Science

WASHINGTON — With just a week before the first scheduled launch in DARPA’s responsive launch competition, the agency is tweaking the rules to allow the sole remaining company to perform both launches from the same spaceport. Officials with the DARPA Launch Challenge said in a Feb. 18 media briefing that Astra will perform both launches

WASHINGTON — The Commerce Department is once again requesting a large budget increase for its Office of Space Commerce in order to work on space traffic management activities after Congress rejected a similar request last year. Parts of the department’s fiscal year 2021 budget proposal were not released with the rest of the White House’s

WASHINGTON — The White House has added the Secretary of Energy and two other officials to the roster of members of the National Space Council. In a statement issued late Feb. 13, the White House announced that the Secretary of Energy, Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and the Assistant to the President for

Congress approved $148 million for the Consolidated Space Operations Facility. WASHINGTON — The Pentagon’s budget request for fiscal year 2021 includes $88 million to complete the construction of a Consolidated Space Operations Facility at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado. The CSOF was requested two years ago by the U.S. Air Force Space Command and U.S.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — A small launch vehicle company emerged from stealth mode this week, but is still keeping many details about its plans and capabilities behind closed doors. Astra, a company based in Alameda, California, formally announced its plans Feb. 3, an unveiling timed to the publication of a profile of the company in

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – The current and former directors of the Pentagon’s Space Development Agency (SDA) have differing views of congressional direction to move SDA under the U.S. Space Force. “Eventually, the Space Development Agency will report to the U.S. Space Force,” SDA Director Derek Tournear said Feb. 6 at the SmallSat Symposium. “That’s the

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The management of NASA’s Europa Clipper mission, facing dwindling cost reserves while still years away from launch, is looking at cost saving options that would preserve the mission’s science. In a Feb. 3 presentation at a meeting of the Outer Planets Assessment Group in Houston, Jan Chodas, project manager for Europa

DoD weapons testing report: “We must thoroughly understand how our systems will perform in space.” WASHINGTON — The Defense Department’s director of operational test and evaluation warns in a new report that the military today is not able to assess the durability of its satellites if they came under attack. DoD plans to invest at

WASHINGTON — Comtech is acquiring Gilat Satellite Networks for $532.5 million, a move the company says will position it to capitalize on large anticipated demand for new ground segment infrastructure. Melville, New York-based Comtech Telecommunications Corp announced the Gilat acquisition Jan. 29, the same day it said it would also buy antenna builder CGC Technology Limited

The five-year contract is to develop the Future Operationally Resilient Ground Evolution, or FORGE. WASHINGTON — Raytheon has won a $197 million U.S. Air Force contract to design a ground system that will be used to collect and process data from missile warning satellites, the company announced Jan. 28. The five-year contract — a two-year

U.S. Space Force statement: The seal “honors the Department of the Air Force’s proud history” WASHINGTON — President Trump on Friday evening unveiled on Twitter the seal of the U.S. Space Force. “After consultation with our Great Military Leaders, designers, and others, I am pleased to present the new logo for the United States Space

WASHINGTON — NASA will turn off an aging infrared space telescope in a week, citing the complexities of continuing to operate the spacecraft as it drifts away from the Earth. On Jan. 29, the Spitzer Space Telescope will transmit the last of the science data that the spacecraft has collected. Controllers will then effectively turn

SAN FRANCISCO – Made In Space is moving its corporate headquarters from Mountain View, California, to Jacksonville, Florida. The company founded in Mountain View in 2010 established a presence in Jacksonville in 2015 and a partnership with Space Florida in 2017. Since then, Space Florida has provided financing to help the commercial space startup expand

Space Force members will wear a full color flag on the left arm, whereas members of the U.S. Air Force wear a spice brown flag on the right arm. WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force on Friday revealed the nameplates that airmen who are assigned to the Space Force will wear over their existing utility

In an exclusive interview, Gen. John Raymond, the first chief of space operations for the U.S. Space Force, talks about the initial steps in organizing the new service. WASHINGTON — The United States’ first chief of space operations for the U.S. Space Force is still wearing his U.S. Air Force uniform. “But I’m not in the

