SpaceNews.com
• Andrew Jones
China’s Zenk Space has raised 180 million yuan (about $26 million) ahead of the planned June debut of its Zhihang-1 kerolox rocket, the company’s first attempt to reach orbit. The funding underpins the lead-up to the mission launch window as Zenk moves from development toward inaugural flight.
Space.com
• Leonard David
By Space.com: NASA is testing the limits of future Mars aircraft as it works to develop a next-generation fleet of helicopters that will fly through the thin atmosphere of the Red Planet.
Space.com
• Julian Dossett
By Space.com: A giant radio telescope in West Virginia tracked Artemis 2's Orion spacecraft around the moon for five days, gathering precise observations on its movements during the historic mission.
SpaceNews.com
• Sandra Erwin
By SpaceNews.com: WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force awarded Northrop Grumman a $398 million contract to build a prototype communications satellite intended to demonstrate anti-jamming technologies for military operations in contested environments, the Space Systems Command said May 15.
SpaceNews.com
• Jeff Foust
By SpaceNews.com: NASA has released the final request for proposals for a Mars telecommunications system, confirming requirements that limit the companies that can bid on it.
SpaceNews.com
• Sandra Erwin
By SpaceNews.com: WASHINGTON — Just months after its public debut, York Space Systems is confronting a question that goes to the core of its business model: what happens when the Pentagon program that fueled its rise is fundamentally reorganized.
AeroTime
• Clement Charpentreau
By AeroTime: Finland's ICEYE has delivered POLSARIS, a four-satellite SAR reconnaissance constellation, to Poland's armed forces less than a year after contract signature.
Via Satellite
defence-blog.com
European Spaceflight
• Andrew Parsonson
By European Spaceflight: OHB Space UK and Thales Alenia Space have signed a Preliminary Authorisation to Proceed for work on ESA’s EnVision mission worth approximately €24 million.
Space.com
• Sharmila Kuthunur
