TYB
https://avi-loeb.medium.com/a-1-5-solar-mass-star-in-a-tight-orbit-around-the-4-3-million-fb949ee8f58f
https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8619199/v1_covered_021b1962-0bb4-4497-bef6-7aae72c679c5.pdf
other space objects
https://www.9news.com.au/national/meteor-lights-up-the-skies-over-sydney-across-nsw-and-act/33a8087e-5872-480c-984f-d1a99c81981f
https://www.youtube.com/@ChucksAstrophotography/posts
A 1.5-Solar-Mass Star in a Tight Orbit Around the 4.3-Million Solar-Mass Black Hole at the Milky-Way Center
May 21, 2026
The fastest moving star, labeled S301, was discovered recently by Stefan Gillessen’s team at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, Germany (as first reported here, with the full paper accessible here).
The star was discovered by near-infrared interferometry on 8-meter telescopes, using the GRAVITY instrument in operation at the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO’s) Very Large Telescope (VLT).
Last night, I sat next to Stefan at the reception dinner of the annual conference of Harvard’s Black Hole Initiative, for which I served as the founding director a decade ago.
This 1.5-solar-mass star moves on a highly elliptical orbit with a period of 8.7 years and eccentricity of 0.98 around the supermassive black hole at the Milky-Way center, called Sagittarius A*. This black hole has a long history of swallowing 4.3 million solar masses of gas and stars from its environment.
The peak velocity of S301 is 25,000 kilometers per second or 8.3% of the speed of light, as it comes down to a distance of 140 times the Schwarzschild radius of the black hole — which defines the scale of the black hole mouth from where even light cannot escape.
If the star were to pass ten times closer to the black hole, it would have been ripped apart by tidal gravity into a stream of gas that shines brightly as it feeds the mouth of this spacetime beast.
The orbit of S301 can be used to test expectations from Albert Einstein’s formulation of gravity as the curvature of spacetime.
Einstein’s equations predict that S301’s orbit will precess in response to the spin of the black hole, offering a precise new way to measure how fast Sagittarius A* is rotating within the coming decade.
How did this star get so close to the black hole?
A natural mechanism, proposed by Jack Hills in a 1988 paper published here, is the tidal break-up of a pair of stars by the black hole. About half of solar-mass stars form in binaries.
When a binary star system gets close enough to the black hole, the tidal gravity becomes stronger than the gravitational binding of the two stars and breaks the binary apart, sending one star out at a speed of up to thousands of kilometers per second and launching the second star into a tighter orbit around the black hole.
Indeed, a population of hypervelocity stars had been discovered on their way out in the Milky-Way halo by Warren Brown and collaborators from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (as reported here).
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In a 2006 paper published here, I proposed with the student, Idan Ginsburg, that the former companions of the observed hypervelocity stars in the Milky-Way halo might have produced the observed population of close-in S-stars on highly eccentric orbits around Sagittarius A*.
The Galactic center star S301 is likely one of them, formed via the Hills mechanism out of an initial binary star system with an orbital period of 1–2 weeks over the past 100 million years.
In a follow-up paper published here, I showed with Idan that planets could survive the break-up of binary star systems by Sagittarius A*. As a result, Galactic travel agencies could sell tickets for thrilling journeys on habitable planets around hypervelocity stars.
I wonder whether adventurous Galactic passengers would prefer to travel with a hypervelocity star on its way out of the Milky-Way galaxy at a speed of up to 1% of the speed of light or travel with a star like S301 as it reaches 8.3% of the speed of light and gets within a distance of 140 Schwarzschild radii from the largest black hole in our Galaxy.
I would personally favor the latter, since the extreme spacetime structure of a supermassive black hole is far more exhilarating than the rarefied environment of intergalactic space.
The trip close to the black hole also offers health benefits, since aging slows down by a third of a percent at the closest approach of S301 to Sagittarius A*. This corresponds to a gain of 5 minutes to the passenger’s lifespan every day relative to distant relatives.
The black hole tour with S301 offers a view of the black hole’s mouth from a distance where it occupies roughly the same angle as the Moon or the Sun in our sky.
