Commercial Space

May 20, 2021
Potential issues with the WhiteKnightTwo carrier jet for Virgin Galactic’s air-launched SpaceShipTwo suborbital spaceplane have been resolved, clearing the way for the company to resume flight tests as early as May 22, pending weather and technical checks.
May 18, 2021
The new three-story building, next to York’s other two buildings, will allow for a fourfold increase in production capacity once fully utilized.
May 13, 2021
The next two piloted flights to the International Space Station aboard Russian Soyuz MS spacecraft later this year will be carrying civilians—a film crew first, and later, tourists.
May 13, 2021
Arqit, a four-year-old British startup aiming to provide quantum encryption for communications, announced May 12 it will become a publicly traded company after a two-step merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).
May 12, 2021
Rocket Lab is poised to conduct the first of two additional tests of Electron launch vehicles specially modified for reusability which, if successful, could pave the way for the first mid-air recovery of a booster for re-use as early as next year.
May 11, 2021
Virgin Galactic said electromagnetic interference (EMI) issues which stalled sub-orbital tests of its SpaceShipTwo Unity have been resolved but added that the spaceplane’s return to flight could be further delayed by a newly discovered maintenance issue on Eve, the company’s WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft.
May 10, 2021
Voyager Space Holdings, the rapidly expanding umbrella startup for new-space companies, has acquired the majority stake in X.O. Markets and its major subsidiary Nanoracks, which recently launched the commercial Bishop airlock to the International Space Station (ISS).
May 06, 2021
Boeing and NASA plan to conduct an uncrewed Orbital Flight Test-2 of the Starliner CST-100 crew capsule at 2:53 p.m. EDT on July 30, pending range approval, the company said May 6.