After 17 successful launches, Rocket Lab’s 20th Electron mission ‘Running Out Of Toes’ failed, the company announced on Sunday. Following a successful lift-off, first stage burn, and stage separation, Rocket Lab experienced an anomaly, the company said. The issue occurred following second stage ignition, resulting in the loss of the mission, it said.

Give me five: The Japanese Earth observation startup Axelspace raised $24 million to fund a half of its planned ten satellite constellation, the company announced. Axelspace said it completed its series C funding round raising $ 23.8 million; the round allocates new shares to The Space Frontier Fund and several other venture capitals and corporate investors.

A historic step: China landed a rover on Mars on Saturday, making it the second space-faring nation after the United States to land on the Red Planet, China’s state media and the worldwide media reported. The uncrewed Tianwen-1 spacecraft landed on a vast plain known as Utopia Planitia.

Mynaric and SpaceLink join forces to use Mynaric’s laser communication product portfolio on SpaceLink’s data relay network. The cooperation has a volume of $20 million, SpaceLink said, and will help drive forward its satellite relay service, which provides secure, continuous, high-capacity communications between LEO spacecraft and the ground.

The research and development group Space Applications Services has been mandated by the European Space Agency (ESA) to develop and deliver three reactors to produce oxygen from lunar soil, the group said. Space Applications said it will lead eight European companies and R&D institutes

The quantum encryption technology specialist Arqit goes public and raises $400 million through a merger with the publicly traded special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Centricus, the companies announced. The pro forma equity value of the business combination is approximately $1.4 billion, the companies said, and the pro forma enterprise value approximately $1.0 billion

One step closer to launch: the central power unit of Ariane 6’s upper stage has completed its qualification and will soon be used in the first hot-fire tests, ArianeGroup said. The propulsion system’s Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) completed its final qualification tests at its site in Vernon, France.

Scorpio Shipmanagement equips its entire tanker and bulker fleet and connects its vessels with Marlink’s hybrid VSAT network solution, the company based in Oslo and Monaco said. The service extension will provide Scorpio with higher bandwidth services to meet an increasing level of business need for higher data rates and usage volumes.

Steve Jurczyk, who served as acting NASA administrator from the January to May 2021, will retire after more than three decades of service, NASA said. Robert D. Cabana, who has served as director of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida since 2008, will serve as new associate administrator, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced.

The Canadian Geometric Energy Corporation (GEC) will launch DOGE-1, “the first-ever commercial lunar payload" paid entirely with the cryptocurrency Dogecoin, to the Moon aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, the company said. GSC will collaborate with SpaceX to launch a 40kg cubesat as a rideshare on a Falcon 9 lunar payload mission in Q1 2022, the company said.