The gas swirling into the event horizon of Sagittarius A* glows bright but at the center of this glow, there is a silhouette — a shadow cast by the absorption of light emanating behind the black hole.
Over the decade between 2006 and 2016, I wrote 30 papers in collaboration with my postdoc, Avery Broderick, forecasting the expected portrait of a black hole (as detailed here and summarized for the general public here).
By now, Sagittarius A* was imaged by the Event Horizon Telescope (here), whose headquarters was established at Harvard’s Black Hole Initiative during my directorship.
On a tour with S301, it would be fascinating to observe the silhouette image of Sagittarius A* from a minimum distance that is 140 million times closer than the Earth is from the black hole.
I would have loved to serve as the tour guide on such a journey. Here’s hoping that Galactic travel agents would pay attention to this essay.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFYPTVbj5PA
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Man Accuses NASA’s Artemis II Crew of Faking Their Space Mission
Thu, May 21, 2026 at 3:46 AM PDT
Artemis II crew members were confronted at the Capitol by an unknown man accusing NASA of faking space travel. The lunar mission astronauts appeared in blue flight suits during a hallway exchange shared online.
A new post claimed the man accused them of lying about going to space. The moment drew backlash from viewers, including one commenter who noted the mission was livestreamed. The confrontation came after the crew’s historic lunar flight.
Mystery man confronts Artemis II crew during their Capitol Hill visit in video
As per PatriotTakes X post, the clip showed the crew walking through Capitol Hill. For the disclaimer, the video’s authenticity has not been independently verified, and NASA has not publicly responded to the claims yet.
The caption said, “A man at the Capitol accused the Artemis astronauts of lying about going to space.” The man told them, “Stop lying. Stop acting” as Victor Glover came through.
In the clip, astronauts Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen were spotted standing in the hall. He also said, “You all never went to space.” Christina Koch kept a smiling face.
Meanwhile, Victor Glover appeared to look toward the camera, smile slightly, and wave, ignoring the conspiratorial remarks. The crew and the woman holding papers appeared to keep walking as the man continued.
The man continued the confrontation with religious and conspiracy claims. He said, “Apologies as God’s watching you all.” Then, he called the mission a “PSYOP” and said, “NASA is a joke.”
He also said, “Repent before God, y’all.” The crew did not appear to argue in the short clip. At the end, the woman in the stripped white dress shuts the man off with “that’s enough.”
A user named later replied, “I mean… it was livestreamed.” The comment added, “Does he realize the logistics of faking everything on a livestream?”
For context, the Artemis II crew included Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen. The agency’s mission sent them around the Moon in April 2026 aboard Orion.
On May 12, they appeared at Senate offices for public remarks. They later visited Capitol Hill, where lawmakers welcomed the returning astronauts.
The mission marked the first crewed lunar flight under the Artemis program. It also served as a test before future lunar landing missions.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/man-accuses-nasa-artemis-ii-104635343.html
https://www.primetimer.com/features/unknown-man-says-they-never-went-to-space-while-confronting-artemis-ii-astronauts-at-capitol-hill
https://x.com/patriottakes/status/2057128478428762216
NASA Welcomes 16th Deputy Administrator Matt Anderson
May 21, 2026
Matt Anderson was sworn in Thursday as NASA’s 16th deputy administrator by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. The oath was taken during a ceremony held at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington.
As NASA deputy administrator, Anderson will help lead the agency’s efforts to execute the President’s national space policy, strengthen America’s leadership in space, and advance NASA’s missions in exploration, science, and aeronautics.
“Matt Anderson brings exactly the kind of operational leadership, technical expertise, and mission focus NASA needs right now,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman.
“His decades of experience across the Air Force, Space Command, and the aerospace industry give him a valuable perspective as we work to strengthen America’s leadership in space and enter the next era of exploration.
I’m excited to have him helping lead NASA as we take on the near-impossible and push the boundaries of what we can achieve.”
