Science

Trump has said he will veto the NDAA because it does not repeal Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Act. WASHINGTON — The Senate on Dec. 11 voted 84-13 to pass the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, adopting the compromise defense policy bill by a large enough margin to override a presidential veto.  The House

WASHINGTON — A SpaceX Falcon 9 launched a new spacecraft for satellite radio company SiriusXM Dec. 13 as the company nears the end of a record-setting year. The Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 12:30 p.m. Eastern. SpaceX scrubbed a previous launch attempt two days

SAN FRANCISCO – Researchers seeking to improve space weather forecasting need detailed information on the impact of previous space weather events from airplane, power grid and satellite operators, according to a panel of experts speaking at the virtual American Geophysical Union fall meeting. “One of the impediments to being able to do good space weather

WASHINGTON — Three small launch vehicle developers won a combined $16.7 million in NASA contracts as part of an effort to support the development of new launch vehicles. Astra Space, Firefly Aerospace and Relativity Space won the contracts through NASA’s Venture Class Launch Services (VCLS) 2 program, the agency announced Dec. 11. The companies will

WASHINGTON — Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo aborted an attempted suborbital spaceflight Dec. 12 from Spaceport America in southern New Mexico. Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo aircraft, carrying the SpaceShipTwo vehicle named VSS Unity by the company, took off from Spaceport America in southern New Mexico at 10:24 a.m. Eastern. Piloting SpaceShipTwo were Dave Mackay, the company’s chief test

SAN FRANCISCO – As the combined mass of satellites in orbit climbs, research is needed to better understand the environmental impact of the portions of satellites and launch vehicles that eventually reenter Earth’s atmosphere, according to an Aerospace Corp. poster presented at the virtual American Geophysical Union fall meeting. The Aerospace Corp. included a model of

A challenge for the Space Force is to bring a sense of urgency and vision to its acquisition programs. The U.S. Space Force on Dec. 20 marks its first birthday. The service overall has moved forward at remarkable speed organizing a brand-new military branch — something that hasn’t been done in over 70 years. As

Satellite firm’s funding round caps a year of growing Chinese space industry investment alongside cooperation agreements between space companies and local governments. HELSINKI — Chinese remote sensing company Changguang Satellite has secured $375 million for its constellation of optical Earth observation satellites. Changguang Satellite Co. Ltd., a commercial offshoot of the state-owned Changchun Institute of

The mission named NROL-44 finally got off the pad following three months of delays and scrubs. WASHINGTON — A National Reconnaissance Office classified satellite flew to orbit Dec. 10 aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta 4 Heavy rocket. The vehicle lifted off at 8:09 p.m. Eastern from Space Launch Complex-37 at Cape Canaveral Space Force

WASHINGTON — The latest in a series of delays in a test campaign for the core stage of the Space Launch System now leaves “very little margin” in the schedule for its launch next November, NASA managers said Dec. 10. NASA had planned to conduct a test known as a “wet dress rehearsal” of the

WASHINGTON — Launch integration company TriSept has purchased a launch from Relativity Space that it plans to use for a smallsat rideshare mission as soon as 2022. TriSept announced the contract Dec. 10 for a launch of Relativity’s Terran 1 rocket no earlier than 2022. The launch will take place either from Cape Canaveral Space

WASHINGTON — NASA has selected a team of astronauts who will be eligible for future Artemis missions to the moon even as the prospects of a 2024 crewed landing continue to dim. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced at the Dec. 9 meeting of the National Space Council at the Kennedy Space Center that the agency

JOHANNESBURG — Airbus signed a contract with Arianespace on Dec. 7 to launch a four-satellite optical Earth observation constellation aboard a Vega C rocket in 2023. The four-satellite Composante Optique 3D (CO3D) constellation is a joint undertaking by Airbus and the French space agency CNES. The two partners each invested approximately 100 million euros ($112

The overwhelming vote is more than the two-thirds majority needed to thwart a presidential veto. WASHINGTON — The House on Dec. 8 approved the conference report of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 by a vote of 335 to 78. Next comes a Senate vote this week and a likely presidential veto.

