Space

By Brian Everstine
President Joe Biden is expected to nominate Frank Calvelli to be the assistant Air Force secretary for space acquisitions.
Space

By Thierry Dubois
An interface issue has interrupted final payload testing of the James Webb Space Telescope, causing the latest launch delay, NASA and European Space Agency officials say.
Space

By Thierry Dubois
The French ministry of armed forces has renewed ArianeGroup’s contract for optical space surveillance.
Space

By Chen Chuanren
The MU-B200 is a 200-kg (441-lb.) 1.2 kW satellite that aims to provide 5-Gbps (V-band) communications over Southeast Asia.
Commercial Space

By Chen Chuanren
Two commercial positioning and communication satellites onboard—GeeSAT-1A and 1B—were lost in the Dec. 15 failure.
Space

By Thierry Dubois
A growing number of satellite operators are either pursuing a multi-orbit strategy to provide high-capacity, low-latency data services, or are ready to jump on the bandwagon.
Commercial Space

By Irene Klotz
Multiple providers and an assortment of vehicles herald a healthy start to commercial passenger spaceflight.
Commercial Space

By Thierry Dubois
ArianeGroup's CEO has shared the company's vision based on launchers of different sizes using common technologies.
Commercial Space

By Jen DiMascio
Companies that can remain nimble or provide niche capabilities will have the advantage.
Commercial Space

By Irene Klotz
Launch is being delayed to no earlier than Dec. 24 due to a communications issue between the observatory and its Ariane 5 launch vehicle.
Space

By Mark Carreau
The health of astronauts assigned to future long-running, deep-space exploration missions is among the areas of scientific study and technology development slated for launch to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX’s 24th NASA resupply mission.
Defense

By Thierry Dubois
Researchers say the James Webb Space Telescope will help them understand the formation of distant galaxies and composition of nearby exoplanets.
Space

By Mark Carreau
NASA has selected Axiom Space for a second four-person private astronaut mission to the International Space Station.
Space

By Thierry Dubois
Next year could see maiden launches of the Ariane 6 and Blue Origin's New Glenn follow the first orbital flight of SpaceX's Starship launcher, which is set for liftoff in January or February.
Commercial Space

By Mark Carreau
Boeing has decided to replace the service module that displayed multiple oxidizer isolation valve malfunctions while assigned to Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2), the second attempt by the company at an uncrewed CST-100 Starliner orbital flight to the International Space Station (ISS) under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
Space

NASA’s small satellite Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) could provide a welcome, low-cost 2021 leap ahead in the agency’s efforts to return human explorers to the Moon.
Space

By Maxim Pyadushkin
Roscosmos Space Corp. launched a Proton-M heavy rocket with two Russian communication satellites from Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan at 7:07 a.m. on Dec. 13.
Commercial Space

By Irene Klotz
The six-seater New Shepard—flying with a full cabin for the first time—lifted off from Blue Origin’s spaceport near Van Horn, Texas, at 9 a.m. local time.
Commercial Space

By Thierry Dubois
An additional friction stir welding facility in Thales Alenia Space’s Turin factory is helping meet increased demand from space station operators for pressurized modules.
Commercial Space

By Mark Carreau
The NASA Johnson Space Center’s (JSC) Rocket Park was named Dec.10 in honor of George W.S. Abbey, an early space agency stalwart who served as the center’s director from 1996 to 2001.
Space

By Irene Klotz
With efforts to troubleshoot an issue with a Space Launch System main engine controller ongoing, NASA is now targeting the rocket’s rollout to Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39B for mid-January—about two weeks later than previously planned—for a key prelaunch fueling test.
Space

By Michael Bruno
Tomorrow.io—the former ClimaCell weather services company that rebranded and announced a plan to launch and operate a constellation of relatively small satellites by 2022—will go public via a reverse merger with a special purpose acquisition company.
Commercial Space

By Mark Carreau, Irene Klotz
A new tool for astrophysicists to probe polarized X-ray light radiating from some of the highest energy objects in the universe is in orbit following an early morning launch by SpaceX from Kennedy Space Center.
Space

By Tony Osborne
The plan to begin production in the UK would likely mean the closure of OneWeb’s Florida-based facility which used automation to produce its first generation of satellites.
Commercial Space

By Tony Osborne
Orbex has commissioned Motive Offshore to fabricate the launchpad at the company’s test site, a former Royal Air Force airfield at Kinloss, Scotland.
Commercial Space