Space

In a memo Oct. 29, Deputy Secretary of Defense David Norquist said the new position will be filled by Justin Johnson, the acting deputy assistant secretary of defense for space policy.  WASHINGTON — The Defense Department announced Oct. 30 it has established the office of the assistant secretary of defense for space policy, a new

WASHINGTON — The commercial space industry hopes to continue recent progress in regulatory reform even if there is a new president or a change in party control in Congress after the election. The last six months have seen two major milestones in government regulation of commercial space activities: the publication of revised commercial remote sensing

WASHINGTON — NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has secured material it collected from the asteroid Bennu into a sample return capsule, a process the mission accelerated after images showed material leaking into space. At an Oct. 29 briefing, project officials said they had stowed a sample collection device called the Touch-And-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) into a

U.S. investment in commercial geoint has been relatively flat over the last five years WASHINGTON — A new study by the MITRE Corp. says the U.S. commercial geospatial intelligence industry is being outpaced by foreign competitors and the U.S. government could do more to help. U.S. investment in commercial geoint has been relatively flat over

SAN FRANCISCO – Finnish radar satellite operator Iceye announced Oct. 29 that Jerry Welsh, Iceye chief operating officer and chief financial officer, is taking the helm of Iceye US as the company prepares to begin manufacturing satellites in the United States. “We are now focused on moving to the next phase, which includes making a

WASHINGTON — A Rocket Lab Electron rocket successfully placed 10 satellites into orbit for two customers who lost payloads on a launch failure earlier this year. The Electron rocket lifted off from the company’s launch site on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula at 5:21 p.m. Eastern Oct. 28. The rocket’s kick stage deployed its payload of

Barrett: Over the past several months “there’s been a big mindset change.” WASHINGTON — The Space Force has been the subject of snark since it was first proposed. But the naysayers are coming around, Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett said Oct. 28. “A year ago Space Force was an idea that was mocked,” Barrett said

Air Force Col. Michael “Hopper” Hopkins, commander of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission, will be commissioned into the U.S. Space Force. WASHINGTON — NASA astronaut Michael Hopkins, a U.S. Air Force colonel and the commander of the upcoming SpaceX Crew Dragon mission, is transferring to the U.S. Space Force and is expected to be commissioned aboard

SAN FRANCISCO — The Federal Communications Commission approved the creation Oct. 27 of a 5G Fund for Rural America to distribute as much as $9 billion over the next decade to extend 5G wireless broadband connectivity to rural communities. The FCC plans to distribute the funds through a series of reverse auctions. During the first

SAN FRANCISCO – The Aerospace Corp. is calling for the U.S. government to work with industry and international partners to develop space solar power technologies. The concept of space solar power “evolved over a very long time and is probably a couple of generations away from being hooked into the terrestrial power grid,” James Vedda,

WASHINGTON — NorthStar Earth and Space, a Canadian company planning a satellite constellation to track other satellites, has selected Thales Alenia Space to build its first satellites. Montréal-based NorthStar announced Oct. 27 that Thales will build its first three Skylark satellites, working in conjunction with LeoStella, its smallsat manufacturing joint venture with BlackSky. The satellites,

The $10 million five-year contract is for professional services for the Peterson-Schriever Garrison in Colorado Springs. WASHINGTON — Peraton received a $10 million five-year contract extension from the U.S. Space Force for orbital analysis services, the company announced Oct. 26.  The contract is for professional services for the Peterson-Schriever Garrison, a Space Force unit in

HELSINKI — China launched a seventh group of Yaogan-30 reconnaissance satellites Oct. 26, marking the country’s 31st launch of 2020. A Long March 2C rocket lifted off from LC-3 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 11:19 a.m. Eastern Monday carrying three Yaogan satellites and one smaller commercial payload. The China Aerospace Science and Technology

Tranche 1 is envisioned to have about 100 to 150 space vehicles, developed and manufactured by multiple vendors. WASHINGTON — The Space Development Agency in recent months acquired 28 satellites that it plans to launch in 2022. It is now preparing for its next big procurement of up to 150 satellites to be launched in

WASHINGTON — More than two years after Lockheed Martin announced it would be one of the first customers of a proposed spaceport in Scotland, the company has decided to move to another proposed spaceport there. The U.K. Space Agency announced Oct. 22 that it backed a proposal by the company to shift its planned U.K.

