BERLIN — Commercial satellite imagery provider GeoEye is proposing to buy competitor DigitalGlobe in a $792 million deal that would create the largest fleet of high-resolution imaging satellites in the world. The two companies have been in merger talks for several months, but negotiations recently broke down, GeoEye CEO and President Matt O’Connell told investors and reporters during a May 4 teleconference call.

China specialists contend that conflict with the U.S. is inevitable and that space- and cyber-supremacy, at least for limited periods, will be deciding factors in a confrontation if a Chinese attack is unexpected, short in duration and quick in resolution.

Engineers on Boeing’s CST-100 commercial crew vehicle project are turning their attention to a forward heat shield jettison test and a hot fire of the capsule’s orbital maneuvering/attitude control engines.

AEHF SCRUB: The U.S. Air Force scrubbed an attempt to launch the second Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF-2) secure communications satellite on May 3 due to a lack of helium flow from ground support equipment into the Interstage Adapter compartment on the Atlas V rocket. Launch provider United Launch Alliance and the Air Force plan another attempt to lift off from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., on May 4 during a two-hour window that opens at 2:42 p.m. EDT.

NASA will contract with Boeing for an interim cryogenic propulsion stage to power at least the first two flights of its planned heavy-lift Space Launch System.

A bid by SpaceX to carry out the first U.S. commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) is unlikely to lift off May 7, the latest target launch date, according to the company. “SpaceX is continuing to work through the software assurance process with NASA,” according to a May 2 update from company spokeswoman Kirsten Brost Grantham. Earlier, the company slipped a planned April 30 liftoff to allow more time to work software flight-control issues for the planned 18-day test mission.

HOUSTON — Spaceflight brings a whole new meaning to dressing for success. An astronaut’s garments must be functional, yet as comfortable as possible, whether the flier is sealed inside a spacecraft or on a spacewalk. As NASA envisions a future of deep-space exploration and missions stretching from months to years, the list of wardrobe requirements soars as well.

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