Russia’s first Moon mission in 46 years has been retargeted to launch on Aug. 22, about a month later than previously planned, Alexander Mitkin, deputy chief designer at spacecraft manufacturer NPO Lavochkin, told Russian media during an April 8 press conference.
Problems with a helium isolation check valve on the upper stage of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket prompted NASA on April 9 to revise plans for a full tanking test and to delay a modified wet dress rehearsal to April 14.
Axiom Mission-1's (Ax-1) four private astronauts successfully docked to the International Space Station (ISS) April 9, to begin an eight-day visit filled with medical and scientific research and technology development activities.
The Axiom-1 mission kicks off a series of private astronaut flights to the International Space Station as part of an ongoing effort to expand commercial use and development of low Earth orbit
The Japanese startup said April 6 that it had resolved or mitigated most of the spacecraft anomalies experienced in January that caused it to halt an autonomous capture demonstration in low Earth orbit.
The Ax-1 astronauts will kick off more than two dozen wide-ranging scientific research and technology development activities with value to life on Earth as well as nurturing the space economy.
Parts for the first batch of Lockheed Martin’s advanced GPS IIIF Follow On space vehicles (SV) are arriving at the company’s facility in Littleton, Colorado, paving the way for assembly of the initial satellite to start before 2023.
Sidus Space, a Cape Canaveral startup proffering the LizzieSat—a partially additively manufactured, 100-kg. (220-lb.) low-Earth-orbit satellite—reported 2021 financial results that showed net loss more than doubled while revenue decreased from 2020.
After a recent successful demonstration of its Protected Tactical Enterprise Services (PTES) ground system, Boeing is continuing to develop a Protected Tactical Satcom Prototype (PTS-P), leveraging its heritage on the Wideband Global Satcom program and commercial satellite technologies.
U.S. Space Command signed two new agreements with partner nations within two days this week as the Pentagon plans to further increase its space information sharing.
The U.S. Space Force is tracking the development of on-orbit maneuvering and refueling in the commercial industry to inform how the technology could shape its plans for future national security launches.
Major consultancy Accenture on April 6 said it made an unspecified investment in Titan Space Technologies, which is proffering software in support of in-orbit experiments and demonstrations, starting with adaptive immune response, carbon capture and biomedical applications.
SpinLaunch, which conducted its first test flight from its Suborbital Accelerator at Spaceport America last October, has signed a Space Act agreement with NASA to demonstrate its lofting system this year.
The U.S. Space Force is preparing to decommission the system that was tracking space activity and transition to a new system by year’s end on an “aggressive schedule,” service and industry officials say.
The U.S. Space Force expects to launch its delayed Wide Field of View missile warning satellite “very soon” after being indefinitely delayed due to undisclosed issues.
The Air Force Research Laboratory wants to improve its responsive space launch capability and is reaching out to industry to find investments in technology that could improve the ability to rapidly and more effectively send military capabilities into orbit.
The U.S. Space Force is looking to extend the capacity of its cloud-based data repository known as the Unified Data Library (UDL) by bringing in hundreds of thousands of data points from the Space Fence surveillance system.
Another team has entered NASA’s moon buggy competition and once again it includes automotive horsepower—Teledyne Brown Engineering announced April 6 that it is leading a team with Sierra Space, Nissan North America and Textron Arctic Cat to design the crewed Lunar Terrain Vehicle.
NASA could be too hands-off in its oversight of the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, an audit from the agency’s inspector general says.
Airbus, the prime contractor for the European Space Agency’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer probe, has started a series of critical tests on the spacecraft due for launch in April 2023.
The Blue Origin and Sierra Space-led consortium developing the Orbital Reef commercial space station says it is on track to conduct the preliminary design review of the low Earth orbit outpost in 2023 following completion of the systems requirements review.
