Czech astronaut Aleš Svoboda is joining Vast Space's ISS mission

Czech astronaut Aleš Svoboda is joining Vast Space's ISS mission

Vast Space has announced that Czech astronaut Aleš Svoboda will join French astronaut Thomas Pesquet on a two-week commercial mission to the International Space Station next year. Pesquet — holder of the European record of 396 days in space — will command the flight; Svoboda will serve as pilot of the SpaceX Crew Dragon. The mission is scheduled to launch no earlier than summer 2027. Vast Space has not yet named the other two crew members.

Gobble's Take: A record-holding commander, a historic first Czech visitor, and a crew list that's still two seats short. Space industry project management, alive and well. Source: Perplexity Search

NASA has named the Artemis III crew and confirmed its 2027 Earth-orbit test plan

NASA has announced the four prime crew members for Artemis III and confirmed the mission will conduct a series of challenging tests in Earth orbit in 2027 — tests described as essential for Artemis IV, the first planned crewed mission to the lunar South Pole in 2028. The SLS rocket will carry Orion and its crew from Kennedy Space Center in Florida to low Earth orbit, where Orion will demonstrate rendezvous and docking with test versions of one or both American commercial human landing systems under development by Blue Origin and SpaceX.

Gobble's Take: Think of Artemis III as the Moon program's dress rehearsal — except the hardware costs a fortune and the whole world has a front-row seat. Source: Perplexity Search

Materion is the invisible materials bottleneck the space race can't afford to lose

The rockets and satellite constellations get the headlines. The beryllium doesn't. Materion is the primary Western supplier of pure beryllium — stiffer than steel, lighter than aluminum — and is framed as a "Single Point of Failure" for both the U.S. defense industry and the commercial space sector. The Department of Defense has co-invested over $130 million into Materion's domestic facilities to make sure that supply chain never leaves American soil.

Gobble's Take: The rockets are the show. Materion is the stage. And right now, there's essentially no understudy. Source: Perplexity Search

In Case You Missed It

Yesterday's top stories:

• Space is getting expensive — and fast
• SpaceX lands in the center of a megabattle