Space news

A solid rocket motor for Europe’s Vega C rocket malfunctioned during a static-fire test June 28, likely pushing back the vehicle’s return to flight to 2024.

Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic finally launched its first commercial SpaceShipTwo flight today. Galactic-01 took four Italians and two Americans across the threshold between air and space for a few minutes […]

A European spacecraft is set to launch on a mission to help astronomers resolve an “embarrassing situation” in cosmology, although the launch itself is another kind of embarrassing situation for Europe.

The final member of Crew 7 has been announced, with Russian cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov joining as a mission specialist. Borisov joins NASA...

The Space Development Agency on June 28 released a solicitation for bids for its next procurement of 100 satellites as the agency continues to build out a military constellation in low Earth orbit.

Firefly Aerospace signed an agreement with Lockheed Martin to launch a small satellite aboard Firefly's Alpha vehicle.

A static fire test of a Vega C Zefiro 40 (Z40) second stage conducted June 28 ended in failure. The successful completion of the test had been a requirement for Vega C to be cleared to return to flight later this year. In December 2022, the second launch of Avio’s Vega C rocket failed, resulting […] The post Vega C Return to Flight Delayed After Z40 Test Failure appeared first on European Spaceflight.

After nearly two decades of development, Virgin Galactic conducted its first commercial SpaceShipTwo suborbital flight June 29.

Last week, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a red-carpet visit to the U.S., meeting with top government and corporate leaders. Amid the flurry of partnerships and contracts announced during Modi’s visit, the country also became the 27th to sign the Artemis Accords, the international set of principles around sustainable global cooperation in space.

China has delivered a set of satellites to Egypt as part of a program to develop the latter country's capacity to assemble, integrate and test satellites.

SpaceX has once again begun static fire testing on the Starship program at Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas. This is the first...

SpaceX-28 (SpX-28) Undock and Return: SpX-28 Cargo Dragon successfully undocked from the ISS on this morning at 11:25 AM CDT. The deorbit burn is scheduled to occur tomorrow morning at approximately 8:42 AM CDT. Dragon is targeted to splash down in the Gulf of Mexico near Jacksonville, FL at approximately 9:30 AM CDT on Friday, …

The U.S. Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center awarded Raytheon Technologies a $625 million contract to produce nuclear-hardened satellite communications terminals.

Virgin Galactic is set to conduct its first commercial SpaceShipTwo suborbital spaceflight June 29, one that will demonstrate the readiness of the vehicle for commercial operations as well as its role as a research platform.

King Charles III unveiled his Astra Carta seal at Buckingham Palace today to underscore his interest in space sustainability. Astronauts, aerospace executives, scientists and environmentalists were among the participants. The […]

Germany’s OroraTech has ordered eight more thermal imaging satellites from Spire Global to expand its wildfire-monitoring constellation next year.

The Spaceport Company, a startup developing floating launch pads for space rockets, is one of 17 companies selected to receive government funding this year under the National Security Innovation Capital program.

With new data collected by the joint NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope, an international team of scientists has — for the first time ever — detected a carbon molecule within the protoplanetary disk of a star located in the Orion Nebula. The molecule, called methyl cation (CH3+), is quite unique. The molecule doesn’t react to hydrogen all that efficiently but can react with other common molecules. This reaction allows for the creation and growth of more complex carbon-based molecules  — like life.

NASA invites media to the U.S. Army’s Dugway Proving Ground about 80 miles southwest of Salt Lake City on Thursday, July 20, before the agency’s first asteroid sample collected in space is returned to Earth.

Above: Orbital is developing technology to provide energy for on-orbit servicing, assembly and manufacturing with the support of two recent Small Business Innovation Research awards.

Payloads: Dose Distribution Inside the ISS – 3D (DOSIS-3D): The DOSIS-3D main box was removed and prepared for return to the ground. ISS crewmembers are continually exposed to varying levels of radiation, which can be harmful to their health. DOSIS-3D uses several active and passive detectors to determine the radiation doses inside the ISS. The …

Innovative Rocket Technologies, known as iRocket, won a U.S. Space Force contract to demonstrate a reusable rocket engine for small launch vehicles.

Ramon.Space has raised $26 million from Ingrasys, a subsidiary of Foxconn Technology Group, the Abu Dhabi-based Strategic Development Fund, and venture capital firms.