“I’m deeply honored to serve as the deputy administrator and support the men and women across NASA who carry out some of the most ambitious and important work in the world,” said NASA Deputy Administrator Matt Anderson.
“NASA has been entrusted with a mission of enormous strategic, scientific, and economic significance, and delivering on that mission will require disciplined execution, technical excellence, and a strong culture of accountability.
I’m grateful to President Trump for the trust and confidence he has placed in me with this nomination, and I look forward to serving alongside Administrator Isaacman and the extraordinary NASA workforce as we strengthen America’s leadership in space and build toward the next golden era of space exploration.”
“NASA succeeds when we pair clear mission goals with empowered teams and disciplined execution,” said NASA Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya.
“Matt Anderson has spent his career leading in complex operational environments where the stakes are high and mission success depends on trust in the people doing the work.
I look forward to working with him as we continue building the capabilities, partnerships, and workforce needed for the challenging missions ahead of us.”
Anderson was nominated by President Donald J. Trump on Jan. 13, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on May 18.
Read Anderson’s official biography on the agency’s website:
https://www.nasa.gov/people/matt-anderson
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-welcomes-16th-deputy-administrator-matt-anderson/
extra NASA
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2026/05/20/cancer-blood-research-tops-science-schedule-as-spacewalk-preps-continue/
https://www.nasa.gov/missions/station/iss-research/nasa-highlights-2025-international-space-station-science-results/
https://www.nasa.gov/aeronautics/nasa-announces-winners-in-university-aeronautics-competition/
https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/new-eruption-in-the-bismarck-sea/
NASA to Provide Update on Moon Base Strategy, Missions
May 20, 2026
NASA will host a news conference at 2 p.m. EDT, Tuesday, May 26, to share Moon Base plans and highlight progress toward a sustained presence on the lunar surface. The media briefing will take place at the agency’s Headquarters in Washington.
Leadership will discuss program progress, including new industry partners and mission plans. Subject matter experts will be available for one-on-one interviews after the news conference ends.
Watch live on NASA+ and the agency’s YouTube channel. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of online platforms, including social media.
Participants include:
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman
Lori Glaze, acting associate administrator, Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate
Carlos García-Galán, program executive, Moon Base
Media unable to attend in person may ask questions by telephone. To participate in person or by phone, media must RSVP to the headquarters newsroom no later than 11 a.m. on May 26, at: hq-media@mail.nasa.gov. NASA’s media accreditation policy is available online.
NASA is advancing development of Moon Base, a long-term lunar exploration and infrastructure initiative designed to enable sustained human presence and expanded scientific and commercial activity at the lunar South Pole.
As part of the Golden Age of innovation and exploration, NASA will send astronauts on increasingly difficult missions to explore more of the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build on our foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-to-provide-update-on-moon-base-strategy-missions/
https://www.wionews.com/science/nasa-to-unveil-moon-base-plans-what-it-means-for-long-term-space-missions-1779366464617
https://www.benzinga.com/news/space/26/05/52710963/elon-musk-nasa-moonbase-plan-awesome-jared-isaacman
https://x.com/NASAAdmin/status/2057194087665549357
https://x.com/elonmusk/status/2057261488256303134
extra extra NASA
https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/johnson/lunar-robots-nasa-spotlights-moon-base-at-2026-first-robotics-competition/
https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/stmd/prizes-challenges-crowdsourcing-program/center-of-excellence-for-collaborative-innovation-coeci/nasa-techleap-prize-robotically-manipulated-payload-challenge/
https://science.nasa.gov/researchers/solicitations/roses-2025/amendment-58-f-17-research-initiation-awards-final-text-and-due-date/
The Disassembly Of The NASA Advisory Council
May 20, 2026
According to this news story the NASA Advisory Council is being disassembled.
No mention has been made by NASA if it will continue to exist/function, who will be on it, and what it will/will not do: “NASA officials provided a statement to El Paso Matters that appears to be the agency’s first public comment on its plans for the NASA Advisory Committee.
Committee members are not paid for their service.“The NASA Advisory Council is a discretionary committee that reports directly to the NASA administrator. The NAC has an active charter in place through September 2027.
