India-based Bellatrix Aerospace announced March 27 it has raised $20 million to ramp up production of its satellite propulsion systems after securing its first large commercial customer outside the country.

The four Artemis 2 astronauts arrived in Florida March 27 for final preparations ahead of a launch still scheduled as soon as April 1.

On 28 March, the European Space Agency (ESA) took a major step forward in strengthening Europe's ambition for more resilient satellite navigation, as the first two satellites of the Celeste in-orbit demonstration mission lifted off from New Zealand aboard Rocket Lab’s Electron. Their mission is to begin testing a complementary low Earth orbit layer for Galileo.

At 10:14 CET on 28 March, the first two satellites of ESA’s Celeste LEO-PNT in-orbit demonstration mission lifted off aboard a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from Māhia, New Zealand.

Celeste is Europe’s first initiative to bring satellite navigation into low Earth orbit (LEO). By testing next-generation technologies and new frequency bands, it will help shape the future of positioning, navigation and timing services.

Flying closer to Earth, Celeste will demonstrate how a complementary LEO layer can strengthen Europe’s Galileo system in medium Earth orbit — improving resilience, enhancing performance and enabling new services.

Starfish Space has changed plans for a docking demonstration mission after its original partner backed out.

While NASA outlined plans to increase the cadence of robotic lunar lander missions at a recent event, it said little about accelerating work on crewed lunar landers.