Sierra Nevada Corp. will join incumbents Orbital ATK and SpaceX.

NASA’s Dawn spacecraft is now within 240 mi. of the dwarf planet Ceres and will remain there indefinitely. Images collected at that altitude reveal similarities with Earth’s Moon and unique features that highlight the wondrous variety of our Solar System.

Ahead of new budget talks in late 2016, German Aerospace Center DLR and the European Space Agency are evaluating the cost of continuing support for the International Space Station beyond 2020, even as the other four space station partners pledge to fund the orbiting science lab to 2024.

Last year’s back-to-back station-cargo launch failures have not dimmed growing commercial interest in station research.

A top priority for the Indian space agency is to complete the launch of its seven-satellite regional navigation constellation.

To avoid being marginalized, the U.S. space community needs to make key issues part of the 2016 presidential campaign.

The European launch consortium, which today lifts more than half of the world’s communications satellites, says the recent successful recovery of a Falcon 9 core stage is only the first step for SpaceX in reusing the already-low-cost rocket.

From the commercial-aircraft ramp-up and small-UAV explosion to U.S. defense budget pressures and Europe’s response to Russian aggression, 2016 will be a dynamic year for the aerospace and defense industry.