Space

By Garrett Reim
Commercial technology is catching up with military hardware.
Commercial Space

By Garrett Reim
The Space Development Agency (SDA) has issued a call for proposals for a company to demonstrate laser communications from its Tranche 0 Transport Layer to a laser communications-equipped aircraft “as soon as practical.”
Space

By Graham Warwick
Embraer’s urban air mobility spinoff Eve Holding saw cash burn accelerate in the first half of 2022 as it increased research and development (R&D) spending on its electric vertical takeoff and landing air taxi and urban air traffic management program.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Chen Chuanren
China sent a secretive reusable space vehicle into orbit on Aug.4 from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, making it the third known mission of such a spacecraft.
Space

By Brian Everstine
The recent launch of a National Reconnaissance Office payload aboard a Rocket Lab Electron in New Zealand and the upcoming launch of another spy satellite from a Virgin LauncherOne in the UK is the “new norm” for the office as it looks to proliferate its architecture, the NRO’s director says.
Space

Russia’s Roscosmos Corp. will launch Iran’s Khayam Earth remote sensing satellite on Aug. 9 atop a Soyuz 2.1b medium-lift rocket.
Space

By Joe Anselmo, Jen DiMascio
Our roundup of the main aerospace and defense stories making the news this week.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Garrett Reim
Blue Canyon Technologies has opened a new cubesat factory in Boulder, Colorado, that will increase its annual production capacity from 50 to 85 satellites.
Commercial Space

By Garrett Reim
Xona Space Systems has received an undisclosed investment from Lockheed Martin Ventures to fund development of a private low Earth orbit global navigation satellite system.
Commercial Space

By Brian Everstine
The U.S. Air Force will buy SpaceX’s Starlink low Earth orbit satellite internet service to aid airlift operations in Africa and Europe, saying in a justification document that Starlink is the only provider currently able to provide service in Africa and has proven its ability to function in a combat zone.
Space

By Irene Klotz
A Rocket Lab Electron booster delivered a classified U.S. and Australian spacecraft into low Earth orbit on Aug. 4, the second of two missions contracted under a National Reconnaissance Office’s Rapid Acquisition of a Small Rocket contract.
Space

By Mark Carreau
Blue Origin’s sixth crewed New Shepard suborbital mission took off early Aug. 4 from the company’s flight operations center in West Texas.
Commercial Space

By Mark Carreau
After months of troubleshooting, NASA and its partners have succeeded in sufficiently unfolding a circular solar array that failed to fully deploy following the Oct. 16, 2021, launch of the Lucy asteroid probe.
Space

By Garrett Reim
Momentus’s Vigoride-3 deployed four additional satellites to low Earth orbit in July as the company works through anomalies discovered shortly after launching the space tug in May.
Commercial Space

By Irene Klotz
NASA is on track to complete work on its first Space Launch System rocket and roll the vehicle out to Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39B on Aug. 18 ahead of liftoff on the Artemis I flight test.
Space

By Jen DiMascio
The acquisitions mean Slingshot will be able to offer satellite operators a better understanding of the growing number of objects on orbit and other threats.
Commercial Space

By Brian Everstine
The Space Rapid Capabilities Office uses independence and contracting leeway to deliver classified projects quickly.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Brian Everstine
The Air Force Research Laboratory’s upcoming demonstration includes new solar panels, deployable structures, cooling systems.
Space

By Irene Klotz
As a backup plan, rotorcraft will retrieve sample tubes for the return trip to Earth.
Space

By Mark Carreau
NASA is updating requirements for future private astronaut missions to the International Space Station based on some lessons learned from the pioneering 17-day Axiom Space-1 mission to the orbital science lab flown in April.
Commercial Space

By Brian Everstine
The U.S. Space Force wants to know what the space domain awareness software tracking capabilities industry can provide as it looks to phase out multiple old systems at many operating locations that serve the SDA mission.
Space

The first of two Blue Origin BE-4 engines earmarked for the debut flight of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket arrived at the manufacturer’s West Texas facility on July 31 for acceptance testing.
Commercial Space

By Brian Everstine
The U.S. Space Force is set to complete its Space-Based Infrared System missile detection and missile warning constellation this week with the launch of GEO-6 set for Aug. 4.
Space

By Mark Carreau
The recent release of the first science imagery from the James Webb Space Telescope provided a spectacular hint of what is to come from the challenging space observatory—dramatic new imagery and scientific insight into the formation of the first stars and galaxies.
Space

Aviation Week Staff
New chief of Roscosmos says decision made to leave ISS after 2024.
Space