The composition of the NAC and the topics it addresses are within the authority and discretion of the administrator. Future membership is under discussion,” the statement said.”
https://nasawatch.com/ask-the-administrator/the-disassembly-of-the-nasa-advisory-council/
https://elpasomatters.org/2026/05/20/el-paso-astronaut-nasa-advisory-council-artemis-missions/
3xtra NASA
https://www.nasa.gov/science-research/earth-science/nasa-developed-ai-could-help-track-harmful-algae/
https://www.nasa.gov/technology/nasa-releases-technology-priorities-to-energize-space-industry/
https://nasawatch.com/china/house-committee-claims-possible-nasa-china-interactions/
https://chinaselectcommittee.house.gov/media/press-releases/select-committee-releases-report-on-nasa-s-research-security-and-enforcement-of-the-wolf-amendment
https://www.sdsu.edu/news/2026/05/doctoral-student-nasa-jol-collaborators-take-orbital-view-of-la-wildfire-landscape-conditions
https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/05/uh-oh-the-international-space-station-is-leaking-again/
extra NASA and space
https://www.space.com/astronomy/mars/strange-stacked-stones-spotted-on-mars-space-photo-of-the-day-for-may-21-2026
https://www.space.com/astronomy/neptune/where-did-neptunes-mysterious-moon-nereid-come-from-it-may-be-the-only-survivor-of-the-planets-violent-history
https://interestingengineering.com/ai-robotics/helios-four-armed-humanoid-robot-space-missions
https://phys.org/news/2026-05-extraterrestrial-life-space-missions-astrobiologists.htm
Uh-oh, the International Space Station is leaking again
May 21, 2026 9:07 AM
NASA confirmed Thursday that the Russian segment of the International Space Station has begun leaking atmosphere into space again. It’s an old problem that NASA recently hoped was resolved.
For more than half a decade, engineers from Roscosmos and NASA have been tracking the leak rate from a small Russian module attached to the space station that leads to a docking port.
The source of these leaks, microscopic structural cracks, have been difficult to find and address.
In January, NASA said that after multiple inspections and sealant applications, the pressure inside this segment, known as the PrK module, had reached a “stable configuration.”
The PrK module is essentially a transfer tunnel attached to the Zvezda Service Module on the Russian segment of the space station.
This announcement by NASA was greeted by a sigh of relief in the space community, as atmospheric leaks on a pressure vessel like the International Space Station are never a good thing.
Leaks begin again
Unfortunately, the leak returned three weeks ago. After a couple of sources reported this to Ars, NASA confirmed the issue on Thursday.
On May 1, after Russian cosmonauts unloaded cargo from the Progress 95 cargo spacecraft, Roscosmos noted a “slow pressure drop” in the PrK module.
“Teams performed data analysis, which indicated a loss of about one pound per day,” NASA spokesman Josh Finch told Ars.
“Roscosmos allowed the pressure in the transfer tunnel to gradually decrease while monitoring the rate. The area now is being maintained at a lower pressure, with small repressurizations as needed.
There are no impacts to station operations, and NASA and Roscosmos are coordinating on next steps.”
Although there is no impact on astronauts on board the station, nor any immediate concerns about the station’s health, the returning leak issue raises new questions about the long-term viability of the International Space Station.
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High risk, high consequence
In the past, NASA officials have downplayed the severity of the leak risks publicly and in meetings with external stakeholders of the International Space Station. Internally, however, there appears to be greater concern.
The space agency uses a 5×5 “risk matrix” to classify the likelihood and consequences of risks to spaceflight activities, and the Russian leaks have been classified as a “5” on both high likelihood and high consequence.
Their potential for “catastrophic failure” is discussed in meetings.
Despite its dwindling budget, Roscosmos has managed the problem over the last several years largely by keeping the hatch to the PrK module closed to the rest of the station.
It was thought that the issue could be similarly managed through 2030, when the space station was due to be retired.
However, NASA and the US Congress are now considering extending the space station’s lifespan to at least 2032, if not longer.
