Science

Lamborn: “Every dollar spent on moving Space Command is a wasted dollar that could be spent on enhancing space capabilities” WASHINGTON — U.S. Space Command has close ties to other military space organizations in Colorado, but if it has to move to Alabama it could continue to do its job without major disruption, Gen. James

HELSINKI — China is to oversee the construction and operation of a national satellite internet megaconstellation through coordinating the country’s major space actors.  Recent comments by senior officials indicate that plans are moving ahead to alter earlier constellation plans by space sector state-owned enterprises and possibly make these part of a larger “Guowang” or “national

Ukrainian entrepreneur Max Polyakov, with his Silicon Valley-based investment vehicle Noosphere Ventures Partners, is on a mission to build out a vertically integrated space business. A year after Noosphere founded satellite imagery venture Earth Observation Data Analytics (EOSDA) in 2016, Polyakov got into the launch business by snapping up Firefly Aerospace out of bankruptcy. The

WASHINGTON — The next commercial crew mission to the International Space Station passed its final review before its scheduled April 22 launch, with weather the only major issue. At an April 20 briefing, NASA said the Crew-2 mission passed its launch readiness review, the final major review before launch. That allows NASA and SpaceX to

WASHINGTON — The successful flight of NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter on Mars paves the way for its use on future missions, agency officials said, but exactly when and how remain to be determined. At a press conference April 19, project officials said Ingenuity’s first flight, also the first powered flight by an aircraft on another world,

One of the desired capabilities for the tactical space layer is positioning, navigation and timing. WASHINGTON — U.S. Army leaders have signed off on plans to explore the use of satellites in low Earth orbit to give soldiers dedicated surveillance, navigation and imaging capabilities. The Army’s effort is called “tactical space layer” and is led

TAMPA, Fla. — Amazon has ordered nine Atlas 5 rockets from United Launch Alliance to help place its 3,236-strong Project Kuiper broadband constellation. The U.S. internet retailing giant declined to disclose a time frame for its deal with ULA, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin known more for its government missions than commercial

WASHINGTON — Boeing said April 17 that the next test flight of its CST-100 Starliner commercial crew vehicle won’t take place until at least August, confirming a lengthy delay widely expected because of the schedule of other launches and International Space Station missions. In a statement, Boeing said that the company and NASA are projecting

WASHINGTON — NASA managers approved plans to launch a SpaceX commercial crew mission to the International Space Station next week, pending the resolution of one minor issue with the Falcon 9 rocket. NASA officials said April 15 that, after the completion of a flight readiness review, they approved plans for the launch April 22 of

WASHINGTON — NASA now plans to attempt a first flight of the Mars helicopter Ingenuity early April 19 after finding a workaround to a software problem that delayed the flight earlier this month. The agency announced April 17 that the first flight of the 1.8-kilogram helicopter will take place at 3:31 a.m. Eastern. Images and

Updated 8 p.m. Eastern with comments by Beyer and Bridenstine. WASHINGTON — The White House announced April 16 it will nominate former astronaut Pam Melroy to be NASA’s deputy administrator. Melroy’s nomination was one of eight the White House announced to fill positions across the government. The position will require confirmation by the Senate. Melroy

Todd Harrison: The U.S. government needs to be clear about which Chinese space developments pose a threat and which merely show that China is pursing an ambitious civil space program. WASHINGTON — The U.S. intelligence community in a report listed China’s space program as a top security concern for the United States. Some space experts

TAMPA, Fla. — Private investors deployed another $1.9 billion in SpaceX, OneWeb and other space infrastructure companies in the first three months of 2021, according to data from New York-based Space Capital. The company, which invests in early-stage ventures in addition to providing market intelligence, includes rocket and satellite builders in how it defines space

WASHINGTON — NASA has selected SpaceX as the sole company to win a contract to develop and demonstrate a crewed lunar lander, while keeping the door open for others to compete for future missions. NASA announced April 16 that it awarded a contract to SpaceX for Option A of the Human Landing System (HLS) program,

Chinese Voyager-like missions could launch in 2024, making planetary flybys before focusing on heliosphere science. HELSINKI — China is developing a mission to send a pair of spacecraft to study the far reaches of the solar system and reach interstellar space by mid-century.  The project aims to send separate spacecraft to the nose and tail