WASHINGTON — As Sierra Space continues to prepare for the first flight of its Dream Chaser vehicle, it is outlining long-term ambitions for both that vehicle and space station modules. […]

Polish space tech company SpaceForest has confirmed that it performed a test flight of its suborbital Perun launch system on 21 June. The rocket was launched from the Polish Air Force Central Training Ground in Ustka. The flight had initially been planned for June 19 but was postponed due to adverse weather conditions. On June […] The post SpaceForest Launch Test Flight of Suborbital Perun Vehicle appeared first on European Spaceflight.

SES Space & Defense announced June 28 it won a five-year contract worth up to $134 million to provide X-band satellite communications services to DoD.

The first launch of the United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket will be further delayed because the Centaur V upper stage needs modifications. ULA had targeted May 4 for that inaugural […]

Odin Space is preparing to start detecting tiny but potentially dangerous pieces of orbital debris in the coming weeks from a sensor on a recently launched space tug, according to the British startup’s cofounder and CEO James New.

Chinese rocket firm Space Pioneer is planning to launch a rocket comparable to the SpaceX Falcon 9 next year.

Artemis 2's heat shield has been installed on the Orion Spacecraft

Spanish launch vehicle startup PLD Space has postponed a suborbital test flight to September after weather and a technical glitch scrubbed earlier launch attempts.

The House Appropriations Committee recommends nearly $1 billion in cuts from the U.S. Space Force’s $30 billion request.

German startup Airmo has raised 5.2 million euros in pre-seed funding, including investment and a European Space Agency contract.

Andrew Pemberton has been named Chief Executive Officer of SpaceNews, Inc., the world's largest space-industry trade media brand.

Payloads: Kibo Robot Programming Challenge-4 (Robo-Pro Challenge): A repeat of the rehearsal-1 session for Robo-Pro Challenge was performed. This session was not able to be completed in a previous attempt due to battery issues with the Astrobee free flyers. Technical Rehearsals are used to verify various elements of the real Robo-Pro Challenge. In the actual …

NASA's biggest science project is undergoing an unprecedented second independent review amidst growing cost estimates and daunting technical and managerial challenges.

D-Orbit has been awarded contracts through Italy's National Recovery and Resilience Plan to deliver a small orbiting laboratory and test optical intersatellite links. The contracts, worth 6 million euros ($6.54 million), were announced on June 22 and are part of Italy's efforts to advance its space capabilities.

NASA begins CHAPEA 1 Mission to Mars in Houston

The European Space Agency (ESA), Airbus Defence and Space, OHB, and Thales Alenia Space, have announced plans during the Paris Air Show to collaboratively establish "ambitious and meaningful targets" to address the growing concern of orbital debris.

The United Kingdom to establish Joint Task Force-Space Defense Commercial Operations Cell (JCO-U.K.), and partner with U.S. Space Command initiative focused on purchasing commercial space domain awareness data.

SpaceX is targeting no earlier than July 1st at 11:11 a.m. ET (15:11 UTC) for the launch of the European Space Agency’s...

D-Orbit will supply a small orbiting lab and test optical intersatellite links under the latest contracts awarded through Italy’s billion-euro National Recovery and Resilience Plan.

ESA and three European satellite manufacturers have announced plans to work together to develop “ambitious and meaningful targets” for dealing with orbital debris.

Satellite operator SES has another shot at getting a larger share of Intelsat's C-band clearing cash after an appeals court made a judgment in its favor.

Four launches are planned for the week of June 24 to July 1. The Russians opened the launches, with a Meteor weather satellite riding a Soyuz rocket on Tuesday, June 27, while Virgin Galactic flew its Galactic 01 crewed suborbital mission Thursday, June 29. Firefly’s Alpha rocket was thought to be making its first operational flight with the DARPA Victus Nox mission no earlier than the last week of June, and SpaceX ended the week with the launch of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Euclid telescope on Saturday, July 1.

The United Kingdom will participate in a U.S. Space Command initiative focused on purchasing commercial space domain awareness data.

Here are links to all the articles published on SpacePolicyOnline.com during the week of June 19-25, 2023, including our “What’s Happening in Space Policy” for this coming week. Click on […]

The seed funding round, announced June 23, was led by Caruso Ventures. Participants included Lockheed Martin Ventures, Greater Colorado Venture Fund, CORI Innovation Fund and Greenline Ventures.

NASA is set to receive scientific research samples and hardware as a SpaceX Dragon cargo resupply spacecraft departs the International Space Station on Thursday, June 29.

NASA has confirmed that one scenario for the cost of its Mars Sample Return (MSR) program is far higher than previous estimates, heightening concerns among scientists about its impacts on other missions.