BEIJING — China’s main rocket engine maker appears to have begun deliveries of production-standard YF-100 engines, the key powerplants for the forthcoming Long March 5, 6 and 7 launchers. A propulsion system for the Long March 5 heavy launcher, comprising two main engines and two auxiliary thrusters, was “recently” delivered by the Academy of Aerospace Propulsion Technology (AAPT) — also known as the 6th Academy — according to its parent, the national space group China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC).

The FAA will prepare an environmental impact statement for a SpaceX commercial launch complex in Brownsville, Texas.

Spurred by reports that LightSquared is considering bankruptcy, two lawmakers are hoping the government can recover the cost of testing the company’s proposed 4G communications network for interference with GPS.

ANOTHER TRY: Cobham has launched a hostile takeover bid for satellite communications equipment maker Thrane & Thrane after an initial offer was rebuffed by the Danish company. Cobham bid £270 million ($428 million) for outstanding shares in Thrane & Thrane after bringing its own holdings to 25.6%. The move comes after Cobham withdrew an earlier bid last month, after Thrane & Thrane rejected it. Since then, Cobham has acquired shares from Jupiter Asset Management and other entities that represent 22.7% of the Danish company’s shares.

NEW DELHI — The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has signed a contract to launch the Spot-6 satellite for France-based EADS Astrium. The agency says Spot-6 will be launched onboard ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) during the second half of 2012. The PSLV, in its “core alone” configuration, will carry other payloads as well.

NASA’s scientifically productive and publicly popular Kepler mission, launched three years ago to seek evidence for Earth-like planets in the habitable zones of stars in the Milky Way galaxy, was one of nine maturing astrophysics programs that won endorsement for an extension this week, following an agency sponsored Senior Review Committee evaluation.

KEPLER EXTENDED: NASA has approved the Kepler planet-finding mission for an extension through fiscal 2016, following a senior-level agency review of operational astrophysics missions. The extension provides four additional years for the probe to look for Earth-sized planets in the habitable zone­ around their parent stars. “Kepler has revolutionized our understanding of exoplanets and the study of stellar seismology and variability,” says Roger Hunter, Kepler project manager at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif.

HOUSTON — U.S. astronauts aboard the International Space Station have begun an upgrade of the air-to-ground communications system to support a substantial increase in simultaneous science research, including a doubling of the downlink data rate, solid-state recording and additional voice loops.