Is the future of spaceflight female?  Astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir captured the world’s attention with their historic all-woman spacewalk at the end of 2019. The 2020s is beginning with the duo scheduled to repeat their historic first twice more by the end of January. Is the future of spaceflight female? If popular culture

This article originally appeared in the Dec. 11, 2019 issue of SpaceNews magazine. Jim Morhard may be a newcomer to space, but not to astronauts. The NASA deputy administrator often tells the story of how, as a six-year-old in Arlington, Virginia, he and his older brother knocked on the door of a famous neighbor. “He

HONOLULU — The first core stage for NASA’s Space Launch System finally rolled out of its factory Jan. 8, ready to be shipped to a NASA center for a key series of tests in the coming months. The core stage of the SLS rolled out of the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, accompanied by

In October, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced he was hiring Doug Loverro as his new associate administrator for human exploration and operations. For the space industry, it was a familiar name in an unfamiliar role. Loverro had spent his career up until now in national security space at the Air Force, National Reconnaissance Office and,

Brig. Gen. Doug Schiess said the 45th Space Wing will continue to do what it has been doing. WASHINGTON — The SpaceX launch of Starlink satellites scheduled for Jan. 6 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on the Florida Space Coast will be first launch of 2020 and also the 45th Space Wing’s inaugural launch

WASHINGTON — An agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce is developing its own estimate of the size of the space industry, the most authoritative effort to date to measure space’s role in the broader economy. In an article published in the December issue of its journal, the Survey of Current Business, the Bureau of

Iridium wrapped up de-orbiting 65 first-generation satellites, but questions remain over what to do — if anything —  about the 30 that remain space junk.  WASHINGTON — Iridium Communications completed disposal of the last of its 65 working legacy satellites Dec. 28, while leaving open the possibility of paying an active-debris-removal company to deorbit 30

SANTA FE, N.M. — A Florida airport is making progress on a long-running effort to obtain a commercial spaceport license despite a lack of customers for the facility. In a Federal Register notice published Dec. 19, the Federal Aviation Administration announced the release a draft environmental assessment for the Space Coast Regional Airport in Brevard

SANTA FE, N.M. — A revamped NASA mission to search for near Earth objects from space has secured funding to start development as the agency works out details about how it will be managed. The fiscal year 2020 “minibus” spending bill signed into law by President Trump Dec. 20 that provides $22.63 billion for NASA

Also joining the Aerospace board are former DoD official Kathleen Hicks and former NASA official Dava Newman. WASHINGTON — The Aerospace Corp. announced Dec. 23 that former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, retired Air Force Gen. Paul Selva, has been elected to the company’s board of trustees. Also joining the Aerospace board

WASHINGTON — Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner commercial crew spacecraft will return to Earth Dec. 22, just two days after launch, as the company and NASA investigate a timing problem that prevented the spacecraft from visiting the International Space Station. In a media teleconference Dec. 21, NASA and Boeing officials said they had decided to land the

TITUSVILLE, Fla. — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will complete its transition to a new generation of geostationary weather satellites in January when it shuts down two older spacecraft. NOAA announced Dec. 18 that the GOES-14 and GOES-15 spacecraft will be powered down and placed into “orbital storage” by Jan. 31. Those spacecraft, launched

WASHINGTON — Startup satellite builder Saturn Satellite Networks says it doesn’t have a customer lined up for the small geostationary spacecraft it booked aboard the inaugural launch of Northrop Grumman’s OmegA rocket, but reserved the 2021 mission to save time down the road.   Northrop Grumman announced Dec. 12 that Saturn agreed to launch one or

Spokeswoman Ann Stefanek: “The Air Force will proceed with an aggressive and effective sole-source negotiation.” WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force confirmed Dec. 13 that Northrop Grumman is the only bidder for the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent program to develop a new intercontinental ballistic missile. The Air Force only received one proposal in response to

WASHINGTON — Northrop Grumman announced Dec. 12 that Saturn Satellite Networks, a startup satellite manufacturer, will be the customer for the first OmegA launch in 2021. Northrop said Saturn will fly one or two of its NationSat small geostationary satellites on an OmegA rocket launching from the Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39B in the