Investing in Space: One big beautiful windfall

Now one step away from being enshrined into law, U

President Donald Trump's sweeping tax and spending package could bolster the U

The money will go toward "vital space-based capabilities" alongside "space control and resilient combat credible architectures," all part of a broader bid to achieve Washington's "space superiority," defense officials have previously said

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A monitor displays US Space Force signage on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York, US, on Tuesday, Jan

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesOverview: One Big Beautiful WindfallAnd one of the big windfall winners of U

President Donald Trump's tax and spending megabill could end up being… unexpectedly, the U

There's a lot that the administration's put on the line for the tax and spending package, reputationally and politically, to secure Trump's legacy

And that's before factoring in the vast amount of overtime senators have been putting in throughout a 'vote-a-rama' marathon that Republicans want to bring to the finish line by Independence Day

After a final heated debate on Thursday — including a record- almost-nine-hour speech from Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries — the package ed the House of Representatives on Thursday, setting the stage for Trump to later ink the bill into law

If the reconciliation package is enshrined according to earlier versions, it and budgetary measures could be set to der the U

These funds will make an "initial investment" in Golden Dome focused on curing interceptors the existing Patriots, new space-based interceptor options, and putting a down payment on advanced sensors and command and control systems, according to a U

Department of Defense briefing on June 26

The money will go toward "vital space-based capabilities" alongside "space control and resilient combat credible architectures," all part of a broader bid to achieve Washington's "space superiority," a senior defense official said last week

That's ultimately a familiar playbook for the White House, which was for years locked in an exhaustive space race with the Soviet Union before clinching victory through the first manned Moon landing — the only difference is the pivot from space exploration to defense among the stars

Space Force's chief, General Chance Saltzman, warned of the "mind-boggling" pace at which Washington's frenemy China was putting military capabilities in space, all the way back in October

Whatever its faults, for defense and space companies, Golden Dome's been viding a rare beacon of investment hope amid budget cuts at space-geared government contractor NASA

Moreover, there's the boon in the ject's extensive execution and long funding scope — and that's before getting into the possibility that sunken-cost concerns might coerce future administrations to see Golden Dome through, even if it doesn't wrap up by the end of Trump's second term

And it's not just space by way of defense

Trump's made no secret of his ambitions – previously joyously d with then ally, now critic Elon Musk — to put people on Mars, and the bill also vides for exploring the red planet

That relationship remains on the rocks

When I began writing on Tuesday, heated words were still flying — not the least of which from Musk, who this week doubled down on previous criticism of the megabill to n it to a "DEBT SLAVERY bill with the biggest debt ceiling increase in history" before calling for a new political party that "actually cares the people. " The billionaire was widely seen as a close ally of Musk until their public feud last month that inevitably brought into question the fate of SpaceX's existing and future government contracts

As ever, it's not over until it's over — let's see where things land for space

As a heads up, the 's skipping next week while yours truly jetpacks on assignment, but will be back in action on July 17

ComSpace Forge launches UK's first in-space manufacturing satellite — Welsh startup Space Forge has launched the in-orbit ForgeStar-1 manufacturing satellite onboard a SpaceX Flacon 9 flight

Space Force is now rethinking whether an existing communication satellite network, largely dominated by SpaceX, can do the job initially slated for a third constellation purchase. — Defense NewsSpaceX says efforts to retrieve Starship debris hindered — SpaceX has said its attempts to recover debris after the explosion of its mammoth Starship rocket have been obstructed, with the company reaching out for cooperation from the Mexican administration of Claudia Sheinbaum. — ReutersNASA to on Netflix — NASA's gramming showcasing launches, spacewalks and mission coverage will be available on Netflix starting this summer. — NASABezos seeks more government contracts for Blue Origin — Jeff Bezos and other executives of Blue Origin have appealed for more government contracts in the wake of U

President Donald Trump's estrangement from SpaceX founder Elon Musk, according to people familiar with the matter. — Wall Street JournalMarket movepaceX clinches weather satellite launch contract — SpaceX has won an $81. 6 million contract from the Space Systems Command to launch a military weather-monitoring satellite (the WSF-M2) and a second experimental small satellite in 2027

July 15 — Gilmour Space to launch Austria's first orbital rocket, Eris-1, out of Bowen

July 16 — The Indian Space Re Organisation's GSLV Mk II to leave on the Nisar mission out of Sriharikota.