Space

NASA is readying its surviving Space Shuttle Main Engines for a last hurrah as the power plant for its new heavy-lift Space Launch System.

The near-term focus for the program is to get the Space Launch System off the ground—without and with humans on top.

The heavy-lift Space Launch System will be a big vehicle, and NASA is starting to turn out some big pieces—and ground infrastructure—for its first flight in 2018.

NASA is using a massive friction-stir welding tool at the Michoud Assembly Facility to build its first flight structure for the heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS).

In this week’s Washington Outlook column: the GAO dings the Air Force on A-10 retirement plans, and Maryland Space Business Roundtable attendees weigh in on the U.S. presidential election.

A program begun in 2008 results in testing of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp.’s fattest solid-propellant motor so far.

Aerojet Rocketdyne is applying experience it gained during the past 50 years to a new rocket engine designed to compete with Russian offerings.

NASA is using funding it didn’t request to build and fly a more powerful upper stage for the heavy-lift Space Launch System

The U.S.-led mission to collect samples from asteroid Bennu could also provide valuable information about the possibility that an asteroid collision could wipe out life on the planet.

Washington Outlook column discusses B61 nuclear weapons in Europe, FlyerRights.org congressional ratings, Texan congressman banding together on space issues.

Astrophysicist Martin Elvis sees commercial spaceflight offering a solution to the “funding wall” in future high-tech space missions.

Major players in the satellite-delivered cabin connectivity sector are forecasting upbeat industry trends as they make headway in lining up contracts and installing kits.

The orbiting lab’s first external docking port will be dedicated to future moorings of U.S. commercial crew transport spacecraft.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 launched a U.S.-built Japanese communications Satellite early Aug. 14, and used three of its nine engines to return its first stage to a picture-perfect tail-down landing on a robotic barge downrange from the Cape Canaveral launch site.

Billions are at stake as the new space race for the next generation of communications is ready to begin.

This week's Washington Outlook column discusses Raytheon as a big donor in the New Hampshire and Arizona Senate races, Shuster's tight race in Pennsylvania and SpaceX and Blue Origin’s Washington ties.

An advanced instrument in development for NASA’s planned 2020 rover, the ‘rock zapper’ will add range, color and sound.

Astronomers continue to expand our knowledge of the Solar System and beyond with ever-improving instruments. The Hubble Space Telescope continues a process Galileo started that will continue with the James Webb Space Telescope, set for launch in 2018.

Under a launch-for-data-exchange contract, NASA will launch Lockheed Martin’s SkyFire 6U CubeSat on a lunar science trajectory as part of the agency’s Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1).

The UAE Space Agency has unveiled details of the National Space Sector Policy.

The dates for the Global Space Congress in Abu Dhabi have been changed.

Firefly Space Systems’ 125,000-lb.-thrust engine will be the first aerospike rocket to fly and is pivotal to the company’s goal of developing a scalable family of relatively simple, lightweight launchers for the small satellite market.

This week's Washington Outlook column discusses how the next president can best secure a budget deal, FAA's certification of Moon Express and Virgin, and the presidential candidates' mixed messages on space policy.

New constellations of Earth-observing smallsats and advanced data-crunching give decision-makers new tools for dealing with a changing planet.

South Korea will be the first customer for the Angara 1.2, designed for small or medium-size satellites and capable of lifting up to 3,500 kg to LEO or SSO.