Next year could see maiden launches of the Ariane 6 and Blue Origin's New Glenn follow the first orbital flight of SpaceX's Starship launcher, which is set for liftoff in January or February.
Boeing has decided to replace the service module that displayed multiple oxidizer isolation valve malfunctions while assigned to Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2), the second attempt by the company at an uncrewed CST-100 Starliner orbital flight to the International Space Station (ISS) under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
NASA’s small satellite Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) could provide a welcome, low-cost 2021 leap ahead in the agency’s efforts to return human explorers to the Moon.
Roscosmos Space Corp. launched a Proton-M heavy rocket with two Russian communication satellites from Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan at 7:07 a.m. on Dec. 13.
The six-seater New Shepard—flying with a full cabin for the first time—lifted off from Blue Origin’s spaceport near Van Horn, Texas, at 9 a.m. local time.
An additional friction stir welding facility in Thales Alenia Space’s Turin factory is helping meet increased demand from space station operators for pressurized modules.
The NASA Johnson Space Center’s (JSC) Rocket Park was named Dec.10 in honor of George W.S. Abbey, an early space agency stalwart who served as the center’s director from 1996 to 2001.
With efforts to troubleshoot an issue with a Space Launch System main engine controller ongoing, NASA is now targeting the rocket’s rollout to Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39B for mid-January—about two weeks later than previously planned—for a key prelaunch fueling test.
Tomorrow.io—the former ClimaCell weather services company that rebranded and announced a plan to launch and operate a constellation of relatively small satellites by 2022—will go public via a reverse merger with a special purpose acquisition company.
A new tool for astrophysicists to probe polarized X-ray light radiating from some of the highest energy objects in the universe is in orbit following an early morning launch by SpaceX from Kennedy Space Center.
The plan to begin production in the UK would likely mean the closure of OneWeb’s Florida-based facility which used automation to produce its first generation of satellites.
After a successful launch and 7-hr. ride into geosynchronous orbit, a long-awaited optical communications relay experiment, designed and financed by NASA, is in position to begin a technology demonstration in March.
Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina will fly to the International Space Station on the SpaceX Crew-5 mission next fall, Dmitry Rogozin, head of the Russian State Space Corp Roscosmos, announced on Dec. 8.
Mark Geyer, a former director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center who led the early development and initial test flight of the Orion crew capsule, died here Dec. 7 from pancreatic cancer.
ArianeGroup will develop a reusable mini-launcher for entry into service in 2026, Bruno Le Maire, French minister of economy and finance, announced Dec. 6.
NASA on Dec. 6 presented its 2021 class of new astronaut candidates, six men and four women chosen not only for their diverse professional skills but also their commitment to teamwork.
Safran on Dec. 6 said it has entered into exclusive discussions to acquire Orolia from majority shareholder Eurazeo alongside the company’s founders and management to expand its product line and local country footprints.
NASA said it intends to issue a sole-source modification to SpaceX’s Commercial Crew Transportation Capabilities contract that would enable the agency to purchase up to three more crew flights to the International Space Station.
Intuitive Machines (IM) has begun construction of a $40 million, 115,000-sq.-ft. lunar production and operations center at the Houston Spaceport to support plans to establish an annual cadence of commercial missions to the lunar surface.
