Space News: Telescope Rescue, Lunar Descent, and Advanced Rocket Materials

NASA Telescope Rescue Mission

• 🚀 Catalyst Space Technologies will use Northrop Grumman's Pegasus XL air-launched rocket for a robotic rescue mission.
• 🎯 The mission aims to reposition NASA's Swift Observatory, which is decaying in orbit and predicted to crash by late 2026, into a higher orbit.
• 💡 The Link spacecraft, a first-of-its-kind orbital servicing vehicle, is tasked with extending the observatory's scientific operations.
• ⏱️ Catalyst has under 8 months to launch the spacecraft, with the mission scheduled for June 2026.

European Lunar Descent Element

• 🌕 Thales Alenia Space is leading an industrial consortium to build the European Space Agency's (ESA) Argonaut Lunar Descent Element.
• 📦 Planned for the 2030s, the Argonaut mission will deliver cargo, infrastructure, and scientific instruments to the moon's surface.
• 🛠️ The consortium includes Thales Alenia Space in Italy, France, and the UK, along with OB system AG and NAMO for propulsion.

Advanced Spacesuit and Launch Capabilities

• 🧑‍🚀 Axiom Space and KBR successfully completed the first uncrewed thermal vacuum test of the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU) pressure garment.
• 🌡️ This test evaluated the spacesuit's performance in extreme temperatures and vacuum conditions, crucial for the Artemis 3 mission.
• 🌊 Via Space and Seagate Space are collaborating to develop an offshore launch capability for Via's Dauntless hybrid rocket, aiming for flexible, mobile seabased launches.

New Rocket Materials and Helium-3

• 🔬 Skyrora, through its Head of Business Development Derek Harris, is involved in an ESA project using a new alloy called Tantalum Niobium (Tan-Nb) for 3D printing rocket engines.
• 💡 This new alloy offers better heat resistance, is lighter, and potentially cheaper than Inconel, aiming to improve engine performance and reduce reliance on geopolitically sensitive supply chains.
• ⚛️ Interlune received a $1.25 million contract to develop technology for separating Helium-3 from domestic helium, essential for cooling superconducting quantum computers.

Other Space Industry Developments

• ✈️ RTX's Collins Aerospace and the Royal Netherlands Air and Space Force established a new military avionics service center.
• ⚡ X-Bow is readying a new solid rocket motor facility for production.
• 🛰️ BAE Systems has advanced its radiation-hardened circuit technology for the space community.
• ☀️ The ESA SMILE mission, studying the sun-Earth connection, passed its qualification review and has a launch window between April 8th and May 7th, 2026.