The reemergence of cracking on the space station—some of its modules have now been in space for nearly three decades—calls into question whether continually extending the space station’s lifetime is a viable long-term strategy.
Can NASA keep extending ISS into perpetuity?
NASA must win international partner support for these extensions, including from Russia. The agency’s decision-making is further complicated by the desire to continue flying the station until private replacements are ready.
The US space agency has struggled to find a viable path forward with “commercial” space stations, a plan in which NASA would help fund development of one or more private space stations while also agreeing to be one of several customers with its astronauts.
In March, NASA proposed a revised plan for these commercial space stations at its Ignition event, which included private firms docking initial modules to the International Space Station, but it has not been particularly well-received.
The commercial companies are wary about NASA’s discussions to extend the station’s lifespan because they say they will be ready by 2030.
Phil McAlister, NASA’s former director of commercial spaceflight, said the agency would be best served by fully supporting the development of commercial space stations and working with the private companies to ensure they are ready by 2030.
“This further confirms the wisdom of the current policy of retiring the ISS in 2030 and replacing it with more modern, more cost-effective, and safer commercial platforms,” McAlister told Ars.
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https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/spacex-will-launch-its-1st-ever-starship-v3-megarocket-today-the-stakes-couldnt-be-higher
https://spaceflightnow.com/2026/05/21/live-coverage-spacex-to-launch-first-starship-version-3-rocket/
https://www.spacex.com/launches/starship-flight-12
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mtLT563qdg
SpaceX will launch its 1st-ever Starship V3 megarocket today. The stakes couldn't be higher
May 21, 2026
There's a lot riding on the debut flight of SpaceX's Starship V3 megarocket — not the least of which are NASA's Artemis moon landing ambitions.
The Starship launch is scheduled to take place today (May 21) from SpaceX's Starbase test site in South Texas, during a 90-minute window that opens at 6:30 p.m. EDT (2230 GMT; 5:30 p.m. local Texas time).
You can watch it here at Space.com when the time comes and see our latest Starship V3 launch updates for more.
The flight will be the 12th overall for Starship, and it will be broadly similar to previous efforts — a suborbital jaunt that ends with controlled ocean splashdowns of Starship's Super Heavy booster and its Ship upper stage.
But the vehicle involved is quite new, and SpaceX expects a lot out of it.
A bigger (and better?) Starship megarocket
The 408-foot-tall (124 meters) V3 ("Version 3") is bigger and more powerful than previous Starship iterations, which were already the biggest and most powerful rockets ever built, and it sports a number of other important upgrades as well.
For starters, it's outfitted with the new V3 Raptor engine — 33 of them on Super Heavy and six on Ship — which provides more heft, and a far more streamlined design, than its predecessors.
The V3 Super Heavy also now has just three grid fins (which help it steer its way back to Earth for recovery and reuse) instead of four.
And the "hot stage ring" — the structure that marks the meeting point of Super Heavy and Ship — is now attached to the booster, meaning it can be reused, whereas previously it had fallen away during flight.
(Starship engages in "hot stage" separation, meaning Ship fires its engines before it has detached from Super Heavy.)
Super Heavy's fuel transfer tube, which funnels propellant from its main tank to all 33 Raptors, "has been completely redesigned and is now roughly the size of a Falcon 9 first stage," SpaceX wrote in an update last week.
This change allows all 33 engines to start up simultaneously and will improve the speed and reliability of in-flight maneuvers, according to the company.
V3 of Ship, meanwhile, "incorporates a clean-sheet redesign of its propulsion systems," SpaceX wrote. "These changes enable a new Raptor startup method, increase propellant tank volume and improve the reaction control system used for steering while in flight.
The propulsion updates also reduce contained volumes in the aft end of the vehicle that could trap propellant leakage."
Ship's PEZ-dispenser-like deployment mechanism has been upgraded as well, enabling speedier ejection of payloads.
We'll see this mechanism in action on today's flight: Ship will deploy 20 dummy Starlink satellites, as well as two actual Starlinks equipped with special cameras that will scan Ship's heat shield. (On previous flights, Ship has deployed just eight to 10 dummy Starlinks.)
