#WASHINGTON — Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy John Plumb will be stepping down in May, a #Pentagon spokesperson confirmed March 29.

#Plumb is leaving his post two years after being confirmed as the first assistant secretary of defense for space policy, a position that Congress established in the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act.

In a statement, a spokesperson confirmed that Plumb “announced to his team his intent to depart in early May,” but did not elaborate further.

Plumb’s portfolio includes space policy but also nuclear weapons, cyber, missile defense, electromagnetic warfare and countering weapons of mass destruction.

TAMPA, Fla. — #Japan’s flagship satellite operator intends to invest around $66 million in space-related startups and venture funds at home and abroad over the next six years.

SKY Perfect JSAT said March 28 that the investment plan is part of a broader commitment announced in 2022 to invest 150 billion yen ($991 million) by the end of the decade in new technologies and expanding its presence in the space industry.

The operator has provided regional broadband and TV services for much of its more than 30-year history and currently has 17 satellites in its geostationary fleet.

#WASHINGTON — #Boeing is setting its sights on two upcoming big-ticket satellite procurements from the U.S. Space Force, leveraging its recent contracts for #Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) satellites and its foothold in commercial spacecraft manufacturing.

The Space Force is expected to seek bids this coming year for highly specialized, jam-resistant satellite systems that the military deems “no fail” assets, meaning that they must deliver secure communications even in the most contested environments.

“The government is looking for mature and low-risk technologies,” said Michelle Parker, vice president for space mission systems at Boeing Defense, Space & Security.

#SAN #FRANCISCO – #Planet announced a $20 million agreement to provide hyperspectral data for Carbon Mapper’s greenhouse gas monitoring campaign.

The deal, which extends from 2026 to 2030, “will help Carbon #Mapper deliver high resolution methane and CO2 super-emitter data to decision makers around the globe,” Carbon Mapper CEO Riley Duren said in a statement. “In particular, this agreement lays the groundwork for further expansion of the constellation of Tanager satellites and the extension of Carbon Mapper’s mission to make methane and CO2 visible in a transparent fashion through our public data portal.”

The nonprofit Carbon Mapper is one of the key public and private initiatives that have emerged in recent years to map and monitor atmospheric methane and carbon dioxide

#WASHINGTON — Commercial #satellite operators for years have urged the Department of Defense to rely less on government-owned satellites and more on their own services. While advocacy efforts haven’t resulted in a massive shift yet, a proposed increase in the 2025 budget allocation for commercial #satellite #communications integration offers a glimmer of hope, said a senior industry executive.

The #Pentagon’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2025 includes a $134 million line item for “commercial satcom integration” — an increase from $71 million in the 2024 budget. While the amount is still dwarfed by the $1.2 billion the Space Force has for military satellite programs, the industry views it as a positive sign, Rebecca Cowen-Hirsch, senior vice president for government strategy and policy at Viasat, told SpaceNews.

#HELSINKI — Tracking data appears to show #China is attempting to salvage #spacecraft initially intended for the moon but left stranded by a rocket stage malfunction.

The small #DRO-A and B spacecraft launched from Xichang spaceport on a Long March 2C rocket March 13. Hours later, the first acknowledgement of the mission came from Chinese state media Xinhua, which announced that the spacecraft had not been inserted accurately into their designated orbit by the rocket’s Yuanzheng-1S upper stage.

“The upper stage encountered an abnormality during flight, causing the satellites to fail to accurately enter the preset orbit,” Xinhua stated. “Relevant disposal work is currently underway,” it added, citing Xichang launch center.

#TAMPA, Fla. — South Korea’s Hancom InSpace has ordered two more remote sensing satellites from Spire Global as the status of a cubesat ordered two years ago remains up in the air.

Spire said March 27 it will build and operate Sejong-2 and Sejong-3 on behalf of Hancom InSpace to join Sejong-1, a six-unit (6U) cubesat that Vienna, Virginia-headquartered Spire deployed in May 2022 under a payload-hosting agreement with the South Korean firm

#WASHINGTON — Commercial space station developer Vast Space has hired an executive from another space station company as an adviser.

Vast announced March 28 that it hired Clay Mowry as an adviser. In that role, he will provide support for the company as it works on its proposed commercial space stations.

Mowry was previously chief revenue officer at Voyager Space, which is working with Airbus Defence and Space on the Starlab commercial station. That effort is one of three commercial station initiatives being funded by #NASA, alongside those led by Axiom Space and Blue Origin

#WASHINGTON — The European Space Agency, impressed with India’s growing space capabilities, is exploring opportunities for enhanced cooperation in space activities.

At a March 27 media briefing after a meeting of the ESA Council, Renato Krpoun, chair of the council, said that ESA members received a presentation during the meeting from S. Somanath, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

Somanath “presented a very impressive vision of the future of the Indian space program,” Krpoun said.

#ARLINGTON, Va. — Gen. Chance Saltzman, chief of space operations, said the U.S. Space Force has robust intelligence about what foreign adversaries are doing in outer space. Still, military leaders always want more comprehensive data and analysis about activities in orbit, he said March 27.

“I don’t often get surprised by things I hear,” Saltzman said at the Mitchell Institute’s Space Security Forum

Awareness about potential threats and what other nations are up to in space is foundational to all military space activities, he said. But having additional sensors and #analytics tools would further boost the Space Force’s visibility into technologies being tested by strategic competitors like #China and #Russia.