Space

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) ninth resupply mission completed a 4-ton cargo delivery to the International Space Station (ISS) early May 25.

In an exclusive interview with Aviation Week Space Editor Irene Klotz, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk discusses the riskiest part of the upcoming NASA Commercial Crew Demo-2 launch, the need to further reduce launch costs and the prospects for the Starlink internet service project.

Here is a look at the company’s milestones from its 2002 founding to the eve of the manned Crew Dragon launch.

Ask the Editors: The global space economy is projected to exceed $1.1 trillion by 2040, but it is unclear how COVID-19 will affect that.

SpaceX is looking to shave development time for Starship crewed flights to less than half of the six years it has taken to get the Falcon 9-Dragon system ready to fly people for the first time.

Space company Virgin Orbit is reviewing telemetry data from the first LauncherOne launch vehicle orbital test flight attempt, which was terminated after an anomaly occurred shortly after launch May 25.

When Vice President Pence told NASA to land astronauts on the Moon by 2024 “by any means possible,” he may have opened a Pandora’s box.

Work on SpaceX’s prototype Starship spacecraft has eased up while the company focuses on launching its first people into orbit, says CEO Elon Musk.

NASA completed a two-day Flight Readiness Review (FRR) for the Demo-2 test mission, confirming a launch attempt on May 27 for SpaceX’s first human spaceflight and NASA’s first launch of astronauts on a U.S. system since 2011.

The Space Force is moving forward in its effort to unify the Pentagon’s architecture for missile defense.

The U.S. Air Force has submitted a report to Congress on an alternative acquisition system for the Space Force.

Launch service companies could be given the discretion to decide the optimal launch plan to support the 30 satellites in Tranche 0 of the Space Development Agency’s future military surveillance and communications architecture in low Earth orbit, the agency said May 20.

NASA’s Osiris-Rex asteroid sample return mission team is relaxing previous plans to descend to the surface of its target, called Bennu, to gather surface pebbles and soil for return to Earth, in part due to work constraints imposed by the coronavirus pandemic.

British satellite launcher firm Skyrora has undertaken a full static fire test of its Skylark-L rocket, the first test of this scale since the UK’s Black Arrow program 50 years ago.

LONDON—Four UK space companies have teamed up to form a consortium to secure roles in British government programs as the country looks to grow its presence in space.

Four launches will reduce risk for key technologies behind DARPA’s Blackjack autonomous LEO constellation demonstration.

NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley landed at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 20 for final preparations ahead of launch next week to test SpaceX’s Crew Dragon system.

NASA has renamed its struggling Wide Field Infrared Space Telescope in honor of the late Nancy Grace Roman, a longtime pioneering woman astronomer sometimes referred to as the “Mother of Hubble.”

Boeing, which was shut out of nearly $1 billion of NASA funding to develop human-class lunar landers, said it does not plan to protest the awards, which went to teams led by Blue Origin, Dynetics and SpaceX.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s ninth resupply mission was on course to reach the three-person International Space Station (ISS) early May 25 following a May 20 liftoff from the Tanegashima Space Center.

The U.S. Commerce Department on May 19 released a long-awaited new rule for the export of remote sensing services.

The concept of planetary protection—the prevention of life forms on other planets from infecting Earth and preventing terrestrial life forms from contaminating other worlds—has a long history.

U.S. proposal extends and expands guidelines for cooperation on lunar missions and beyond.

Two days before he was to chair the Flight Readiness Review for the SpaceX Demo-2 mission, marking the return of U.S. human orbital flight capability, NASA Associate Administrator Douglas Loverro is leaving the agency.

NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility began a reopening May 18 for some mission-critical activities due to a decrease in COVID-19 illness reported in the New Orleans area.