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.
The target launch of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner commercial space taxi on a second flight test is being delayed from March 25 to April 2 to complete replacement and testing of avionics boxes following a power surge at Starliner’s Kennedy Space Center processing facility.
Launch services provider Spaceflight Inc. has purchased NewSpace India Ltd.’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle to launch Spaceflight’s largest spacecraft to date at the end of February from Sriharikota, India.
NASA is targeting Feb. 25 for a second attempt at a 485-sec., full-duration “hot fire” of the Space Launch System’s four core-stage RS-25 liquid-hydrogen and oxygen-fueled rocket engines at Stennis Space Center.
An uncrewed Russian Progress MS-16 resupply ship successfully docked with the International Space Station Feb. 17 at 1:27 a.m. EST, delivering 2.5 tons of various supplies.
Raytheon Technologies is registering concerns over Lockheed Martin’s proposed acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne (AJR) due to continuing consolidation in rocket and missile propulsion providers, the chief executive of Raytheon told an analysts conference Feb. 17.
SpaceX delivered 60 more of its Starlink broadband satellites into orbit on Feb. 16 though it lost the first stage booster during a failed landing attempt, breaking its string of 24 successful touchdowns.
NASA has assigned two of its astronauts to the SpaceX Crew Dragon-4 mission to the International Space Station, planned for a date yet to be set in 2022.
Two co-founders of Slingshot Aerospace, a startup that aimed to provide data analytics from airborne and space-based platforms, are swapping the CEO title while the company consolidates its business plan around its Slingshot Orbital space traffic control product.
If NASA hopes to mount a human expedition to Mars by 2039 using nuclear in-space propulsion, it must make significant decisions linked to the architecture and funding this year, according to an independent assessment requested by the agency.
As it proceeds with the largely in-house development of a third-generation spacesuit, NASA plans to turn to a commercial provider once it has evaluated the prototype garment aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and carried out Artemis III, a return to the Moon’s surface with humans.
China’s Tianwen-1 mother ship arrived in Martian orbit on Feb. 10, setting the stage for a multi-spacecraft exploration initiative during the country’s first visit to the red planet.
The U.S. Space Force is looking to industry for a tactically responsive launch provider for two future missions and set a cost cap of $7.5 million for each launch.
Newly formed Karman Missile & Space Systems, a large pure-play supplier for the space, missile, interceptor and hypersonic markets, is bulking up just weeks into its existence with the acquisition of AAE Aerospace, a manufacturer of high-temperature composites for the missile, interceptor, and space sectors.
After a shaky 2020, the outlook for space from government and commercial perspectives looks more favorable, though not without notable challenges, a lineup of experienced players from the two sectors say.