“Austin is a trusted, trailblazing leader who brings deep experience serving as a top military commander and in critical Pentagon roles,” Biden said in a statement.  WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday will formally introduce his pick to be the next secretary of defense — retired U.S. Army four-star general Lloyd Austin.  Biden and

WASHINGTON — A report released by NASA Dec. 7 outlined the science that the first crewed Artemis mission to the lunar surface could accomplish, but also some of the conflicts between science goals and the mission’s technical capabilities. The 188-page report by the Artemis 3 Science Definition Team, a group of scientists established by NASA

HELSINKI — The Chang’e-5 ascent vehicle which carried precious samples into lunar orbit was commanded to crash into the moon Monday after completing its role in the mission. Mission control sent commands to the spacecraft at 5:59 p.m. Eastern Monday, resulting in the ascent vehicle impacting the moon around 6:30 p.m., the China Lunar Exploration

SAN FRANCISCO – Researchers are continuing to explore the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on Earth’s environment and to consider any implications for public policy. That is one of the takeaways of the ongoing American Geophysical Union virtual fall meeting, which features dozens of talks and posters from researchers drawing on satellite imagery and data to reveal

SAN FRANCISCO – Google announced a three-year agreement Dec. 7 to host data on the Google Cloud Platform for the Vera C. Rubin Observatory (formerly known as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope) under construction in Chile. As the Rubin Observatory operations team and the scientific community prepare to work with the enormous dataset expected to

HELSINKI — Japan’s Hayabusa2 mission delivered samples taken from a primitive asteroid to Earth Saturday, which could provide potential insights into the origin of life on Earth and evolution of the solar system. The 40-centimeter-diameter, 16-kilogram Hayabusa2 reentry capsule containing samples from asteroid Ryugu made a visibly fiery entry into the atmosphere on Dec. 5,

WASHINGTON — SpaceX launched the first of a new generation of Dragon cargo spacecraft Dec. 6, carrying experiments and supplies to the International Space Station. The SpaceX Falcon 9 lifted off from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex (LC) 39A at 11:17 a.m. Eastern after a one-day delay caused by weather. It deployed the Dragon cargo

Acting Secretary of Defense Miller in a statement said DoD is “fully cooperating with the Biden transition team.” WASHINGTON — The Biden-Harris transition team this week is scheduled to meet with officials from intelligence agencies overseen by the Defense Department, including the National Reconnaissance Office, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency and Defense

WASHINGTON — A constellation of commercial satellites could serve as a communications relay system for future NASA missions, such as an orbiter later this decade to search for subsurface ice there. In recent presentations to advisory committees, NASA officials have discussed the possibility of working with industry to place several satellites into orbit around Mars

SpaceX makes no secret of its driving goal to make humans a multiplanetary species. Given SpaceX founder Elon Musk’s fixation on Mars and fondness for Tesla ‘Easter eggs’ and other gags, it’s hardly surprising to see Mars mentioned in the terms of service (ToS) agreement for beta users of its Starlink satellite broadband service. However,

WASHINGTON — When Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo takes to the skies above New Mexico later this month, it will do so without the crowds and publicity once expected for the historic flight. Virgin Galactic announced Dec. 1 that is had rescheduled a powered test flight of its SpaceShipTwo suborbital spaceplane for a window that opens Dec.

HELSINKI — China’s Chang’e-5 spacecraft are preparing for a first-ever robotic rendezvous and docking in lunar orbit, a major hurdle to delivering lunar samples to Earth. At 11:15 a.m. Eastern Saturday an ascent vehicle fresh off the moon and laden with samples will begin an approach phase with the orbiting Chang’e-5 service module, with both

WASHINGTON — Blue Origin has achieved a new milestone in the development of the engine that will power the lunar lander it seeks to provide for NASA’s Artemis program. The company announced Dec. 4 that it started a fourth series of hotfire tests of the thrust chamber for the BE-7 engine. That thrust chamber was

WASHINGTON — NASA has made awards to four companies worth exactly $25,001 to obtain lunar samples, part of an effort by the agency to establish a precedent for ownership and use of space resources. NASA announced Dec. 3 that it issued awards to ispace Europe, ispace Japan, Lunar Outpost and Masten Space System for the

Aevum CEO Jay Skylus said Ravn X will be ready for operations within the next 18 months after it clears regulatory reviews. WASHINGTON — Small launch startup Aevum on Dec. 3 unveiled its Ravn X vehicle, a reusable drone aircraft and rocket combination designed to launch small payloads to orbit.  Ravn X has been years