Jean-Yves Le Gall, president of CNES, tells Aviation Week’s Thierry Dubois about the agency’s progress on reusable launchers and other programs in conjunction with International Astronautical Congress 2020.
The U.S. Space Development Agency is looking for a company to launch an initial set of 28 communications and missile tracking satellites to low Earth orbit beginning in September 2022.
NASA is allocating $19.3 million for 21 studies on the physical and psychological issues astronauts will face as the agency prepares to return to the Moon’s surface in 2024 and advance to Mars in the 2030s.
As NASA continues feasibility studies into nuclear propulsion for deep space missions, DARPA has awarded an initial contract to help pave the way toward possible orbital tests of a nuclear-powered rocket for U.S. military use in and around cislunar space.
There are several intriguing scientific findings among a half-dozen research efforts published just ahead of the NASA Osiris-Rex asteroid sample return mission’s scheduled Oct. 20 touchdown on Bennu.
Abu Dhabi based Tawazun Economic Council (Tawazun) has formed a collaboration with Airbus and the National Space Science and Technology Center (NSSTC) from the UAE University, to build and develop a Satellite Assembly, Integration and Testing (AIT) Centre.
The U.S. military's interest in adapting a space launcher for the cargo resupply mission is entering a new phase, with a formal collaboration proposed with SpaceX for a proof of principle demonstration next year.
Momentus will become the next publicly traded new-space venture in early 2021, and the first self-described space infrastructure, upon closure of a deal announced Oct. 7 for blank-check company Stable Road Acquisition to buy the satellite orbit-mover startup.
Airbus is preparing for the launch of the first of four Pleiades Neo satellites, designed for improved resolution and more frequent revisits in Earth observation, and simultaneously working on a lower-cost generation.
Boeing astronaut Chris Ferguson is stepping aside as commander of the planned June 2021 CST-100 Starliner crewed flight demonstration mission to the International Space Station, citing family obligations.
China is developing a multi-shot scheme for a manned Moon landing that would feature docking in lunar orbit and a low-risk launcher based on current technology.
The U.S. Space Development Agency (SDA) awarded L3Harris and SpaceX contracts to each build four satellites for detecting and tracking ballistic and hypersonic missiles.
Northrop Grumman’s 14th NASA-contracted resupply mission Cygnus capsule reached the International Space Station early Oct. 5, delivering a nearly 7,800-lb. cargo.
A joint venture of the UK government and Indian mobile network operator Bharti Global has won U.S. Bankruptcy Court approval to buy aspiring global, high-speed internet-via-satellite operator OneWeb.
The scrub of Northrop Grumman’s 14th NASA contracted resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) was logged at 2 min. 40 sec. prior to a planned liftoff on Oct. 1 at 9:43 p.m., EDT.
The 235-ft. tall, triple-core booster was 7 sec. away from liftoff at 11:54 p.m. on Sept. 30 when the rocket’s Terminal Countdown Sequencer Rack, which controls the final 10 sec. of the countdown, identified “an unexpected condition,” and stopped the launch.
The financial impacts of COVID-19-related work delays have resulted in a one-year postponement in the launch of the Dragonfly astrobiology mission to Saturn’s intriguing moon Titan.
