Science

WASHINGTON — NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine urged Senate appropriators to provide full funding of Artemis as some members questioned the agency’s emphasis on its lunar exploration program. Bridenstine, testifying before the commerce, justice and science subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee Sept. 23, said that NASA needed the full $3.2 billion it requested in its

WASHINGTON — The International Space Station maneuvered to avoid a potential collision with a piece of space debris Sept. 22, an incident the head of NASA used to advocate for more funding for the agency directed to handle space traffic management. NASA announced on the afternoon of Sept. 22 that it was working with U.S.

WASHINGTON — Commercial spaceflight company Blue Origin is considering development of commercial space stations, with NASA as a potential early customer. Blue Origin posted a job opening Sept. 18 for am “Orbital Habitat Formulation Lead” at its headquarters in the Seattle suburb of Kent, Washington. That individual will be charged with leading the company’s development

The space industry has a rich history of building supply-chain relationships to deliver complex and exacting space systems. The industry is also no stranger to partnering closely with suppliers and customers, including governments, to develop and deliver new technology and advance the art of the possible. However, while public-private partnerships are getting a lot of

SAN FRANCISCO – Radar satellite operator Iceye raised $87 million in a Series C round announced Sept. 22, boosting the Finnish startup’s total investment tally to $152 million. “We’re grateful to have closed a great round,” Mark Matossian, Iceye US CEO, told SpaceNews. “Now, we can stand on the accelerator.” With the Series C round

The contract is to upgrade and expand the Ground-based Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance System that track objects in geostationary orbits. WASHINGTON — L3Harris Technologies received a $119.1 million contract to upgrade and expand the network of U.S. military telescopes known as the Ground-based Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance System that track objects in geostationary orbits. The

WASHINGTON — Arianespace and OneWeb on Sept. 21 announced a revised launch contract that covers OneWeb’s constellation deployment with three fewer launches than originally planned.  Arianespace will conduct 16 Soyuz launches for OneWeb, each carrying 34-36 satellites, to complete OneWeb’s internet megaconstellation by the end of 2022. The revised contract canceled two Soyuz launches, and

A secure system that allows troops at the tactical edge to communicate securely The U.S. Space Force acquires, operates and maintains a constellation of Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellites that are reserved for strategic, high-priority military missions, providing secure, jam-resistant communications. While tactical military forces do use AEHF, its primary mission is to provide 100% assured

“China’s Space Narrative” was released Sept. 17 by the U.S. Air Force Air University’s China Aerospace Studies Institute and the CNA nonprofit research center. WASHINGTON — A new study by the U.S. Air Force’s university think tank confirms the widely held view that China’s anti-satellite weapons pose a national security threat to the United States.

WASHINGTON — As a new venture proposes to send the winner of a reality show to the International Space Station, some investors see a stronger business case for a future commercial space station. A television production company, Space Hero LLC, announced Sept. 17 that it was planning a “global, unscripted casting show” called “Space Hero”

WASHINGTON — A smallsat mission to study the atmosphere of Mars is looking for a new ride after being removed as a secondary payload on the launch of a NASA asteroid mission. The Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers, or EscaPADE, mission, was one of three smallsat missions selected by NASA in 2019 for

VALLETTA, Malta — Launch startup PLD Space of Spain raised 7 million euros ($8.2 million) this week from Madrid-based investment bankers Arcano Partners to continue development of its Miura family of partially reusable rockets. PLD Space spokeswoman Lorena Santos said Sept. 17 the new investment will allow the Elche, Spain-based company to add at least

New Space has for the last decade challenged the established design rules for spacecraft, and proved that is it possible to design and launch small spacecrafts at a fraction of the cost of traditional designs. OneWeb being one of the pioneers challenging the established supplier base using new thinking to drive down the cost and

WASHINGTON — The Department of Energy and NASA are meeting regularly to investigate how they can cooperate on technologies that go beyond their long-standing work on nuclear power systems. The two agencies held a roundtable Sept. 15 at the University of Tulsa to discuss both how they are working together as well as how they

HELSINKI — China has initiated preparations to launch Chang’e-5, a mission seeking to collect and return the first lunar samples since the 1970s. Chang’e-5 aims to collect and return around two kilograms of lunar samples and was earlier slated for launch before the end of 2020. Ship tracking and satellite data now indicate that China

