The European Space Agency (ESA) has delayed the April launch of its fourth Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV-4) to the International Space Station (ISS) as it tests a replacement component on the cargo vessel’s Integrated Cargo Carrier (ICC). Previously slated to launch April 18, the Astrium-built ATV-4 was delivered in September to the European Spaceport at Kourou, French Guiana, where it is undergoing final integration and test prior to the mission. It is the fourth of five ATVs slated to launch to the ISS between 2008 and 2014.

Raises questions about Antares rocket scheduled to fly to ISS

Often faulted for failing to meet science project cost and schedule targets, NASA seems to be following an effective strategy with the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Project, or Maven. The $453 million mission, scheduled for launch Nov. 18, will study climate-influencing changes in the Martian upper atmosphere. If the mission is successful, Maven’s development could become a case study for other science mission projects, according to NASA’s inspector general (IG).

NASA’s Space Technology Program, upgraded this week into a full-fledged mission directorate at the agency’s headquarters, is funding development of an electric-thruster technology that holds promise both in propulsion for tiny cubesats and as a lightweight replacement for attitude-control and in-space propulsion systems on larger spacecraft.

Marks major milestone for the Mars Science Laboratory project

Nearly 3-hr. loss was triggered by an onboard computer process

MIND THE GAPS: Congressional auditors in Washington who have been keeping a running tally of the government’s highest-risk programs since 1990 have now added the need to mitigate gaps in federal weather satellite data to their list. “We and others ... have raised concerns that problems and delays on environmental satellite acquisition programs will result in gaps in the continuity of critical satellite data used in weather forecasts and warnings,” the Government Accountability Office said Feb. 14.

NASA’s topline budget would be reduced by $726.7 million