Space

By Mark Carreau
Northrop Grumman’s 17th NASA-contracted resupply capsule rendezvoused with the International Space Station early Feb. 21.
Space

By Mark Carreau
Working on behalf of NASA, crowdsourcing veterans HeroX and DrivenData have announced a new competition, “Mars Spectrometry: Detect Evidence for Past Life.”
Space

By Mark Carreau
Northrop Grumman’s 17th NASA-contracted Cygnus resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) is set for a Feb. 19 launch from the agency’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, to deliver 8,300 lb. of cargo and perform the first station orbit-boosting to use U.S. hardware.
Space

By Graham Warwick
Astroscale has resumed its ELSA-d mission to demonstrate active debris removal in low Earth orbit.
Commercial Space

By Michael Bruno
Space tourist company Virgin Galactic, whose stock price has been on a proverbial roller coaster in recent months, said Feb. 18 that Chamath Palihapitiya is no longer chairman of the board or even a member.
Commercial Space

By Graham Warwick
Our roundup of the main aerospace and defense stories making the news this week.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Irene Klotz
Blue Origin plans to introduce a second New Shepard capsule and booster for passenger flights from West Texas this year, CEO Bob Smith said.
Commercial Space

By Bill Carey
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is seeking information from satellite tracking companies about data products and services they could provide to support a repository of satellite information.
Space

By Michael Bruno
Max Polyakov, a Ukrainian co-founder of launch company Firefly Aerospace, said he handed off his majority stake in the startup to co-founder and CEO Tom Markusik under pressure from U.S. officials.
Commercial Space

By Mark Carreau
Russia’s MS-19 Progress resupply capsule successfully docked with the seven-person International Space Station early Feb. 17, completing the delivery of a nearly 3-ton cargo, including food, water, propellant and other supplies and research equipment.
Space

By Mark Carreau
SpaceLink, of McLean, Virginia, has selected Houston-based commercial space station developer Axiom Space to demonstrate an end-to-end optical communications relay service for the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, which manages the U.S. National Laboratory elements of the International Space Station.
Commercial Space

By Jen DiMascio
Orbital Sidekick has validated an upgrade to its existing hyperspectral satellite sensors and is announcing an investment by national security startup seed funder In-Q-Tel.
Commercial Space

By Irene Klotz
The FAA is spearheading an environmental review of SpaceX’s Boca Chica Beach spaceport in Texas.
Space

By Irene Klotz
The kickoff mission, slated for late 2022, includes first-ever civilian spacewalk.
Space

By Irene Klotz
After a successful launch and deployment came a satellite-killing solar storm.
Commercial Space

By Mark Carreau
Former NASA shuttle-era astronauts David Leestma, Sandra Magnus and Chris Ferguson will be formally inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame on June 10, the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation says.
Space

By Mark Carreau
NASA is prepared to invest up to $200 million to work with commercial partners focused on advancing technologies for the Moon and near Earth space.
Space

By Mark Carreau
Russia’s Progress MS-19 resupply capsule was on course for a Feb. 17 automated docking with the International Space Station following launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan carrying almost 3 tons of food, water, propellant and other supplies.
Space

By Irene Klotz
After a year’s hiatus, the Indian Space Research Organization returned its workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle into service, sending an Earth-observation satellite and two small satellite rideshares into low Earth orbit.
Space

By Irene Klotz
Jared Isaacman, the billionaire entrepreneur who financed and commanded Inspiration4, SpaceX’s first private charter, plans a new venture with SpaceX for up to three more missions, culminating with the first crewed flight of the company’s Starship transport.
Commercial Space

By Mark Carreau
All 18 segments of the James Webb Space Telescope’s (JWST) large primary mirror have gathered their first photons from a target star, a major milestone in the months-long process of aligning the light-gathering elements of the space observatory to begin its mission of studying the first stars and galaxies.
Space

By Bill Carey
Officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration expect that a data repository of satellites will be operational by 2024, providing U.S. government agencies and commercial space companies with a resource to prevent potential collisions as the number of spacecraft in orbit grows exponentially.
Commercial Space

By Mark Carreau
NASA has selected a pair of heliophysics missions for development that are intended to provide a better understanding of solar dynamics, the Sun/Earth connection and the changing space environment.
Space

By Irene Klotz
Platform and space tug planned for Earth-Moon Lagrange Point 1.
Commercial Space

By Jen DiMascio
An inflight anomaly prevented an Astra Space rocket from delivering four small research satellites to orbit, according to NASA.
Commercial Space