A big welcome to three new citizens who have onboarded into the Space Acceleration Network recently, bringing the total up to #120 people from around the world!
Citizens in the Network can:
Submit their independent space related work for retroactive compensation by the community, here's a glimpse of the top community earners and their rewards from last quarter:
Get 10% discounts on any purchase within the Marketplace with listings from over a dozen teams in the Network.
Last week, we had a fire conversation with Rick Tumlinson of the Earthlight Foundation, talking about the current state of the space industry, where things are going in the next few years, and dropping some insights from his upcoming new book, plus some alpha leaks on the New Worlds event later this year. Check it out...
This Thursday at 3pm Eastern, we're excited to welcome Daniel Mackisack of Celestial Commons which is dedicated to improving public interest and representation in the space sector, and is also one of the newest Teams in the Space Acceleration Network.
The Trump administration has released its FY2026 presidential budget request for NASA, proposing a significant overall cut of nearly 25%. While the budget continues to support the crewed Artemis II and Artemis III missions and much of their associated science, primarily driven by the goal of beating China to a Moon landing by 2030, it includes substantial cuts and cancellations.
Notably, the budget calls for ending the use of the Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion spacecraft after Artemis III in favor of commercial alternatives, canceling the Gateway lunar orbital habitat program, and dropping funding for key science missions like VIPER and LIFT, which were designed to study lunar water ice and critical in-situ resource utilization technologies.
It is important to note that this is only a budget proposal, and the final appropriations could look quite different. Given the short timeline before the new fiscal year begins in October, there is significant uncertainty about how these proposals will translate into actual funding and programs.
This week, all eyes turn to the Moon as Japan’s ispace prepares for a historic lunar landing attempt with its Resilience lander. Scheduled to touch down on June 5 at 3:24 p.m. Eastern, the mission targets Mare Frigoris in the moon’s northern hemisphere and will be streamed live on ispace’s YouTube channel. If successful, this marks a major milestone not just for Japan—adding a second soft landing to its record, but for the future of commercial space exploration. Resilience, which launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 and took a fuel-efficient, circuitous route to lunar orbit, carries a small rover named Tenacious and several scientific instruments. This attempt follows the company's failed landing last year and could cement ispace’s role in the growing commercial lunar economy.
In a stunning reversal, the White House has withdrawn Jared Isaacman's nomination to lead NASA, despite widespread bipartisan support and backing from 28 former astronauts. The decision, announced by both the White House and President Trump on May 31, cited a need for a nominee more aligned with Trump's “America First” space agenda, though insiders suggest Isaacman's past political donations and close ties to Elon Musk may have played a role. The move throws NASA further into uncertainty as it grapples with looming 25% budget cuts and signals potential shifts in the future direction of U.S. space leadership.
Pete Worden at Town Hall: Join us TOMORROW for a conversation with special guest, Pete Worden, of Breakthrough Initiatives and ex-NASA Ames in the Bay Area. He's been one of the lead players in the transition to the new commercial space age and strengthening ties to Silicon Valley. We're super excited to be joined by Pete; he's a legend in the space industry! Read Pete Worden's bio. Please bring your questions, and invite your friends to tune in. We'll also have two new proposals up for...
Retroactive Rewards The votes and calculations are in from our latest retroactive rewards cycle! We’re excited to announce that Sarah@TreasureCorp, Jade, Name.get, Mitchie, and Phil were our top overall project contributors last cycle and will serve on the Senate throughout Q3 to help guide MoonDAO. Special shoutout to Hudlerr and Wais.eth, who were also among our top contributors! We also have the results from the Community Circle, recognizing outstanding independent contributions outside of...
MoonDAO Demo Day Demo Day & Final Reports took place last Thursday, showcasing Q2 project updates and their completed deliverables. We had three projects present their final reports: Treasure.Corp Financial Dashboard MoonDAO Executive Branch Sea & Space London Event If you missed the livestream, you can catch the full recording on our YouTube page. Retroactive Rewards Vote Each of these projects and their contributors is now eligible for retroactive rewards chosen by YOU: our voters and...
