NASA evaluators appear to have winnowed the field for future ISS cargo contractors to the commercial-cargo capsules already operated by CRS-1 contractors Orbital ATK and SpaceX and an unmanned cargo version of the Sierra Nevada Corp. Dream Chaser reusable lifting body.

Ideas abound as NASA takes a deeper look at how it will use the big new Saturn V-class Space Launch System in the 2020s and beyond.

NASA delays its CRS-2 contract, again. Italy is in line to become the next nation with armed Reapers. The FAA scrambles to create a UAV registration system. And the Ex-Im bank bill nears final passage.

Wayne Hale, former shuttle program manager, tells deep-space exploration advocates: “There must be a revolution in how we get things done, financially and organizationally.”

A determination on the second set of contract awards for commercial resupply missions to ISS, expected on Nov. 5, could be influenced by an independent agency review of the Oct. 28, 2014, engine failure on Orbital ATK’s Antares launch vehicle.

JAXA quiets sonic boom; Italy studies hybrid engine; ScanEagle UAV inspects railway; Darpa’s DyNamo boosts networks; Clean Sky 2 gains partners.

BAE Systems is partnering with air-breathing rocket developer Reaction Engines as part of an agreement under which BAE will acquire a 20% share of the U.K.-based company for £20.6 million.

NASA released its first images of the geyser-like spray emerging from the South Pole of Saturn's ice- and ocean-covered moon Enceladus on Oct. 30.