There are other significant Ship changes as well, the update relates.
The V3 vehicle "is now designed to be capable of long-duration flights with more efficient reaction control systems, isolation valves for high-pressure gases, 100% vacuum jacketing coverage of the header feed system, a high-voltage electrically actuated cryogenic recirculation system, and a dedicated system for managing cryogenic propellant interactions with the engines during extended coasts in space."
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V3 Ship also features four "docking drogues" — small receptacles that allow it to link up with specially modified (and not yet built) "tanker" Ships — as well as propellant line connections enabling those tankers to transfer their fuel.
This upgrade is a very big deal, for every Ship headed to the moon, Mars and other deep-space locales will need to be fueled up in space a dozen times or more.
Today's flight will also mark the debut of the second launch pad at Starbase, which features advances of its own. For instance, its propellant farm can load fuel into the megarocket faster, according to SpaceX.
And the "chopstick arms" of Pad 2's launch tower, which are designed to catch returning Super Heavy boosters and Ships, are shorter and nimbler.
"Together, these new elements are designed to enable a step-change in Starship capabilities and aim to unlock the vehicle's core functions, including full and rapid reuse, in-space propellant transfer, deployment of Starlink satellites and orbital data centers, and the ability to send people and cargo to the moon and Mars," SpaceX wrote in the update.
And the moon is a destination for Starship V3 in the not-too-distant future. If all goes to plan, the vehicle will land astronauts on the lunar surface during NASA's Artemis 4 mission, which the agency aims to launch in late 2028.
Starship will have to check a lot of boxes before it flies that mission, however. For example, the vehicle has yet to reach Earth orbit; all 11 of its test flights to date (Flight 1 launched in April 2023) have been suborbital, as today's will be.
It also needs to demonstrate off-Earth refueling and be outfitted with a life-support system and other astronaut accoutrements.
Such milestones must be met soon if SpaceX wants to stay on NASA's Artemis program timeline. The agency plans to launch its crewed Artemis 3 mission to Earth orbit in mid- to late 2027.
This will be a docking test between Artemis' Orion crew capsule and one or both of the program's privately developed lunar landers — Ship (by itself, without Super Heavy) and Blue Origin's Blue Moon vehicle.
If Ship isn't ready and Blue Moon is, NASA will presumably go with the latter on Artemis 3, putting the Blue Origin vehicle in pole position for the moon a year later.
Blue Moon has a lot of work to do as well, of course; it has yet to get off the ground. But that could change soon: Blue Origin plans to launch an uncrewed test flight to the lunar south pole with a prototype lander called Blue Moon Mark 1 later this year.
It will launch on a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket, which is also facing its own hurdles. New Glenn's recent NG-3 launch suffered an upper-stage failure, leading to the loss of its satellite payload. Blue Origin will need to fix that issue before Blue Moon Mark 1 can fly.
Failure on V3's debut launch could therefore be a big deal — especially if the fix requires significant modification of a key Starship system or subsystem.
SpaceX needs to move quickly at this point in Starship's development and cannot afford many more long delays. (Getting V3 to the pad took a while; Starship hasn't flown since October 2025.)
A subpar flight could also have short-term financial consequences.
SpaceX is gearing up for its initial public offering next month, which is expected to value the company at a record $1.75 trillion or so.
A catastrophic Starship failure in the leadup to the market debut could affect that valuation, given how central the vehicle is to SpaceX's future: The company has said that Starship will be its workhorse over the long haul, doing everything from satellite launches to crewed Mars missions to "point-to-point" transportation around Earth.
If SpaceX CEO and founder Elon Musk is nervous about V3's debut, however, he isn't showing it.
"The Starship production pipeline is full and will complete roughly 10 more ships and about half that number of boosters this year, so, if something goes wrong, it will not be a major setback, unless the launch stand is destroyed," Musk said on Monday (May 18) via X, the social media platform that he owns.
