Space Industry Analysis
Mar 24, 2014
Even as the Obama administration pushes to have the FAA fund itself with the traveler-paid Airport and Airway Trust Fund, the White House predicts the fund's balance will grow steadily over the next decade. White House budget documents lay out a road map to wean FAA from general-fund contributions. As of 2015, the FAA budget request would have the trust fund cover 93% of FAA's operations, as well as its Airport Improvement Program, facilities and equipment, and research, engineering and development accounts.
Mar 24, 2014
SpaceX delayed its third commercial cargo flight to the international space station (ISS) because of “payload contamination” problems in the unpressurized “trunk” of its Dragon spacecraft, but don't try to find out what those problems are. “We've had some issues with payload contamination that we will be addressing,” says Sam Scimemi, ISS program director at NASA headquarters, during a March 14 Space Transportation Association presentation. “We're going to have to assess that and replace some parts and get the rocket ready for launch again.
Mar 24, 2014
U.S. guards Russian Atlas V engine options as tensions mount
Mar 24, 2014
The U.S. decision to extend operational funding for the International Space Station (ISS) until 2024 is increasing the odds there will be some significant return on the $100 billion orbiting investment. So is a growing awareness of its unique utility for industrial and academic research, and some long-delayed traction for the commercial-space incubator NASA set up to promote U.S. National Laboratory assets on the station.
Mar 24, 2014
Russian President Vladimir Putin's move to annex the Crimean Peninsula is a “wake-up call,” says NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who urged Europe to increase defense spending—particularly in the missile defense, cyber and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance arenas. “Developments in Ukraine are a stark reminder that security in Europe cannot be taken for granted,” he said last week. Russia's actions must have consequences, he warned.
Mar 24, 2014
On-orbit satellite servicing will soon become a reality
Feb 22, 2021
The Defense Department inspector general is launching a probe into the U.S. Air Force’s decision to select Alabama as the home of U.S. Space Command headquarters.
Feb 22, 2021
Northrop Grumman’s 15th NASA-contracted Cygnus resupply mission successfully rendezvoused with the International Space Station (ISS) early Feb. 22, enabling astronauts on board to grapple the freighter and its 8,400 lb. cargo with the orbiting lab’s Canadian robot arm.
Feb 20, 2021
Northrop Grumman’s 15th NASA contracted resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) was on track to rendezvous with the six-person…
Feb 19, 2021
With NASA’s newest Mars rover safely on the ground, surface operations teams at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, have replaced the flight control team that oversaw Perseverance’s Feb. 18 pinpoint landing inside Jezero Crater, the site of an ancient lake.
Feb 19, 2021
Northrop Grumman’s 15th NASA-contracted resupply mission to the International Space Station is undergoing preparations for a Feb. 20 launch from the agency’s Wallops Island Flight Facility on Virginia’s Eastern Shore.
Feb 18, 2021
NASA’s independent Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel raised a number of concerns about the International Space Station Feb. 18 during its first quarterly meeting of 2021.
Feb 18, 2021
Perseverance is NASA’s fifth rover and ninth spacecraft to safely reach the surface of Mars.
Feb 18, 2021
BlackSky, a startup with a burgeoning constellation of imaging satellites and its own data analytics service, will become a publicly traded company.