Commercial Space

The mission’s true measure is not just science, but to lure youth to careers in tech.

Northrop Grumman and Blue Origin hoped to wrest contracts from incumbents ULA and SpaceX.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Kennedy Space Center on Aug. 7 carrying 57 new Starlink broadband satellites—all outfitted with visors to cut Sun glint that interferes with astronomical observations—and two BlackSky Global imaging satellites.

Two NASA astronauts return from extended SpaceX flight test to the ISS.

This week, NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Benhken splashed down in their SpaceX Dragon capsule in the Gulf of Mexico after two months at the

NRO’s new approach to satellites; Russia’s S-70 acceleration; defining “Attritable” in dollar terms; Collins’ training device.

The U.S. Space Force’s 30th Space Wing and entities in California have entered into an agreement to develop a spaceport and boost commercial launch activity at Vandenberg AFB on the state’s Pacific coast.

SpaceX will fly a pair of SES’s new satellites on a Falcon 9 rocket in 2022, with an option for a second flight for an undisclosed third satellite. ULA will launch another two SES spacecraft on an Atlas V, also in 2022, SES announced.

The odds of repurposing the satellites for GNSS are limited.

A prototype Mars-class reusable spaceship developed by SpaceX took a nearly 500-ft (150 m) hop off a launch stand near Brownsville, Texas, on Aug. 4, marking the company’s first successful Starship test flight in a year.

Astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken praised the NASA/SpaceX team behind their test flight and expressed hope the public/private partnership continues to thrive.

As it incorporates lessons learned from the abbreviated debut flight of its LauncherOne small satellite rocket, Virgin Orbit said Aug. 3 it is planning for a second demonstration mission before year’s end, with NASA agreeing to use the launch to put 11 experimental cubesats into orbit.

Small satellite launcher ABL Space Systems has disclosed around $90 million in new defense contracts plus investments from Lockheed Martin and venture capitalists, powering the startup through a three-launch demonstration of the RS1 launch vehicle and GS0 deployable launch system early next year, the company said Aug. 3.

Liftoff was scrubbed due to an out-of-limit sensor indication associated with the Ariane 5's first-stage liquid hydrogen propellant tank.

Rocket Lab has determined the cause of the July 4 failure of an Electron rocket—a faulty electrical connection which triggered a premature shutdown of the booster’s second stage, the company said on July 31.

Two NASA Demo-2 astronauts continued preparing on July 31 for a weekend return to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS) and a splashdown off the Florida coast as Tropical Storm Isaias was upgraded to a category 1 hurricane.

The U.S. Space Force’s 30th Space Wing, the state of California and other involved parties have entered into an agreement to develop a commercial spaceport facility at Vandenberg AFB, California, the federal government’s Western launch range.

New Zealand-based startup Dawn Aerospace has rolled out its Mk-II Aurora reusable suborbital spaceplane.

Nine weeks after the first U.S. crewed launch to the space station since 2011, two NASA astronauts are heading home.

A new report on the space industrial base discusses the catastrophic impact the spread of the novel coronavirus has had on space companies and how the global pandemic provides a dangerous opportunity for China and Russia to challenge or surpass the U.S. in space.

The failure of a high-pressure liquid-oxygen feed line triggered a premature engine shutdown during the debut flight of Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket, the company said on July 27.

The sleek, mimimalistic design is intended to blend safety for six passengers with maximizing the novel view of Earth from the edge of space.

The FCC has endangered a national treasure by allowing high-power terrestrial transmitters in the band of frequencies that includes GPS.

Spaceflight’s new Sherpa-FX orbit transfer vehicle is to be deorbited after its first mission in low Earth orbit by deploying Tethers Unlimited’s drag-increasing Terminator Tape.

The Trump administration’s National Space Council on July 23 released a 17-page report outlining its approach to deep-space exploration and development.