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European Spaceflight • Andrew Parsonson

OHB Space UK awarded €320.7M to build and test spacecraft for ESA’s EnVision Venus mission; Thales Alenia Space granted prelimin

OHB Space UK has secured a €320.7 million contract to assemble and test the spacecraft for ESA’s EnVision Venus explorer mission. Separately, OHB Space UK and Thales Alenia Space signed a Preliminary Authorisation to begin work estimated at about €24 million, advancing the mission toward integration and verification.

2026-05-15T01:30:24.960347-07:00

Universe Today

Artemis III: NASA’s next crewed Moon mission must prove mission architecture and systems readiness after Artemis II

2026-05-15T00:10:25.542881-07:00

SpaceNews.com

Intuitive Machines to acquire UK deep-space communications operator Goonhilly Earth Station

2026-05-14T13:23:28.353289-07:00

SpaceNews.com

House Appropriators advance NASA funding bill to keep agency budget flat

2026-05-14T04:20:50.667147-07:00

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European Spaceflight

OHB Space UK awarded €320.7M to build and test spacecraft for ESA’s EnVision Venus mission; Thales Alenia Space granted prelimin OHB Space UK has secured a €320.7 million contract to assemble and test the spacecraft for ESA’s EnVision Venus explorer mission. Separately, OHB Space UK and Thales Alenia Space signed a Preliminary Authorisation to begin work estimated at about €24 million, advancing the mission toward integration and verification.

2026-05-15T01:30:24.960347-07:00

OHB Space UK awarded €320.7M to build and test spacecraft for ESA’s EnVision Venus mission; Thales Alenia Space granted prelimin

Universe Today

Artemis III: NASA’s next crewed Moon mission must prove mission architecture and systems readiness after Artemis II Artemis III is positioned as the pivotal step that must succeed before NASA can return humans to the lunar surface. The cluster looks back at Artemis II’s crewed, around-the-Moon mission as the latest global benchmark for deep-space human operations—and a proof point for what Artemis III has to de-risk next.

2026-05-15T00:10:25.542881-07:00

Artemis III: NASA’s next crewed Moon mission must prove mission architecture and systems readiness after Artemis II

SpaceNews.com

Intuitive Machines to acquire UK deep-space communications operator Goonhilly Earth Station Intuitive Machines has entered a definitive agreement to purchase Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd, the UK provider of lunar and deep-space communications, with the deal subject to regulatory approval. The acquisition is positioned to expand Intuitive’s integrated space-to-Earth network, boosting deep-space capacity for communications and PNT services.

2026-05-14T13:23:28.353289-07:00

Intuitive Machines to acquire UK deep-space communications operator Goonhilly Earth Station

Universe Today

Roman Space Telescope advances on schedule; Galactic Bulge Time-Domain Survey targets 1,000+ distant exoplanets with Hubble augm NASA says the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is ahead of schedule. Its Galactic Bulge Time-Domain Survey is expected to find 1,000+ exoplanets orbiting far beyond the Sun–Earth distance, with the Hubble Space Telescope providing an early “jump start” for complementary observations.

2026-05-14T10:55:22.460646-07:00

Roman Space Telescope advances on schedule; Galactic Bulge Time-Domain Survey targets 1,000+ distant exoplanets with Hubble augm

SpaceNews.com

House Appropriators advance NASA funding bill to keep agency budget flat On May 13, the House Appropriations Committee advanced a spending bill that rejects many of the NASA cuts proposed by the administration, holding NASA’s budget flat rather than allowing reductions. The measure raises the odds of continued congressional pushback on NASA’s topline and priorities.

2026-05-14T04:20:50.667147-07:00

House Appropriators advance NASA funding bill to keep agency budget flat

SpaceWatch Global

ispace and University of Leicester sign payload service agreement for lunar Raman spectrometer mission ispace, Inc. and the University of Leicester have signed a Payload Service Agreement to deliver a Raman spectrometer payload to the lunar surface on a future ispace mission. The agreement formalizes end-to-end arrangements for getting the instrument from the payload team to a Moon landing through ispace’s mission services.

2026-05-14T00:30:59.328358-07:00

ispace and University of Leicester sign payload service agreement for lunar Raman spectrometer mission

Space.com

Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 2 lunar lander mockup assembled at Johnson Space Center for Artemis astronaut training A Blue Moon Mark 2 lunar lander mockup has been assembled at NASA’s Johnson Space Center and is ready for Artemis astronauts to board as part of training. The step supports crew familiarity with Blue Moon’s configuration ahead of Artemis-related surface operations.

2026-05-13T11:07:38.724136-07:00

Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 2 lunar lander mockup assembled at Johnson Space Center for Artemis astronaut training

Space.com

Lasers used to study incoming space debris’s atmospheric impact Scientists are applying a new laser-based technique to observe incoming space debris and evaluate how it affects Earth’s atmosphere. The approach aims to improve understanding of debris-related “space junk air pollution” mechanisms rather than relying solely on orbital tracking and ground observations.

2026-05-13T08:39:11.333761-07:00

Lasers used to study incoming space debris’s atmospheric impact

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Space Exploration & Science Missions News

OHB Space UK awarded €320.7M to build and test spacecraft for ESA’s EnVision Venus mission; Thales Alenia Space granted prelimin

Artemis III: NASA’s next crewed Moon mission must prove mission architecture and systems readiness after Artemis II

Intuitive Machines to acquire UK deep-space communications operator Goonhilly Earth Station

House Appropriators advance NASA funding bill to keep agency budget flat

News Timeline