NASA’s Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer, or SPHEREx, space telescope has completed its Phase C preliminary design review, clearing the way for detailed design work as well as hardware and software development.
FAA and NASA have pledged to coordinate their standards and to work together on commercial space launch and re-entry, point-to-point suborbital transportation, spaceports, airspace design and a host of other issues now that the era of commercially licensed human spaceflight has begun.
Virgin Orbit will make a second attempt to reach orbit with the LauncherOne small satellite rocket on Jan. 13, with backup launch windows available later in the month in the event of a delay.
Following its record-setting 26 launches in 2020, SpaceX kicked off the new year with delivery of the Turksat 5A broadband satellite into orbit on Jan. 7.
Arianespace is willing to operate microlaunchers if the opportunity arises, either as a way to meet demand or as proof of concepts for heavier launchers, CEO Stephane Israel said.
A new bipartisan authorization bill is critical to NASA’s path forward under the Joe Biden administration, according to former U.S. Rep. Kendra Horn, the Oklahoma Democrat who chaired the U.S. House space and aeronautics subcommittee until her re-election defeat and the swearing in of a new Congress earlier this week.
NASA Associate Administrator Stephen Jurczyk, the agency’s highest-ranking civil servant, will take on the role of acting administrator following the departure of NASA chief Jim Bridenstine on Jan. 20.
Virgin Galactic has completed post-flight inspections and root cause analysis of last month’s thwarted suborbital flight test of SpaceShipTwo, the company said on Jan. 7.
Satisfied with the Space Launch System’s recent Wet Dress Rehearsal, NASA is looking to conduct the first simultaneous ground test firing of the heavy rocket’s four RS-25 engines as early as Jan. 17.
Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus resupply spacecraft was unberthed from the International Space Station on Jan. 6 to begin the three-week, free-flight phase of its lengthy mission.
The European Commission (EC) has launched a feasibility study for an EU-owned, space-based communication system that would use quantum technology for secure connectivity.
The U.S. Space Force has awarded Lockheed Martin a $4.9 billion undefinitized contract modification to build three geosynchronous Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared satellites.
NASA will invest nearly $110 million in a pair of solar science missions, one teaming the agency with the Japanese and European space agencies to study eruptive solar activity and another assessing electrical currents within the Earth’s atmosphere linked to auroral activity.
The White House has issued an interagency strategy for protecting the Earth and other planetary bodies from cross contamination of potentially harmful biological entities.
Arianespace has successfully delivered the French CSO-2 Earth observation satellite into Sun-synchronous orbit aboard a Russian-built Soyuz ST-A medium-lift launch vehicle.
Denver-based Voyager Space Holdings, Inc. plans to acquire a majority stake in XO Markets and its largest subsidiary, Houston-based Nanoracks, which earlier this month launched the commercial Bishop airlock to the International Space Station.
The decision late Dec. 22 by the U.S. Government Accountability Office blocks Raytheon’s repeated attempts to force the SDA to start over by issuing a new request for proposals.
