NASA has awarded four companies contracts to collect samples of lunar regolith, then transfer ownership to the agency, not for return to Earth necessarily but to expand the legal and regulatory framework for commercial space activities on the Moon and beyond.
Whether Puerto Rico’s venerable Arecibo Observatory will be replaced after being heavily damaged by multiple support cable failures rests in the hands of Congress and the space science community, according to Ralph Gaume, director of the National Science Foundation’s astronomical sciences division.
Aspiring small satellite launch service and logistics provider Aevum has unveiled an 80-ft.-long, 60-ft. wingspan unmanned aircraft system to serve as the reusable first stage of a three-stage, autonomous launch system that aims to cut costs and dramatically reduce the time needed to plan and execute missions.
The European Investment Bank, the long-term lending institution of the European Union, announced Dec. 3 that it could invest up to €20 million ($24.3 million) in Spire Global, a Luxembourg-registered nanosatellite operator for cloud-enabled data analytics, marking the European institution’s first direct new-space venture.
A request for information published on Dec. 2 by the U.S. Army’s product manager for Enhanced Radar, Optics and Sensors seeks payloads that can be integrated in time for the MQ-1C to participate in a Joint All-Domain Operations demonstration event.
Axiom Space, selected by NASA to berth the first element of an eventual commercial low Earth orbit-crewed free flyer at the International Space Station (ISS) in 2024, has significantly upgraded the architecture of its planned Axiom Station, providing an initial four-person crew capability.
The Russian defense ministry launched a Soyuz-2.1b medium-class vehicle with a Fregat third-stage booster from its spaceport Plesetsk in northern Russia on Dec. 3, orbiting three Gonetz-M communication satellites and the ERA-1 military nanosatellite, Roscosmos State Corp. said.
Although President Donald Trump has threatened to veto the fiscal 2021 defense authorization bill because he disagrees with a social media provision, the House and Senate are pursing passage of the bicameral agreement.
FLIR Systems, which has re-engineered its business since last year to focus on UAVs and automotive sensors, has acquired Altavian, a privately-held manufacturer of small UAS for defense and public safety customers that used FLIR sensors.
The declaration means the Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA)-314 at the Miramar air station in California is on track to deploy with the F-35C on a U.S. Navy carrier in early fiscal 2022.
High altitude balloons, also known as stratollites, and unattended ocean sensors are among the candidates to augment a handful of intelligence-gathering aircraft.
Air logistics startup Airflow is working with VerdeGo Aero to study the distributed hybrid-electric propulsion system for its planned short-takeoff-and-landing cargo aircraft.
The two companies say they have developed a compact system that can be retrofitted into light single-engine aircraft, and the first target for their efforts is Airbus’ H125/AS350 Ecureuil/AStar light helicopter.
The European Space Agency (ESA) has signed an €86 million ($100 million) contract with an industrial team led by Swiss start-up company ClearSpace for the provision of a debris removal service.
David Coleal, most recently president of Bombardier Aviation, has been named group CEO of Incora, a provider of supply chain management services to aerospace, defense and other industries, effective Nov. 30.
The White House Office of Management and Budget outlined its “additional views” in a letter to Senate appropriators regarding the chamber’s version of the fiscal 2021 defense appropriations bill.
The Japan Air Self-Defense Force already operates F-35As in-country, but the USAF presence is limited to two squadrons of aging Boeing F-15C/Ds and Lockheed F-16C/Js.
Days after unveiling plans to decommission and dismantle the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, the National Science Foundation announced a third wave of damage, the Dec. 1 collapse of the suspended 900-ton instrument platform.
