Space

The UK Space Agency plans to perform a space debris removal demo and has kicked off the search for a domestic vendor for the mission.

In the waning days of June, NASA and its contractors conducted three tests and demonstrations for Artemis missions that the Trump administration seeks to end.

The Space Development Agency plans to tap into a pool of prescreened contractors to mature technologies for future satellite constellations.

The Defense Department is debating how best to develop the space-based data connectivity backbone of its future force.

The Deep Impact impactor spacecraft scored a direct hit on Tempel 1 on July 4, (see page 28). The flyby craft took this picture 67 sec. after the strike with its high-resolution camera.

Boeing has delivered the ninth and 10th O3b mPOWER satellites to SES ahead of a scheduled launch this summer.

Europe has added to its weather monitoring and Earth-observation capacity with the launch of the MTG-S1 satellite and the Sentinel-4 instrument.

U.S. electric power startup Magnix says it aims to continue working with NASA on the technology.

A privately funded spacecraft that has been pinpointing sources of methane emissions in oil- and gas-producing regions across the world has failed.

NASA's flagship initiative to expand human presence into deep space under the Artemis program continues multibillion-dollar cost overruns, the GAO says.

The U.S. Space Force expects to soon award a second contract for its next batch of missile warning/missile tracking satellites in medium Earth orbit.

Four academics have been awarded a prize for proposing the creation of a Panel on Asteroid Orbit Alteration.

The European Defense Agency has signed a contract with Isispace to build and deploy three cubesats to maneuver between low Earth orbit and very low Earth orbit.

Momentus says it is planning an inflight demonstration of a multispectral sensor for in-space rendezvous and proximity operations in early 2026.

Thales Alenia Space says that the French government has appointed the Franco-Italian joint venture to lead development of a laser communications system in GEO.

AAC Clyde Space wants to double the size of its Vireon Earth-observation constellation and lure more European military space business, the Swedish company says.

Japan used the final H-IIA rocket flight to deploy the Global Observing Satellite for Greenhouse gases and Water cycle spacecraft.

The U.S. Space Force has awarded SpaceX the latest task order under its National Security Space Launch Phase 3 Lane 1 contract.

Sierra Space has a new, $45 million facility up and running to build defense-hardened solar arrays at scale.

Finland says it will acquire synthetic aperture radar satellites from Iceye, continuing the steady drumbeat of European countries buying into that capability.

An explosive ground test accident has claimed a fourth Starship vehicle.

Our roundup of the main aerospace and defense stories making the news this week.

Leading the U.S. space agency will fall to someone else, as the former Trump administration nominee contemplates his next steps.

Northrop Grumman and NASA on June 26 conducted the first test of its Booster Obsolescence Life Extension solid rocket motor.

The U.S. Space Force is considering the optimal way to build out a vast and critical data transport satellite architecture in low Earth orbit.