The sample container that descended into Australia to conclude a six-year roundtrip mission by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Hayabusa 2 mission to the asteroid Ryugu has arrived in Japan.
The NASA astronauts assigned to Artemis III, the first mission to return human explorers to the Moon, should be trained, equipped and supported to carry out a far-reaching science agenda, a new report says.
The Federal Communications Commission on Dec. 7 selected 180 companies to participate in the first phase of an ambitious project to bring high-speed internet to rural communities in the U.S.
The first cargo version of SpaceX’s upgraded Dragon capsule carried out a successful automated docking with the seven-person International Space Station on Dec. 7, delivering a more than 6,400-lb. cargo of crew supplies as well as new science and technology.
An upgraded SpaceX cargo Dragon 2 capsule reached orbit on Dec. 6 with 3.2 tons of equipment and supplies for the International Space Station (ISS), including a new commercially owned and operated airlock module.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) successfully recovered the small Hayabusa 2 asteroid sample return capsule in the remote Woomera region of Australia.
NASA has awarded four companies contracts to collect samples of lunar regolith, then transfer ownership to the agency, not for return to Earth necessarily but to expand the legal and regulatory framework for commercial space activities on the Moon and beyond.
Whether Puerto Rico’s venerable Arecibo Observatory will be replaced after being heavily damaged by multiple support cable failures rests in the hands of Congress and the space science community, according to Ralph Gaume, director of the National Science Foundation’s astronomical sciences division.
Aspiring small satellite launch service and logistics provider Aevum has unveiled an 80-ft.-long, 60-ft. wingspan unmanned aircraft system to serve as the reusable first stage of a three-stage, autonomous launch system that aims to cut costs and dramatically reduce the time needed to plan and execute missions.
The European Investment Bank, the long-term lending institution of the European Union, announced Dec. 3 that it could invest up to €20 million ($24.3 million) in Spire Global, a Luxembourg-registered nanosatellite operator for cloud-enabled data analytics, marking the European institution’s first direct new-space venture.
Axiom Space, selected by NASA to berth the first element of an eventual commercial low Earth orbit-crewed free flyer at the International Space Station (ISS) in 2024, has significantly upgraded the architecture of its planned Axiom Station, providing an initial four-person crew capability.
The Russian defense ministry launched a Soyuz-2.1b medium-class vehicle with a Fregat third-stage booster from its spaceport Plesetsk in northern Russia on Dec. 3, orbiting three Gonetz-M communication satellites and the ERA-1 military nanosatellite, Roscosmos State Corp. said.
The European Space Agency (ESA) has signed an €86 million ($100 million) contract with an industrial team led by Swiss start-up company ClearSpace for the provision of a debris removal service.
Days after unveiling plans to decommission and dismantle the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, the National Science Foundation announced a third wave of damage, the Dec. 1 collapse of the suspended 900-ton instrument platform.
After years of discussions, Canada’s Telesat and Loral Space & Communications will combine to form a new publicly traded Canadian company called Telesat Corp., the companies announced.
Virgin Orbit will make a second attempt to reach orbit with the air-dropped LauncherOne small satellite rocket on Dec. 19, with backup launch windows available later in the month in the event of a delay.