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https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4497991/daf-leaders-outline-readiness-modernization-priorities-in-fy27-budget-testimony/
extra Space and Air Force
https://www.nasic.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4497101/nasic-level-up-upskills-week-drives-professional-development/
DAF leaders outline readiness, modernization priorities in FY27 budget testimony
May 21, 2026
Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Ken Wilsbach and Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman told lawmakers, May 20, the Department of the Air Force’s fiscal year 2027 budget request is designed to strengthen readiness, accelerate modernization and position both services to meet growing threats across the air and space domains.
The $338.8 billion proposal includes $267.7 billion for the Air Force and $71.1 billion for the Space Force, investments department leaders told members of the House Armed Services Committee are necessary to sustain current operations while preparing both services for future conflict.
The request would boost the department’s total budget by $92.5 billion above current spending if it is approved as written.
Explaining how the department would prioritize and spend that money was a dominant theme during the hearing.
“We are in the middle of a generational shift in how we employ air and spacepower,” Meink said. “The FY27 budget increases our foundational readiness investments by 34%, providing the jump needed to truly recover.
We’re also looking at ways to operate more efficiently by accelerating decision-making, reducing barriers to entry for industry and leveraging innovative contract structures."
The budget proposal touches every corner of the services.
It would increase spending on operations and maintenance by 23% across the department, including funding to increase flying hours, perform maintenance, buy munitions, update infrastructure and for advanced training like key joint force exercises focused on space superiority.
Given the threats of today and U.S. adversaries, the three leaders said the spending is necessary.
Wilsbach said the fiscal year 2027 budget request will accelerate modernization programs.
“We are advancing the F-47 and Collaborative Combat Aircraft to increase combat mass and complicate adversary targeting,” Wilsbach said.
“We are upgrading our current fighter fleet to ensure it remains viable while also investing in long-range strike, advanced munitions, and resilient command and control."
Readiness is also a priority for Wilsbach and the budget addresses those needs. The request would fund the Air Force flying hour program to its maximum executable level of 1.1 million hours.
The budget request also calls for increasing weapon system sustainment to a total of $22.6 billion across 147 programs.
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Department leaders said the request also prioritizes infrastructure readiness across both services, directing $13.6 billion to facility sustainment, restoration and modernization.
If approved by Congress, that would mark a 110% increase over the amount spent this year for the same purposes. The funding includes investments in operational facilities, launch infrastructure and future mission beddowns supporting next-generation air and space capabilities.
Saltzman said the Space Force continues to face growing operational demands as the service expands its role supporting joint force operations across multiple theaters.
“The nation has long recognized the need for the Space Force to grow, but we are now seeing the demand to accelerate that growth,” Saltzman said.
Meink described the effort as part of what he called the broadest modernization program in the department’s history.
“We are transforming our acquisition system,” said Meink. “We are empowering our new Portfolio Acquisition Executives and their teams, with the authorities, resources and talent they need to accelerate capability delivery.
We are re-aligning portfolios to match mission outcomes. Our end state is all DAF acquisitions aligned within the PAE structure to ensure consistent, simplified, and rapid decision-making across the Space Force and Air Force.”
The FY27 request also includes a 50% increase in research, development, test and evaluation funding to support next-generation aircraft, resilient space architectures and advanced command-and-control capabilities.
The leaders told lawmakers that Air Force modernization priorities include the F-47, Sentinel, Collaborative Combat Aircraft and continued development of the B-21 Raider bomber.
For the Space Force, some of the top priorities include investment in missile warning and tracking systems, satellite communications and space control capabilities.
All three leaders also highlighted efforts to strengthen the defense industrial base through War Department acquisition transformation initiatives, leveraging commercial space capabilities, expanded weapons procurement and accelerated development of advanced munitions and hypersonic weapons.
“I think the Space Force is on a good path. We have shifted our relationship with industry,” said Saltzman. “It was very transactional, so we are investing heavily with industry to collaborate, to get minimum products in the hands of our operators as quickly as possible with a small number of requirements necessary to just advance the programs.”
Finally, the proposal includes investments in military end strength, housing, childcare, medical care and dormitory modernization across the department as leaders seek to grow and support both the Airman and Guardian workforce.
