Northrop Grumman’s 15th Cygnus resupply mission spacecraft departed the International Space Station on June 29 filled with trash and prepared for an orbit-raising maneuver for five small satellite deployments prior to making a destructive re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean.
Three spacewalks in nine days did the trick, as astronauts succeeded in installing the second of the first two of six planned Roll Out Solar Arrays on the International Space Station to provide more electricity for science and technology activities as the orbital science lab ages.
Northrop Grumman has delivered the spacecraft bus to support the 2023 launch of a satellites that will demonstrate a military-only alternative to the Global Positioning System, according to the Air Force Research Laboratory.
Listen in as the president and CEO of the United Launch Alliance (ULA) discusses the company’s upcoming first launch of the new Vulcan rocket, the impact of the Space Force and the future of space transportation.
Estes Industries, famous among model rocket enthusiasts for the company’s solid propellant motors, has spun off a new company sporting lineage to Aurora Flight Sciences that aims to provide engineering support for larger launchers.
Congress can anticipate a detailed cost and schedule assessment for NASA’s efforts to return human explorers to the Moon under the Biden administration’s version of the Artemis initiative to establish a sustained human lunar presence and prepare for expeditions to Mars by the end of this year, agency Administrator Bill Nelson says.
The U.S. Space Development Agency is poised to send its first five small experimental satellites and payload on orbit, with the intent to validate space-based laser communications, battle management and target custody technology.
Procter and Gamble is working with NASA to develop a space version of its Tide detergent to clean the clothing and fabrics of astronauts assigned to future missions to the Moon and Mars that could double as a more environmentally friendly cleanser for use on Earth.
The European Space Agency and the European Commission on June 22 signed a long-sought financial framework partnership agreement for 2021-27, formalizing a relationship they intend to make tighter.
Xuntian will be similar to the Hubble Space Telescope but with a field of view 300 times larger, according to the director of the National Astronomical Observatories at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The U.S. Export-Import Bank on June 21 reported its first satellite-related export financing deal since 2015, backing SpaceX’s expected launch of Hispasat’s planned Amazonas Nexus satellite so that rival Arianespace did not win the business with European export credit agency support.
Intuitive Machines (IM), one of NASA’s early Commercial Lunar Services Payload Services providers, announced plans on June 21 to place a communications satellite in orbit around the Moon to provide a data link to Earth as part of its second lunar mission planned for late 2022.
During a 6.5-hr. spacewalk that concluded at 2:10 p.m. EDT on June 20, the European Space Agency’s Thomas Pesquet and NASA’s Shane Kimbrough overcame the hardware obstructions that had prevented them from finishing their task four days earlier.
Debate about whether UFOs existed – and the Pentagon was covering up their existence -- was covered extensively in Aviation Week & Space Technology more than 50 years ago. And our reporting had a decidedly anti-extra-terrestrial bent.
Former space shuttle commander and retired U.S. Air Force Col. Pamela Melroy was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to become the deputy administrator of NASA, serving alongside NASA chief Bill Nelson.
The inaugural flight of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket is slipping to 2022 to allow more time for its customer, Astrobotic, to prepare its Peregrine lunar lander for launch.
