Intuitive Machines has selected the planned date and landing site for its first mission to the Moon’s surface under its NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services agreement.
Citing the bankruptcy of the OneWeb satellite communications company, the U.S. government should consider adding $2.5 billion in funding for space programs, along with multiple policy proposals to maintain the military space industrial base and U.S. strategic dominance in the domain in the face of threats posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, an industry trade group recommends.
Australian nanosat startup Sky and Space Global has entered voluntary administration—a process similar to Chapter 11 U.S. bankruptcy—after posting losses of more than AUS$30 million ($18.5 million) in 2019.
OneWeb Satellites said March 30 it is temporarily furloughing an undisclosed number of employees at its Titusville, Florida, manufacturing facility, citing slowing supply chains and travel disruptions due to the spread of COVID-19.
The mission will mark the first flight of astronauts aboard a U.S. orbital spaceship since space shuttle Atlantis rolled to a stop at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 21, 2011
A SpaceX Falcon 9 booster, making an unprecedented fifth flight, successfully dispatched another 60 Starlink websats into orbit, then failed to touch down on a drone ship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
Launch provider Rocket Lab is being considered by NASA for certification to loft higher value payloads on future research and demonstration missions following initial space agency approval to launch low-cost, small satellites.
"Unless we improve our rate of innovation dramatically, then there is no chance of a base on the Moon or a city on Mars,” SpaceX Founder Elon Musk says.
