EUROPEAN AND EU DEVELOPMENTS
ESA Celeste LEO-PNT In-Orbit Demonstration Mission: Pre-Launch Briefing Held 12 March; Launch Targeted No Earlier Than 24 March 2026
ESA held its pre-launch briefing for the Celeste LEO-PNT mission on 12 March 2026. The first two Celeste in-orbit demonstrators — intended to validate low-Earth-orbit position, navigation, and timing signals as the foundation for an EU sovereign navigation capability complementing Galileo — are scheduled to launch no earlier than 24 March 2026 aboard Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket from the Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand. Celeste is a precursor to the broader LEO-PNT infrastructure under development pursuant to the EU Space Programme Regulation (EU) 2021/696. Regulatory frameworks for service provision and spectrum coordination under the planned LEO-PNT constellation will require future rulemaking at both EASA and FCC levels.
https://insidegnss.com/esas-celeste-target-launch-date-confirmed/
US DEVELOPMENTS
FCC Grapples With Licensing Framework for Orbital Data Centres Ahead of Part 100 Rulemaking
The National Law Review reported on 9 March 2026 that multiple companies have filed FCC applications to deploy satellites operated as orbital data centres, highlighting an emerging class of space activity that falls outside the FCC’s current Part 25 licensing framework. Applications are being processed under existing rules with waivers, creating regulatory uncertainty and delays of at least one year. The FCC’s ongoing “Space Modernization for the 21st Century” NPRM proposes a new Part 100 that would provide a dedicated licensing pathway. Congressional scrutiny of the NPRM’s scope (already criticised by the House Science Committee in the context of space safety) adds pressure to resolve the agency’s jurisdictional boundaries before novel orbital services proliferate.
Senate Commerce Committee Advances Nomination of Matt Anderson as NASA Deputy Administrator
The US Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee voted on 12 March 2026 to advance the nomination of retired Air Force Colonel Matthew Anderson to be Deputy Administrator of NASA. The nomination must still pass the full Senate. Anderson, nominated by President Trump, expressed unqualified support for Administrator Jared Isaacman’s revised Artemis programme priorities — including lunar surface landings in 2028 — and for “beating China to the Moon.” Confirmation of a Deputy Administrator alongside the recently passed NASA Authorization Act of 2026 (S. 933) consolidates US executive-branch space governance ahead of major procurement and commercial licensing decisions in low-Earth orbit and deep space.
https://nasawatch.com/ask-the-administrator/senate-confirmation-hearing-for-matt-anderson/
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