Commercial Space

NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley landed at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 20 for final preparations ahead of launch next week to test SpaceX’s Crew Dragon system.

Boeing, which was shut out of nearly $1 billion of NASA funding to develop human-class lunar landers, said it does not plan to protest the awards, which went to teams led by Blue Origin, Dynetics and SpaceX.

The U.S. Commerce Department on May 19 released a long-awaited new rule for the export of remote sensing services.

U.S. proposal extends and expands guidelines for cooperation on lunar missions and beyond.

Two days before he was to chair the Flight Readiness Review for the SpaceX Demo-2 mission, marking the return of U.S. human orbital flight capability, NASA Associate Administrator Douglas Loverro is leaving the agency.

Citing concerns about Tropical Storm Arthur, which was passing off the coast of North Carolina on May 18, SpaceX is standing down from its planned May 19 launch of a Falcon 9 rocket to build out its Starlink network, putting the long-awaited flight test of a crewed Dragon spacecraft next on the launch schedule.

High-tempo test schedule puts Firefly on track for September debut with Alpha launch vehicle.

UK future flight vision; sandbox for UAVs; making LEO safer; augmented-reality landings; connected by balloon.

Virgin Orbit completed a second dress rehearsal of its LauncherOne small satellite launch system on May 15, but plans to conduct some additional testing ahead of the vehicle’s orbital test flight, targeted for later this month.

The satellite operator Intelsat announced May 13 that it has declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy as part of a financial restructuring to free up liquidity and continue operations while it awaits repayment from the government from an auction of C-band spectrum.

Listen to your experts, listen to your vehicle, and expect the unexpected. That’s the advice a panel of human spaceflight veterans has for SpaceX as the company prepares for its landmark Demo-2 flight to the International Space Station (ISS) later this month, which will restore the U.S. human orbital spaceflight capability lost after the 2011 retirement of the space shuttle.

Space situational awareness startup LeoLabs has launched the first automated collision-avoidance service for satellites.

A future NASA Orion crew might find its way to an aging but still productive Hubble Space Telescope to conduct upgrades and repairs, says John Grunsfeld, who journeyed to the orbital observatory as a spacewalking mechanic on three shuttle missions.

The FAA has authorized a 12th commercial space launch site and continues to evaluate another site that was nearing a decision by the agency late last year.

When Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken splash down in the Atlantic Ocean following their SpaceX Demo-2 flight to the International Space Station, it will mark the first time NASA astronauts have landed in the ocean in nearly 45 years.

Government watchdog warns of record-high budget overruns and schedule delays with Moon rocket and other big-ticket projects.

Blue Origin, Dynetics and SpaceX win NASA contracts to develop systems to land astronauts on the Moon.

A week after winning a $135 million NASA contract to support work on its fully reusable, deep-space transportation system, SpaceX conducted a successful static test fire of a full-size, second-stage Starship prototype.

Space startup Firefly Aerospace aims to complete the first launch of its two-stage Alpha rocket as early as September and says testing of engines and site preparation remain on track despite the threat of potential disruption related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

LYON, France—Arianespace is planning on resuming operations with a Vega launch in mid-June as activity at Europe’s space center in Kourou, French Guiana, gradually restarts after being suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

SpaceX completed the 27th and final test of its Mk 3 parachutes on May 1, one of the final milestones before NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Doug Hurley are cleared for a flight test aboard a Crew Dragon capsule.

Readers write about steadfast AW&ST subscribers, FARA contenders, rocket reusability and advanced propulsion.

Ask the Editors: Space Editor Irene Klotz answers.

Manufacturers of high-altitude pseudo-satellites (HAPS)–stratospheric balloons and unmanned aircraft–are touting a multibillion-dollar market opportunity in telecommunications, Earth observation and weather prediction.

It is unlikely the heavy-lift launch market can support more than two U.S. launch providers in the long term, according to a long-awaited report the U