SAN FRANCISCO – An international consortium plans to launch a hyperspectral camera built by South Africa’s Dragonfly Aerospace on a NanoAvionics rideshare mission scheduled to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in 2021. The mission, called HyperActive, is designed to demonstrate the performance of Dragonfly’s miniature hyperspectral imager plus a high-gain X-band antenna and

WASHINGTON — SpaceX launched another set of Starlink satellites Oct. 24, marking the 100th time the company has placed payloads into orbit. The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 11:31 a.m. Eastern. The rocket’s upper stage deployed the payload of 60 Starlink satellites into

WASHINGTON — Intelsat rejected a $1.8 billion claim filed by SES regarding the breakup of the C-Band Alliance, arguing instead that SES’s action cost Intelsat more than $1.6 billion in potential C-band clearing payments. SES filed the claim in July in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, where Intelsat filed for Chapter

WASHINGTON — Axiom Space hopes to soon finalize its first commercial mission to the International Space Station, scheduled for late 2021, as it continues development of a commercial module for the station. During a panel discussion at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) Oct. 13, Michael Suffredini, president and chief executive of Axiom Space, said his

WASHINGTON — NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft collected so much material from the surface of the asteroid Bennu that the lid of its sampling head is jammed open, causing material to leak out and changing the agency’s plans for the mission. At a media briefing called by NASA on short notice Oct. 23, three days after the

HELSINKI — Two young Chinese rocket have secured deals with local governments for the establishment of major launch vehicle research and production facilities.  The agreements made in September demonstrate ongoing and deepening support of commercial space endeavors by Chinese provincial and local governments. Beijing-based Galactic Energy will construct a base in Jianyang, a county-level city

SAN FRANCISCO — Two years after acquiring mobile satellite services provider Thuraya Telecommunications, Emerati fleet operator Yahsat is prepared to begin updating its L-band fleet. In August, Yahsat announced a contract with Airbus Defence and Space for Thuraya-4 NGS that includes an option for a second identical satellite, Thuraya-5 NGS. Yahsat plans to spend approximately

The recent streak of launch scrubs proves that systems are working like they should, said Col. Douglas Pentecost. WASHINGTON — A streak of United Launch Alliance and SpaceX launch scrubs has frustrated rocket company executives and space aficionados. But Space Force launch managers are not discouraged, and in fact see scrubs as proof that systems

WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee introduced a bill Oct. 21 to formally give the Commerce Department space traffic management (STM) responsibilities, but the funding required to carry out that work remains uncertain. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) announced he had introduced the Space Preservation and Conjunction Emergency, or SPACE, Act, a bill

SAN FRANCISCO — Airbus Ventures invested 2.5 million Singapore dollars ($1.85 million) in Zero-Error Systems (ZES), a Singapore startup developing radiation-hardened integrated circuits. With the funding, ZES will “scale its operations, and work with international customers to deploy its products into space, as well as explore new applications, including self-driving vehicles with high levels of

Rep. Adam Smith: “We remain concerned that COVID relief money isn’t getting to the right people.” WASHINGTON — The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said Democratic lawmakers remain opposed to giving DoD more money to help the industrial base. The concern is that DoD has not shown that the funds are helping the

WASHINGTON — NASA and the Department of Energy announced a memorandum of understanding (MOU) Oct. 20 that is the latest in a series of measures by the two agencies to expand cooperation. The MOU, signed by NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette and announced at a meeting of the Secretary of

The Space Operations Command, or SpOC, will be led by Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting. WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force on Oct. 21 is standing up its first field command at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado.  The Space Operations Command, or SpOC, will be led by Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting. He will officially assume command

Lockheed CFO: “We now have a price point that will allow ULA to get its fair share of awards over SpaceX.” WASHINGTON — United Launch Alliance has seen its business threatened by the industry’s increasingly dominant player SpaceX. But ULA has been able to fight back and stay competitive, Lockheed Martin executives said Oct. 20

SpaceX will use Microsoft Azure’s orbital emulator — a digital environment that allows the user to visualize an entire satellite architecture, test satellite designs and artificial intelligence algorithms.  WASHINGTON — SpaceX earlier this month won a $149 million contract from the Defense Department’s Space Development Agency to build four satellites to detect and track ballistic and

“We’re discussing with the Air Force the path forward for certification,” said Megan Mitchell, Blue Origin’s director of government and legislative affairs.  WASHINGTON — The Air Force in August selected United Launch Alliance and SpaceX as its launch providers for the next five years. Blue Origin competed for the job but lost and, as a

HELSINKI — Chinese large state-owned enterprise CASIC laid out a new set of commercial space plans for the next five years at a conference Monday. The China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp. (CASIC) outlined plans for developing launch services, satellite constellations and a reusable space plane at the 6th China International Commercial Aerospace Forum, which

