Firefly Aerospace is on track for the first flight test of its Alpha launch vehicle, a two-stage, liquid-oxygen-and-kerosene-fueled booster designed to carry 2,205 lb. to low Earth orbit.
The Federal Aviation Administration said it is investigating a deviation in the flightpath cleared for the descent of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo Unity to Spaceport America in New Mexico, following its suborbital flight with Richard Branson and five employees aboard on July 11.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and local members of Congress spoke to the crew aboard the International Space Station Sept. 2, discussing the ISS and the agency’s efforts to return to the Moon.
Just weeks after announcing a successful demonstration of their combined products and services for U.S. military and intelligence customers, big-data analytics disruptor Palantir Technologies said it will invest in BlackSky, a startup with a burgeoning constellation of imaging satellites and its own data analytics service.
Japan’s SoftBank and its subsidiary HAPSMobile are developing new high-capacity communications systems as they prepare to launch commercial services providing connectivity from the stratosphere using long-endurance unmanned aircraft.
Former GE Aviation chief David Joyce is joining Boeing’s board of directors, while Navy Adm. (ret.) Ed Giambastiani Jr. will leave at the end of the year, the company announced Aug. 31.
The Space Development Agency (SDA) is looking for bids to build about 150 satellites to support the military in high-end regional conflicts, with plans to begin launches in late fiscal 2024.
Landsat 9, the joint Earth-observation satellite from NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey, promises to accelerate the pace of high-data, global snapshots of the planet’s varied land masses, oceans and glacial response to climate change.
The tests should validate launchpad infrastructure, evaluate countdown procedures and train the launch team in advance of the inaugural Vulcan mission in 2022.
Launch of the Landsat 9 spacecraft, a joint project of NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey, is being delayed a week due to a pandemic-related supply issue.
Fledging small satellite launch provider Astra Space once again failed to reach orbit, but the booster managed 2 1/2 min. of flight time despite losing an engine less than 1 sec. after liftoff from Alaska’s Kodiak Island.
Australia’s fledgling space industry is attracting investment, with on-orbit inspection startup HEO Robotics completing a seed funding round led by British billionaire David Harding, founder and CEO of investment management company Winton Group.
NASA’s Space Launch System and Orion are big-government programs trying to keep pace in a marketplace increasingly dominated by commercial industry, meanwhile, the U.S. military is looking to build bridges to international partners, that same commercial industry and to the intelligence community.
Sierra Space is in discussions with the European Space Agency and German aerospace center DLR to extend existing partnerships covering crew access to the International Space Station to include new commercial vehicles.
U.S. Space Force, Space Command and the National Reconnaissance Office have signed a “protected defense” strategic framework to align their space warfighting efforts.
