Posted: Sat, Apr 25 11:00 AM ET (1500 GMT)
Member of the House Science Committee broadly rejected a proposed NASA budget for fiscal year 2027 that would make sharp cuts to agency programs. At a committee hearing Wednesday, members of both parties said they opposed the proposed $18.8 billion NASA budget, which would preserve exploration funding but cut science by 47% and eliminate the agency's education office. "Shortchanging NASA is simply not smart," committee chairman Rep. Brian Babin (R-TX) said. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman defended the budget, arguing the agency can find efficiencies to allow it to do more with less funding, but committee members were skeptical of those claims. The hearing was the first by Congress on the budget proposal as appropriators in both the House and Senate appear to be moving on an accelerated schedule to develop spending bills.

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•  SpaceNews article
•  Orlando Sentinel article
•  CNN article
•  Aerospace America article

Posted: Sat, Apr 25 10:57 AM ET (1457 GMT)
An Electron rocket launched a set of Japanese cubesats Wednesday night. The Electron lifted off from Rocket Lab's Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand at 11:09 pm EDT (0309 GMT Thursday) deploying eight cubesats sponsored by the Japanese space agency JAXA into sun-synchronous orbits. The cubesats, developed by Japanese companies and universities, are designed to test advanced technologies. The launch was the second of two ordered by JAXA last fall for launching tech demo smallsats prompted by problems with Japan's Epsilon small launcher. The launch came a little more than 24 hours after the suborbital version of Electron, HASTE, launched from Wallops Island, Virginia, on a classified mission.

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•  SpaceNews article
•  Rocket Lab press release

NASA to launch Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope in September
Posted: Sat, Apr 25 10:54 AM ET (1454 GMT)
NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is ready to launch ahead of schedule. NASA announced Tuesday it is planning an early September launch of...

Pentagon cancels troubled OCX program
Posted: Sat, Apr 25 10:51 AM ET (1451 GMT)
The Pentagon has officially ended a program to develop a next-generation GPS ground system after extensive overruns. The Defense Department said Monday it has...

New Glenn fails to place AST SpaceMobile payload in orbit on third launch
Posted: Sat, Apr 25 10:50 AM ET (1450 GMT)
A New Glenn launch on Sunday placed an AST SpaceMobile payload into the wrong orbit. The rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 7:...