuesday during a briefing with reporters at the Pentagon for the unveiling of the service’s fiscal 2027 budget. “Those requirements are going to be rolled into the requirements being filled by the SDN backbone.”
For years, SDA has championed a satellite constellation known as the Transport Layer, composed of satellites launched to low-earth orbit in successive tranches.
But the Space Force has recently drifted away from the concept; last year, the service attempted to axe funding for SDA’s Tranche 3 birds, but Congress reinstated $500 million to continue the effort.
Around that time, Space Force officials were weighing whether to terminate the Transport Layer in favor of a program dubbed MILNET, which Breaking Defense previously reported could potentially involve shifting the data relay mission to SpaceX satellites.
While no longer called MILNET, the Space Force is still keen to shift toward that concept, but it’s not clear what systems may be used.
Speaking during the Tuesday budget briefing, Maj. Gen. Frank Verdugo the Air Force’s deputy assistant secretary for budget, confirmed that $1.6 billion in reconciliation funds requested by the service would build out the new SDN backbone consisting of a proliferated, low-earth orbit constellation. The backbone was “previously MILNET,” the general explained.
A Department of the Air Force (DAF) spokesperson additionally noted in a statement to Breaking Defense that the SDN backbone effort formerly known as MILNET will specifically be funded in a budget line for procurement dubbed “proliferated LEO SATCOM.”
The umbrella SDN concept will function similarly to how the Transport Layer was envisioned — a global satellite communications (SATCOM) network that can quickly move data between sensors and shooters.
The architecture will be overseen by Col. Ryan Frazier, the Space Force’s Space-Based Sensing and Targeting portfolio acquisition executive, and could be critical for marquee projects like the Golden Dome missile defense shield.
“The SDN program line fields a proliferated LEO mesh constellation and associated ground architecture providing resilient, high-volume, low-latency communications and tactical data links for the Joint Force.
Key efforts include the procurement of relay satellites as part of the SDN build-out, fielding ground gateways, and onboarding additional vendors into the architecture,” the spokesperson said.
“The goal is to employ competition across the SDN architecture while adhering to rapid delivery timelines.”
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Budget documents released earlier this month show the Space Force is requesting roughly $1.5 billion, all drawn from reconciliation, for research and development under the dedicated SDN budget line.
SDA is also launching missile warning satellites in what’s known as the tracking layer, but Acting Director Gurpartap “GP” Sandhoo told reporters April 15 that the agency “probably won’t” exist down the road as the new portfolio approach absorbs and reorganizes various space acquisition efforts.
Sandhoo separately confirmed the SDN’s scope has expanded to include the transport layer. The acting director himself is slated to be named as a portfolio executive overseeing missile warning and tracking programs.
Space Force In FY27: A Massive Funding Surge
Officials during the Tuesday briefing underscored the explosive growth of Space Force resources in FY27. The cash splurge is consistent across accounts:
Compared to enacted FY26 levels, the Pentagon is requesting a whopping 342 percent boost for buying space systems; a doubling of the service’s R&D; a 70 percent increase for operations and maintenance; and a 29 percent boost to military personnel.
Overall, officials are requesting a $71.1 billion budget for the Space Force in FY27. That’s up from $31.6 billion in FY26, a 124 percent increase, according to a budget overview shared with reporters.
(The above figures are inclusive of reconciliation funds requested alongside the Pentagon’s base budget, and exclude non-blue or “passthrough” spending that technically goes to agencies outside the Pentagon.)
Those extra dollars will fund priorities like adding 2,800 Guardians to the service’s end strength, Verdugo said, with a specific focus on “space, intelligence, cyber and acquisition career fields.”
Similarly, Verdugo said funding boosts will benefit other missions like space domain awareness, secure satellite communications and even an ambitious project to track aircraft from the heavens.
Despite the funding boost, not all programs survived. A day before the budget drop, the Space Force killed a long-troubled GPS ground system dubbed OCX.
And on budget day, the DAF spokesperson confirmed the Space Force is not requesting any funding for a missile warning satellite in polar orbit, known as Next-Gen Overhead Persistent Infrared (OPIR) Polar, or NGP.
Like with the transport layer, the Space Force attempted to zero funding for the polar birds in FY26, but Congress restored $436 million to continue their development.
The spokesperson said the service is “evaluating the viability” of the NGP program “and will have an acquisition decision in FY27.”
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SpaceX Starlink Mission
April 22, 2026
On Wednesday, April 23 at 8:23 p.m. PT, Falcon 9 launched 24 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
This was the fifth flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched NROL-105 and now four Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage landed on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship, which was stationed in the Pacific Ocean.
There was a possibility that residents of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura counties may have heard one or more sonic booms during the launch, but what residents experienced depended on weather and other conditions.
https://www.spacex.com/launches/sl-17-14
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqjHmdJqg1I
Ukrainian press gang shoves ‘volunteer’ off roof (VIDEO)
23 Apr, 2026 15:42 | Updated 23 Apr, 2026 16:45
A draft enforcement squad in the Western Ukrainian region of Volyn has reportedly shoved an unwilling recruit off the roof of a private home where he was apparently trying to evade capture, according to local media and eyewitness footage circulating online.
The incident is said to have taken place in the village of Strymovka outside of Lutsk. Eyewitness videos depict a Territorial Recruitment Center officer demanding that a man on the roof of a single-story building get down of his own accord.
The draft enforcer then addresses the onlookers who are shooting the video, saying: “Youths, we will get all of you who are filming – I’m telling you – we’ll come over to you, too… Put down your cameras!”
The conscription officer then leans a ladder against the porch roof while telling his colleague to “get the gun” and threatening to shoot the unwilling recruit in the legs.
In a separate video, the official is seen struggling with the man on the roof for some time before eventually pushing him to the ground and tumbling off the sloping surface himself.
Two other draft enforcers quickly grab the man by the arms and legs and haul him away, apparently toward their vehicle waiting outside.
The Volyn Territorial Recruitment Center has confirmed that the press gang, together with police officers, was patrolling the area when they spotted a vehicle whose driver attempted to flee after seeing the officials, as quoted by local media.
The authorities claimed that the man, who climbed up to the roof, then supposedly asked the draft enforcers to rescue him due to a “fear of heights.”
According to the regional Territorial Recruitment Center, the man ended up admitting to being a draft dodger and was subjected to a medical checkup in short order.
Faced with mounting losses, widespread desertion and a dearth of willing recruits in the conflict with Russia, Ukrainian draft enforcement squads have increasingly resorted to coercion and brute force to fill the ranks.
The practice, commonly known as “busification,” involves military-age men being captured on the streets, at their places of work, as well as in residential areas, then taken to recruitment centers against their will and reportedly dispatched to the front almost immediately, after only cursory training.
https://www.rt.com/russia/638980-ukrainian-press-gang-shoves-unwilling-recruit-off-roof/
extra RT
https://www.rt.com/russia/638964-ukrainian-police-conscription-blowback/
https://www.rt.com/russia/638945-ukrainian-draft-pepper-spray-woman/