NASA’s commercial crew program is in court now, so the lawyers will get a say in deciding how the U.S. and its space-exploration partners will fly astronauts to orbit.
A spacecraft designed to test re-entry techniques for a future lunar-sample return mission lifted off from the Xichang launch facility on a Long March 3C on Oct. 23 (Oct. 24 local time) on a week-long mission that will take it around the Moon. Citing a spokesman for the China National Space Administration, China Daily’s English-language edition said the testbed will return to Earth after a swing around the Moon to test a “skip” re-entry technique pioneered by the Soviet Union to bleed off velocity before a parachute touchdown in the Gobi Desert.
An innovative partnership between NASA and SpaceX is giving the U.S. space agency an early look at what it would take to land multi-ton habitats and supply caches on Mars for human explorers, while providing sophisticated infrared imagery to help the spacecraft company develop a reusable launch vehicle.
The CubeSat movement may make it to the surface of Mars, possibly within a decade, allowing low-cost, minituarized secondary payloads on missions carry rovers and other high-priced gear.
NASA’s $8.8 billion James Webb Space Telescope program was rebaselined in 2011 and has since adhered to its revised cost and schedule estimates for a planned launch atop an Ariane 5 ECA rocket in 2018, but technology challenges could threaten the agency’s ability to keep it on track.
Opinion: USAF has the rare opportunity to improve U.S. national security, impose costs on an aggressive foreign power, promote American technological innovation and create jobs at home.
Pan-European cooperation in military Earth observation could see progress by the end of this year as France presses for allied contributions to the next-generation Optical Space Component (CSO) system in exchange for access to its high-resolution imagery.
Some of the answers were on display at the 65th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) just concluded in Toronto, both in the remarks of many participants and the actions of the host government in Ottawa.
Virgin Galactic is finally on the verge of full-duration powered test flights and the start of commercial suborbital flights in 2015. Providing a rare glimpse of progress on a second spacecraft under assembly at sister organization, The Spaceship Co., Virgin Galactic Vice President of Operations Mike Moses says, “we are ready for space.”
The Algerian Space Agency (ASAL) and Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) have signed a contract to build the Alsat-1B Earth Observation satellite in combination with a comprehensive training and development programme.
Penny-pinching politicians and those who reject the evidence that human activity is changing Earth’s climate are making it hard for scientists to continue providing the data from space needed to monitor and try to manage the effects of inaction
If signed, the deal with an undisclosed customer would allow UrtheCast to develop two sensors, a high-resolution, dual-mode optical/video camera and a high-resolution dual-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) that will be capable of imaging simultaneously in L and X bands.
Sierra Nevada is taking advantage of the 65th International Astronautical Congress to push its Dream Chaser lifting-body spaceplane to offshore customers, now that NASA has rejected its bid to fly crews to the International Space Station.
Yahsat is offering a free satellite modem and dish for new YahClick subscribers to selected service plans as part of its commitment to deliver affordable, reliable and high speed internet connectivity in Kenya. The offer is available via the local YahClick service providers Skynet and SimbaNET.
Blue Origin, the startup space company endowed by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, has generated a fair amount of smoke and fire at its West Texas test site, but very little publicity.