Meink said continued investment in Airmen and Guardians remains critical to sustaining readiness, maintaining combat capability and supporting military families.
“This budget represents a clear-eyed assessment of the threats we face and a disciplined strategy to meet them,” Meink said.
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SubOrbital Express-5 to launch 12 experiments to space
21/05/2026
On 28 May, the launch window opens for one of the most anticipated sounding rocket launches of SSC Space.
After years of planning and preparation, SubOrbital Express-5 will take off from Esrange Space Center in northern Sweden, providing access to space for twelve advanced scientific projects from organizations in nine countries, and enabling researchers to study physical, biological, and medical processes under conditions not possible on Earth.
The onboard payload consists of four scientific experiment modules. The three main modules contain research on metal science, fluids for medicine, and human bloodstream behavior for biology insights.
A fourth “rideshare module” gives another nine projects a ticket to space. This shared space will provide research opportunities related to human immune cells, stem cells, the solidification process of metal alloys, and more.
“We are all very excited about this upcoming launch. On countless occasions, we have seen that a few minutes of microgravity in space can make a huge difference in taking a research project to the next level.
The SubOrbital Express program really is one of the leading services in the world to provide scientists with invaluable access to space for their science projects,” says Stefan Krämer, Program Manager SubOrbital Express, SSC Space.
SubOrbital Express-5 is the seventeenth in a series of MASER rockets launched from Esrange since this flagship sounding rocket program started in 1987.
MASER stands for “Materials Science Experiment Rocket” and the European Space Agency, ESA, is the program’s largest customer, funding several of the experiments onboard.
https://www.esa.int/Space_in_Member_States/Sweden/SubOrbital_Express-5_to_launch_12_experiments_to_space
https://sscspace.com/news/suborbital-express-5-to-launch-12-experiments-to-space/
extra ESA
https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/FutureEO/Swarm/Insights_into_Earth_s_molten_outer_core_from_space
https://www.esa.int/About_Us/Business_with_ESA/Stay_space_chemical_compliant_in_the_EU
https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Join_ESA_for_a_total_solar_eclipse_on_12_August_2026
https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/European_solar_eclipses
https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos/2026/05/Inflight_call_with_ESA_astronaut_Sophie_Adenot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roSIXvLBAp8
Putin and Trump could meet in November – Kremlin
20 May, 2026 17:42 | Updated 20 May, 2026 18:45
Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump could meet on the sidelines of the APEC summit in China in November, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov has said, while stressing that no talks are currently planned.
Putin, who has just concluded his official two-day visit to China, told Chinese President Xi Jinping that he plans to attend the APEC summit in Shenzhen on November 18-19.
Trump, who also traveled to China last week, has reportedly signaled that he intends to take part as well.
“Our president has confirmed that he will come to the APEC summit,” Ushakov told reporters on Wednesday.
“I think that, in any case, if both leaders are in China, they will probably cross paths and hold some kind of meeting,” he said.
The Russian presidential aide added that “so far this has not yet been agreed, but given that such a prospect exists, it is unlikely that anyone would refuse it.”
A potential meeting in China would follow the August 2025 summit between Putin and Trump in Alaska – the first and only face-to-face meeting between Russian and US leaders since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022.
The meeting ended without a ceasefire deal but was described by both sides as productive.
Since returning to the White House, Trump has alternated between criticizing Putin over the lack of progress toward a Ukraine peace deal and praising their personal relationship.
The two leaders have held several phone calls focused on the Ukraine conflict and other major international issues, including the US-Israeli war with Iran.
Trump hinted at a possible trip to Russia this year, telling journalists last week that he would “do whatever is necessary” to help facilitate a settlement to the Ukraine conflict, as Washington-backed direct talks between Moscow and Kiev have stalled.
The Kremlin has said Putin is ready to host Trump. Russia has maintained that any peaceful settlement is predicated on Kiev withdrawing from the remaining areas of Donbass that are still under its control.
https://www.rt.com/news/640274-putin-trump-potential-meeting/