Space

Science missions using the Boeing 747SP-based Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy airborne observatory will end in September 2022 after the U.S. National Academies assessed the science output no longer justifies its operating costs.

NASA’s SpaceX-launched Crew-4 Dragon spacecraft docked to the International Space Station late April 27, delivering four U.S. and European astronauts to the orbiting laboratory.

Roscosmos has presented an updated version of the future Sfera multi-satellite orbital constellation after the Russian government approved it in early April.

The Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles Directorate has announced that it is developing a multi-energy electron source capable of emitting a beam of electrons at dozens of energies simultaneously.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket delivered a Crew Dragon capsule into orbit on April 27, sending four astronauts on their way to the International Space Station.

Several venture capital firms and the related office at Lockheed Martin have teamed to invest $27 million in X-Bow Systems, an Albuquerque, New Mexico-based additive manufacturing startup targeting production of solid rocket energetics.

Hours after a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule returned from a privately financed sortie to the International Space Station (ISS), NASA cleared the company to proceed with a launch attempt at 3:52 a.m. EDT on April 27 to deliver the next resident crew to the orbital outpost.

Capella Space has raised $97 million through a Series C financing round that it plans to spend on further developing its automated image analysis software and next-generation satellites.

The curriculum for engineering must expand to include flexible interdisciplinary coursework and hands-on laboratory experience.

Kelle Wendling is the president of Space Systems at L3 Harris Technologies.

NASA’s long-running sample return mission to the asteroid Bennu has received a nine-year, $200 million extension.

NASA is preparing to return the Space Launch System Moon rocket and Orion capsule to the Kennedy Space Center Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) on April 25, following a pair of abbreviated tanking tests at the launchpad.

NASA has a strategy to secure the second of two circular solar arrays that failed to fully deploy and latch following the launch of the $989 million Lucy mission.

A prolonged, privately financed mission to the International Space Station (ISS) ended on April 25 with the return of a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule chartered by Houston-based Axiom Space.

The four-member Axiom-1 private astronaut mission departed the International Space Station on April 24, ending the first U.S.-backed commercial flight to the orbital outpost and clearing the docking port for the arrival of the next ISS resident crew later this week.

The space sector has unique propellants when it comes to M&A, which is likely to create a “melt-up.”

Dr. Bernard A. Harris, a retired NASA astronaut and flight surgeon and the first African-American to conduct a spacewalk, has been inducted into the Texas Aviation Hall of Fame.

Just under two years after joining Aerojet Rocketdyne as chief operating officer (COO), Amy Gowder is leaving the embattled rocket and propulsion supplier “to accept another business opportunity.”

Planet Labs has unveiled its next constellation of 32 Earth observation satellites, the Pelican fleet, which will provide images with up to 30 cm of resolution and improved revisit rates.

Weather concerns off the Florida coast have prompted new delays in the planned return to Earth of Axiom-1 from the International Space Station and the follow-on launch of NASA’s Crew-4 SpaceX Dragon Freedom to the ISS, NASA and Axiom Space announced late April 20.

NASA selected six U.S. satellite communications providers on April 20 to develop and demonstrate near-Earth space communication services to support future agency missions as part of the Communications Services Project.

Astrobotic unveiled the flight model of its Peregrine lunar lander on April 20, the version that is scheduled to fly to the Moon in the fourth quarter of 2022 on a United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur rocket.

Fast-growing Sierra Space has named former Lockheed Martin Skunk Works leader Jeff Babione as its chief operating officer.

Long-held U.S. Defense Department vision for rapid space launch capability could edge closer to reality with Air Force Research Laboratory demonstration.

Venturi Astrolab, which last month unveiled its Flex rover family for manned Moon and Mars missions, is buying certain technologies from European electric vehicle maker Venturi Group, with which it has a “strategic partnership” and a shared name.