SAN FRANCISCO – Xage Security, a Silicon Valley cybersecurity startup, announced a contract Sept. 17 to develop evaluate and prepare a data protection strategy for the U.S. Space Force Xage won a $743,000 phase two Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract from AFWERX, the U.S. Air Force organization charged with spurring innovation. Under the contract

Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach: “Yes, I am absolutely in favor of more space-based ISR.” WASHINGTON — Pacific theater Air Force commander Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach said one of the items on his wish list are low-orbiting surveillance satellites to help track targets on the ground, at sea and in the air. “Yes, I am absolutely in favor

WASHINGTON — The lunar lander under development by Dynetics for NASA’s Artemis program will make use of in-space refueling of cryogenic propellants and require three launches in quick succession, company officials revealed. In a Sept. 15 webinar held by Dynetics in cooperation with the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics, the company discussed the overall

WASHINGTON — Despite the successful demonstration of a launch to polar orbit from Cape Canaveral, the U.S. Space Force doesn’t foresee shifting launches to those orbits there from Vandenberg Air Force Base. At a Sept. 14 meeting of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC), Maj. Gen. DeAnna Burt, director of operations

Raymond: “One of the really big issues is the dollars that are transferring from the Air Force to the Space Force that can’t officially move over in a CR.” WASHINGTON — Congress is expected to pass a continuing resolution to fund the federal government when the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1. An extended CR

SAN FRANCISCO – Fred Kennedy, former Space Development Agency director, is the new president of Momentus, a Silicon Valley company preparing to transport satellites in orbit. “What’s interesting about Momentus’ proposition is the use of a straightforward propellant like water (which simplifies a lot of the logistics associated with moving things around on-orbit) and trying

WASHINGTON — NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine suggested Sept. 14 that NASA would be open to sending the first Artemis human landing mission to a location other than the south pole of the moon. In remarks at an online meeting of the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group (LEAG), Bridenstine said there could be benefits to sending a

Thompson: “One of America’s greatest strengths is the inventiveness drive and passion of our citizens” WASHINGTON — The United States is in a superpower competition in space and needs to work more closely with the private sector to ensure it has the most advanced technology, said Lt. Gen. John Thompson, commander of the Space and

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WASHINGTON — The House is slated to pass a space weather bill this week, culminating a five-year effort to turn a put elements of a space weather strategy and action plan into law. A schedule released Sept. 11 by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) listed the Promoting Research and Observations of Space Weather to

WASHINGTON — NASA is offering to buy lunar samples collected by companies for a token sum primarily to set a precedent for space resource rights on the moon. In a solicitation issued Sept. 10, NASA requested quotations from companies willing to go to the moon and sell between 50 and 500 grams of lunar rocks

WASHINGTON — Virgin Orbit has asked OneWeb’s bankruptcy court to require OneWeb pay $46.3 million on a contract termination fee for 35 LauncherOne missions it canceled in 2018.  Virgin Orbit sued the megaconstellation startup 15 months ago over a 2015 launch contract that called for 39 LauncherOne missions, with options for 100 more. OneWeb canceled

WASHINGTON — United Launch Alliance is looking at a three-core version of its Vulcan Centaur rocket, although an executive said that such a vehicle is “pretty far out on the horizon.” In a Sept. 9 keynote at the Secure World Foundation’s Summit for Space Sustainability online conference, Mark Peller, vice president of major development at

HELSINKI — Launch of a Kuaizhou-1A satellite carrying a remote sensing satellite ended in failure following liftoff from Jiuquan Saturday. The Kuaizhou-1A solid rocket lifted off from a transporter erector launcher at Jiuquan in the Gobi Desert at 01:02 a.m. Eastern Saturday. Amateur footage of the apparent launch appeared on Chinese social media shortly after.

WASHINGTON — Astra launched its Rocket 3.1 vehicle late Sept. 11, but the flight ended during the small launch vehicle’s first-stage burn. The rocket lifted off from Pacific Spaceport Complex Alaska on Kodiak Island at approximately 11:20 p.m. Eastern, according to a series of tweets by the company, which did not provide live video of