LeoLabs is adding sensors and cloud infrastructure as it moves toward its goal of tracking 250,000 objects WASHINGTON — Space object-tracking startup LeoLabs is adding more sensors and data processing capacity to its network in preparation for a surge in satellites launches in the coming years, the company’s CEO said April 15. There are about

WASHINGTON — More than a year after selecting SpaceX to deliver cargo to the lunar Gateway, NASA has yet to formally start that contract as it performs a broader review of its Artemis program. NASA announced in March 2020 that it awarded a contract to SpaceX for the agency’s Gateway Logistics Services program to transport

SAN FRANCISCO – Iceye has established a satellite manufacturing facility, research and development laboratory, and mission operations center for U.S.-licensed spacecraft at its new Iceye U.S. headquarters in Irvine, California. “A huge part of our nation’s space industrial base and centers for innovation are located here in Southern California,” Jerry Welsh, Iceye U.S. CEO told

Derek Tournear: ‘I’m really interested in industry feedback when they see our acquisition strategy’ WASHINGTON — The Pentagon’s Space Development Agency is considering buying its next 150 satellites from three different vendors, but that could change after the agency evaluates companies’ bids, SDA director Derek Tournear said April 14. Speaking at the Washington Space Business

WASHINGTON — Blue Origin completed another test flight of its New Shepard vehicle April 14, putting the company on the verge of finally flying people. Blue Origin’s New Shepard vehicle lifted off from the company’s West Texas test site, known as Launch Site One by the company, at 12:51 p.m. Eastern. The capsule, separating from

WASHINGTON — HawkEye 360 has raised $55 million in additional funding that the company says will allow it to complete its constellation of satellites that track ships and vehicles by their radio-frequency emissions. HawkEye 360 said that NightDragon, a venture capital firm that specializes in security and related industries, led its Series C round, announced

WASHINGTON — Lockheed Martin announced a new line of satellites designed for space-based surveillance. The mid-size satellite bus is aimed at the military market and would be interoperable with military weapons systems such as fighter jets and air defense systems. The company is pitching the new mid-size satellite as an alternative to tactical surveillance platforms

SAN FRANCISCO – York Space Systems has learned a lot from operating its first production-model spacecraft in orbit for two years. The biggest takeaway, though, has been the need to automate satellite handling on the ground. “In the first few months, it became clear it was going to require as many as 15 different people

SAN FRANCISCO — Orbital Sidekick announced a $16 million Series A funding round April 13 led by Singapore investment giant Temasek that clears the way for the company to complete development of its first constellation of hyperspectral imaging satellites. “Temasek is a great foothold within the Asia Pacific region,” Daniel Katz, Orbital Sidekick CEO and

A key concern of SDA is to to make sure Tranche 1 satellites from different vendors are interoperable WASHINGTON — The Pentagon’s Space Development Agency wants to hear from satellite manufacturers about their capabilities to support the agency’s plans to deploy a large network of spacecraft in low-Earth orbit.  SDA in a request for information

WASHINGTON — The United Arab Emirates doubled the size of its astronaut corps April 10 with the selection of two new astronauts, including the first woman, who will train at NASA starting later this year. The UAE government announced it picked Nora AlMatrooshi and Mohammad AlMulla from a pool of 4,305 applicants to join the

The Space Force plans to stand up a Space Systems Command this summer, pending the nomination and Senate confirmation of a three-star commander. WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force on April 8 unveiled new details of its plan to establish a Space Systems Command in Los Angeles to oversee the development of next-generation technologies, and

The U.S. Space Force is consolidating oversight of space launch activities under a two-star general who will be the deputy commander of Space Systems Command. WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force is consolidating oversight of space launch activities under a two-star general who will have broad responsibilities for the procurement of launch services and for

Global Trends 2040 predicts governments will routinely conduct on-orbit servicing, assembly and manufacturing activities WASHINGTON — The Office of the Director of National Intelligence in a new report released April 8 projects that by 2040 China will be the most significant rival to the United States in space, competing on commercial, civil and military fronts.

WASHINGTON — NASA announced April 10 it was postponing the first flight attempt of the Ingenuity helicopter on Mars by at least three days after detecting a problem during a final pre-flight test. In a brief statement, NASA said that the command sequence for an April 9 test of the vehicle’s rotors, where they would