Universal rocket modules for the Angara A5 heavy launch vehicle have been sent by train to the Plesetsk military spaceport in preparation for the rocket family's first liftoff since 2014.
The board will assess the joint effort with the European Space Agency to retrieve and return to Earth samples of rock cores drilled and preserved by the Perseverance Mars 2020 rover.
Following their successful Demo-2 test flight, NASA and SpaceX are targeting no earlier than Oct. 23 for the first operational commercial launch of astronauts to the International Space Station.
An Ariane 5 rocket carrying the second Northrop Grumman Mission Extension Vehicle along with U.S. and Japanese telecommunications satellites successfully lifted off from Kourou, French Guiana, late Aug. 15.
Northrop Grumman on Aug. 13 conducted the first ground test of an extended-length solid rocket motor it is developing with United Launch Alliance for the Vulcan Centaur rocket at Northrop’s facility in Promontary, Utah.
An investigation into an incident that damaged the National Science Foundation (NSF) Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico was continuing Aug.14, focusing on the cause and cost of repairs.
As the U.S. Space Force determines how to organize acquisition, the Space Rapid Capabilities Office must remain independent with a direct line to the chief to stay on the cutting edge, according to the office’s director.
NASA’s Osiris-Rex sample return mission spacecraft is on a path to execute a brief landing on the rocky surface of the asteroid Bennu on Oct. 20 following a successful second rehearsal of the steps necessary to execute the descent and ascent earlier this week, according to the mission team.
Initial data from NASA’s Osiris-Rex mission spacecraft indicate the probe successfully left its low orbit over the asteroid Bennu on Aug. 11 to carry out a 4 1/2-hr. second close-approach rehearsal in preparation for a brief landing to gather surface material for return to Earth.
Operations at Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico have been suspended after the telescope’s reflector dish was damaged by a snapped cable, the University of Central Florida (UCF), which co-manages the National Science Foundation facility, said on Aug. 11.
About eight months after its founding, the U.S. Space Force has released initial guiding principles in the form of a space capstone publication describing space power as a separate and distinct form of military power.
The Texas-sized dwarf planet Ceres may be among the smallest Solar System bodies with evidence of potential habitable environments, according to a collection of seven new complementary scientific studies.
The U.S. national security space agencies will remain with incumbents United Launch Alliance and SpaceX for medium and heavy-lift launch services over the next five years
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Kennedy Space Center on Aug. 7 carrying 57 new Starlink broadband satellites—all outfitted with visors to cut Sun glint that interferes with astronomical observations—and two BlackSky Global imaging satellites.
As the push to return to deep-space exploration becomes more international and commercial, so too do concerns over norms of behavior among those who venture beyond Earth’s orbit.
