Milestones - Firefly Aerospace's "Blue Ghost Mission 1" successfully landed on the Moon on March 2, 2025, carrying 10 scientific instruments for future lunar missions [4][5] - Rocket Lab reaffirmed its plan for the first launch of the Neutron rocket in the second half of 2025, despite previous reports suggesting a delay to 2027 [6][7] - Virgin Galactic plans to start assembling its new Delta-class suborbital spaceplane in March 2025, with test flights expected in spring 2026 [8][9] - Isar Aerospace completed the static fire test of its Spectrum rocket, with the first test flight expected to take place in Norway [10][11] - SpaceX canceled the eighth test flight of its Starship due to an unspecified technical issue [13][14] - China successfully launched the Long March 2C rocket, adding two SuperView remote sensing satellites to its constellation [15][16] - Kapta Space announced its goal to develop space-based radar systems using metasurface technology, having secured $5 million in seed funding [17][18] - 3D-printed hydrogels are being developed as radiation protection for astronauts on Mars missions, with plans for mass production by 2026 [19][20] - NASA's "Lunar Pioneers" and the private asteroid probe "Odin" encountered issues after the IM-2 mission launch [21][22] - Varda Space's capsule successfully landed in Australia, carrying critical data for hypersonic vehicle development [23][24] - Swissto12 signed a contract with SES for electronic control antennas, marking a significant milestone for the company [25][26][27] - SpaceX's Falcon 9 successfully launched Intuitive Machines' second lunar lander, "Athena," carrying various payloads for lunar exploration [28][29] - Blue Origin completed its tenth crewed suborbital flight of the New Shepard vehicle [30][31] Company Developments - The FAA is considering awarding a $2.4 billion telecommunications infrastructure contract to SpaceX's Starlink service instead of Verizon [32][33] - Airbus incurred an additional €300 million in costs for its space projects, totaling €1.3 billion for 2024 [34] Financing Activities - Skylo Technologies raised $30 million to expand its direct-to-smartphone satellite services [36][37] - Magdrive secured $10.5 million in seed funding to develop its electric propulsion systems and establish a U.S. office [38][39] - OQ Technology received up to €17.5 million in EU funding to accelerate its direct-to-smartphone satellite communication service development [40][41]