Space

In an Oct. 23 update of NASA’s effort to return astronauts to the Moon’s surface by the end of 2028, agency Administrator Jared Isaacman acknowledged a range of challenges.

DARPA is interested in “renewable” propulsion technologies, such as solar sails, that could enable station keeping and maneuvering of constellations of spacecraft in cislunar space.

Amid a growing embrace of commercial innovation, the U.S. Space Force wants to help new industry partners get involved with classified national security efforts.

A NASA panel on Oct. 22 expressed evolving concerns about the lunar Human Landing System and the establishment of commercial low-Earth-orbit successors to the International Space Station.

Iceye and Nokia intend to supply Ukraine with secure satcom capabilities, the companies announced Oct. 22, as Kyiv contends with Starshield disruptions.

The Army sees growing interest in stratospheric operations as an opportunity to maintain expertise and investment in the critical domain.

The U.S. Space Force is planning a new sustainment contract for its GPS ground operations system with an anticipated start date in 2029.

The U.S. Space Force has tapped six companies for the first operational contracts of its Commercial Augmentation Space Reserve program, service officials revealed Oct. 21.

Xona Space Systems launched its initial six alternative position, navigation and timing (Alt-PNT) satellites on SpaceX’s Bandwagon-5 rideshare mission on Oct. 20, ahead of its plans to start beta service in early 2027.

The European Space Agency (ESA) says an issue discovered with an Ariane 6 turbopump that is pushing a planned 2026 launch into next year does not represent a lasting problem.

The Canadian Defense Department has committed CA$20 million ($14 million) to support NordSpace's Atlantic Spaceport Complex.

The U.S. State Department has raised concerns over Russia’s Cosmos 2612 rendezvous and proximity operations unfolding in recent days around an Iceye satellite.

The U.S. Space Force’s acquisition arm is exploring the feasibility of standing up a new domestic spaceport by 2030 as demand for orbital access continues to surge.

ESA prepares for a December decision on a $11.2 billion human spaceflight program that would give Europe independent astronaut launch capability by 2036.

The U.S. Space Force intends to soon release two unclassified solicitations geared at cislunar operations.

Data collected by NASA’s now-defunct Mars InSight lander shows that the largest canyon system in the Solar System remains tectonically active.

Firefly Aerospace’s Elytra lunar orbiter has completed its preliminary design review under a $75 million NASA subcontract.

New Zealand spaceplane developer Dawn Aerospace wants to establish a suborbital payload launch program from the UK.

The role of providing the first public disclosure of new and notable on-orbit activities has fallen to the growing pool of commercial space situational awareness companies.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine is urging NASA to conduct crewed exploration of four non-polar regions of the Moon that NASEM says have cross-disciplinary scientific value.

Airbus is teaming up with IBM, LiveEO and IABG to develop and offer Germany a way to process vast amounts of Earth-observation data using advanced AI software.

Six trailblazers in American aviation and space will be inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame as the Class of 2027.

20 Twenties winner Jocelino Rodrigues helped open NASA’s mARC II plasma wind tunnel to SpaceX and Blue Origin, developed a draft ASTM standard and mentors future engineers.

The European Space Agency (ESA) has suffered the loss of a Space Rider test vehicle during a drop test when the parafoil failed to deploy properly.

SpaceX will attempt to land both the Super Heavy rocket and Starship upper stage as part of its next flight test, currently targeted to launch in November.