Seradata’s recommended space stories - May 2025

We are cutting through the orbital debris for you. In other words, we're keeping an eye on space news on the web so you don't have to.

Here is our round-up of the most important, and interesting, space news stories of May (space orders can also be found in another post):

Notable re-entries and landings

While its fate worried some Soviet-era spacecraft deemed 'likely' to have re-entered Earth's atmosphereVarda W3 re-entry test capsule lands in Australia

Anomalies, delays and failures

Engine change delays ispace-built lunar lander missionIntuitive Machines explains what made its IM-2 lunar lander crash landSpaceX says Starship IFT-8 flight failure was triggered by Raptor engine hardwareNASA Psyche asteroid mission switched to back up propellant line after issueInversion completes first flight of reentry vehicle, but without reentry - because of a propulsion system malfunction

Human space

ISS uses Progress MS-30 engines to avoid old Long March rocket debrisNASA female astronauts conduct ISS spacewalk on 1 MayIndia's Gaganyaan programme approaches test flights with human flight planned for 2027

Space exploration

Blue Origin shows off lunar propellant transporter design for use with Blue Moon Mk 2 human landerAs the Lunar Gateway space station faces cancellation, Payload Space looks at its historyThings are starting to look bleak for NASA Viper rover's prospects of running on Moon

Space science

X class solar flare affects HF radio communications on EarthSpace agencies and international relationsJared Isaacman has his nomination for NASA administrator ended by the White HouseBoth Indian and UK aerospace sectors to benefit from trade dealThe Trump administration decides to retain the US National Space Council for its own reasonsNorway joins up to Artemis AccordsSpace technology

Lunar rovers need clever tech so wheels can survive in very cold temperaturesProba-3 mission creates artificial solar eclipse in spaceWhile not exactly hot on SpaceX heels, Chinese rocket firm is now testing vertical splashdown landingVenus Aerospace test flies innovative rotating detonation rocket engine (RDRE)Dawn Aerospace starts taking orders for its suborbital Aurora spaceplanesInterlune reveals lunar regolith extractor for Helium-3 miningFor the first time Kepler Communications successfully demonstrated optical data links between a prototype satellite in LEO and a partner’s ground station

Military space

China can fight wars in space USA tells UKUSA sanctions Chinese satellite firm CGSTL for allegedly helping Houthi rebels to target shippingUS Space Force cuts 14% of its civilian workersSpaceX receives swapped launch order for GPS III 08 in March before getting into orbit in MayPentagon notes hypersonic Talon-A test flights using Stratolaunch as carrier aircraftGerman defense contractor Rheinmetall will start manufacturing synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites with Finnish operator Iceye in 2026. As part of the deal, Rheinmetall will own 60% of a joint venture aiming to set up a satellite production facility in Neuss, Germany

Space companies

Spire Global to Help Speed Up Space Missions With New U.S. Defence Contract - eligible for contracts to develop buses/componentsStarlab space station partner Voyager Technologies files to go publicSI Imaging Services offers Korea's Spaceeye-T satellite for periodic leaseEutelsat loses US Department of Defence revenue and gets new leader as it plots software defined replacement OneWeb satellitesSpaceX Starbase in Texas gets FAA approval for 25 annual launches but it does not get control of Boca Chica BeachStarlink and Oneweb face new challenges in India, after the nation's Department of Telecommunications (DoT) announced 29 additional regulations and rules for satellite connectivityIndustryThe global space economy will reach US$944 billion by 2033, according to a new report from NovaspaceIndia wants its space economy to be worth US$44 billion by thenAnnual global satellite industry revenues rose by 3% to US$293 billion in 2024TariffsCanadian MDA Space has managed to avoid the economic blows of Trump's tariffsExolaunch is helping non-US customers to reclaim most of the money spent on new tariffs (for deploying their satellites through SpaceX)FundraisingEnduroSat, a microsatellite specialist based in Bulgaria, raised US$49 million to significantly ramp up its production of larger satellites - it hopes to build 60 satellites a month by the end of 2025Northrop Grumman puts US$50 million Series D funding into Firefly Eclipse medium rocketGerman firm OroraTech raised an extra EUR€12 million (US$13.3 million) in a Series B round led by the BNP Paribas Solar Impulse Venture Fund. The company will use the money to speed up the development of its wildfire-monitoring constellationReflect Orbital raised US$20 million Series A to fund satellite constellation to reflect sunlight down to solar power farmsX-Bow Systems raised an extra US$35 million (led by Lockheed Martin) - bringing its Series B round total to US$105 million. The startup builds solid rocket motors.Astronstone, a Chinese commercial launch startup, has raised more than CNY100 million (US$13.9 million) for the development of AS-1: a stainless steel, methane-liquid oxygen reusable launch vehicle modeled on SpaceX’s Starship system, complete with a "chopsticks" recovery systemM&AEuropean regulators have started an investigation into SES-Intelsat merger plansCanadian firm MDA Space has upped its offer for Israeli chipmaker SatixFy by 43%In a rare acquisition, SpaceX bought Akoustis, a speciality RF filter firm on the brink of bankruptcy, for US$30.2 millionIonQ, a quantum computing company, plans to acquire Capella Space, the first US firm to launch a commercial radar imaging satelliteRocket Lab bought Geost, a IR sensor developer, for US$275 million

Sources include Cision, BBC, CNBC, msn.com, NASA, Orbitaltoday, Payload, phys.org, Politico, scmp.com and SpaceNews with links provided to each story.