WASHINGTON — A SpaceX Falcon 9 launched another set of Starlink satellites Oct. 18 as the investigation into another Falcon 9 launch abort more than two weeks ago continues. The Falcon 9 lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center at 8:25 a.m. Eastern. The rocket’s upper stage deployed the payload of

WASHINGTON — NASA has awarded more than $400 million in contracts to both demonstrate technologies needed for future lunar exploration and to send an ice-drilling payload to the south pole of the moon. NASA announced Oct. 16 that it awarded a task order worth $47 million to Intuitive Machines, one of 14 companies in the

SAN FRANCISCO — AAC Clyde Space announced plans Oct. 15 to acquire SpaceQuest, a satellite technology developer based in Fairfax, Virginia, for $8.4 million, pending the approval of shareholders and the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. Luis Gomes, AAC Clyde Space CEO, and Craig Clark, AAC Clyde Space chief strategy officer,

One of the most anticipated announcements is the official name of Space Force members WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force plans to make “a lot of announcements” during the month of December as the service approaches its one-year anniversary, Deputy Chief of Space Operations Lt. Gen. B. Chance Saltzman said Oct. 16. “We’re going to

SAN FRANCISCO – Orbital Sidekick is speeding up its campaign to build and launch a constellation of six hyperspectral imaging satellites thanks to a $16 million U.S. government contract announced Oct. 15. The government funding, which Orbital Sidekick matched with private investment, comes from the U.S. Air Force commercial investment group AFVentures’s Strategic Financing program

WASHINGTON — The Federal Aviation Administration released Oct. 15 the final version of updated commercial launch and reentry regulations, although those in industry say the regulatory reform process is far from over. The FAA released the final version of its Streamlined Launch and Reentry Licensing Requirements, or SLR2, regulations on its website, with formal publication

With less than a month to go in this election cycle, the public is awash in big issues, COVID and healthcare to national defense and economic recovery.  Lest we forget, an issue also on the ballot is space – with national unity, security, and economic implications in tow. America’s future is intimately tied to our

WASHINGTON — NASA is planning a hotfire test of the core stage of the Space Launch System in the middle of November, a schedule it says keeps it on track for its first launch late next year. During an Oct. 13 media teleconference, officials with NASA, Boeing and Aerojet Rocketdyne said they are making good

WASHINGTON — The European Space Agency has awarded contracts for work on elements of its moon and Mars exploration program, ranging from modules for the lunar Gateway to a mission to return Mars samples to Earth. ESA’s announcement of the contracts was tied to an Oct. 14 session of the International Astronautical Congress (IAC), where

Telesat will adapt two Airbus Arrow spacecraft for the Blackjack program WASHINGTON — Telesat announced Oct. 14 it has won a $18.3 million contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to produce two satellite buses for the Blackjack low-Earth orbit constellation. The two satellites will be a “highly modified version” of the Airbus Arrow

WASHINGTON — NASA has selected its first human-tended commercial suborbital research payload, clearing the way for the biggest advocate of such research to fly on a future Virgin Galactic mission. NASA announced Oct. 14 it selected a proposed experiment by the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) as part of its Flight Opportunities program for testing technologies

WASHINGTON — A Soyuz spacecraft launched to the International Space Station Oct. 14 on what will likely be the last mission where NASA pays Russia for a seat, but not necessarily the last time NASA astronauts fly on the spacecraft. The Soyuz-2.1a rocket lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 1:45 a.m. Eastern, placing the

WASHINGTON — SpaceX, Hughes Network Systems and Viasat are eligible to compete for a share of the $20.4 billion in broadband subsidies the FCC plans to dole out under the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) starting later this month. The Federal Communications Commission on Oct. 13 released a list  of  “qualified bidders” for the RDOF

WASHINGTON — Seven countries have joined the United States in signing the Artemis Accords, a set of principles governing norms of behavior for those who want to participate in the Artemis lunar exploration program. During a session of the International Astronautical Congress Oct. 13, NASA announced that Australia, Canada, Japan, Luxembourg, Italy, the United Arab

Astrobiologist David Grinspoon is a senior scientist at the Planetary Science Institute and an expert on surface-atmospheric interactions on terrestrial planets, such as Venus. Credit: Courtesy of David Grinspoon Over the years, space missions to hellish Venus have been few and far between. But the idea of intensely studying that nearby cloud-veiled globe has just

WASHINGTON — The head of Russia’s space agency said that the lunar Gateway, part of NASA’s Artemis lunar exploration program, is too “U.S.-centric” for it to participate in, even though the Gateway leverages the existing International Space Station partnership. During a panel featuring the heads of seven space agencies at the International Astronautical Congress Oct.