Space news

SpaceX has told the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that it plans to begin launching its first next-generation Starlink Gen2 satellites before...

Saturn Satellite Networks is close to securing funds for another attempt at getting its small geostationary satellite manufacturing business off the ground, according to an executive for the U.S.-based firm.

NASA has selected Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) of Hawthorne, California, to provide launch services for the Sentinel-6B mission.

Arianespace has suffered a failure during Vega-Consolidation’s (Vega-C) first operational launch, which was set to carry the Pléiades Neo 5 and 6 Earth-observation satellites to a Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO). Vega-C lifted off from the Ensemble de Lancement Vega (ELV) pad at the Guiana Space Centre on Dec. 20 at 10:47 PM local time (01:47 UTC on Dec. 21).

InSight landed on Mars in 2018 with the aim of studying seismic activity.

Payloads: Veg-05: The crew checked on the plant pillows, added water as necessary, and performed a wick opening on the plant pillows. The wick opening allows the seeds to be assessed for germination and gives them more room to grow during the 100+ day growth cycle. The Veg-05 investigation is the next step in efforts …

A fiscal year 2023 omnibus spending bill will provide NASA with nearly $25.4 billion, an increase of more than 5% from 2022 but less than what the agency requested.

SpaceX says its Starlink satellite internet service has surpassed one million active subscribers just two years after its first limited beta release....

SpaceX says its Starlink satellite internet service has surpassed one million active subscribers just two years after its first limited beta release....

The second flight of Arianespace’s Vega C failed to reach orbit Dec. 20 after its second stage malfunctioned, destroying two Pléiades Neo imaging satellites.

Ukraine will receive over 10,000 Starlink antennas to help counter Russian air attacks, said Mykhailo Fedorov, deputy prime minister and minister for...

German startup NeuralAgent GmbH is joining forces with French startup Miratlas SAS to address a vexing problem for satellite optical communications: transmitting data through Earth’s atmosphere.

SpaceX could start launching second-generation Starlink satellites in the coming weeks to add more capacity to its increasingly congested broadband network.

NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station will conduct a spacewalk on Wednesday, Dec. 21, to install a rollout solar array to increase electrical power in support of operations and scientific research.

Russian managers are assessing whether a damaged Soyuz spacecraft docked at the International Space Station can safely carry its three-man crew back to Earth in late March as planned or whether a replacement must be launched to take its place, officials said Monday.

Using data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and retired Spitzer Space Telescope, a group of researchers has discovered two exoplanets that may be largely comprised of water. Located around a red dwarf star 218 light-years away, the two planets are low in density.

Payloads: Materials Science Research Rack/Materials Science Laboratory (MSRR/MSL): The crew gained access to the MSL furnace area, removed the Growth of Ternary Compound Semiconductors (GTCS) Sample Cartridge Assembly (SCA) and installed the Fabrication of Amorphous Metals in Space (FAMIS) C2 SCA. FAMIS studies the microstructure of composites of Bulk Metallic Glass (BMG) and tungsten spheres …

In reality, the Soyuz is a hardy spacecraft.

South Korea’s first robotic lunar orbiter, Danuri, entered the lunar orbit after conducting its first lunar orbit insertion maneuver Dec. 16.

SpaceX has successfully launched three Falcon 9 rockets less than 34 hours apart, leaving the company only one mission shy of CEO...

Rocket Lab will have to wait until January for its next attempt at its inaugural Electron launch from Virginia after suffering delays because of weather and range issues.

Two Pléiades Neo Earth observation satellites are set to join Airbus’s constellation of high-resolution optical imagers with a launch Tuesday night from French Guiana on the first commercial flight of Europe’s Vega C rocket, a mission delayed from November to change out suspect hardware on the launcher’s payload fairing.

L3Harris Technologies on Dec. 18 announced an agreement to acquire Aerojet Rocketdyne for $4.7 billion.

NASA has signed an agreement with AST SpaceMobile to cooperate on spaceflight safety, even as astronomers grow increasingly concerned about the effects of that company’s satellites.

Rocket Lab, which has operated its Electron small-satellite launcher successfully from New Zealand since 2017, is about to inaugurate its first US-based launch site. After weather and paperwork-related delays, the mission named “Virginia Is For Launch Lovers” was set to lift off within a two-hour window beginning at 6:00 PM EST (23:00 UTC) on Sunday, Dec. 18.

SpaceX has launched the a pair of Falcon 9 missions approximately 23 hours apart from the company’s two Florida launch pads. The first mission carried the first two satellites for a new constellation known as O3b mPOWER to orbit on Friday, Dec. 16, with liftoff coming at the very end of an 87-minute launch window at 5:48 PM EST (22:48 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 40 (SCL-40) at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS).

SpaceX launched 54 more Starlink internet satellites Saturday from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, using a Falcon 9 booster on its 15th flight to space, a record for the company’s reusable rocket fleet. The mission was also the third Falcon 9 rocket flight in less than 34 hours from SpaceX’s three active launch pads in less.

Rocket Lab said Saturday that the company received final approval from NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration to launch their first mission from the United States on Sunday, clearing final regulatory and technical hurdles with a new autonomous range safety destruct unit that delayed the launch more than two years.

NASA is delaying a spacewalk at the International Space Station by two days to support the Russian investigation into a coolant leak on a Soyuz spacecraft docked there.

NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover will soon start depositing a cache of samples that it has collected since landing last year as part of efforts to eventually return those samples to Earth.

VentureScope, a consulting and venture investment firm that works with entrepreneurs, won a contract to establish to an internal U.S. Air Force accelerator.

The White House announced the new membership of an advisory group of the National Space Council Dec. 16 with wholesale changes in the roster reflecting a new emphasis on climate change and workforce issues.

Significant Events: Soyuz Thruster Test: This morning, the Russian crew completed a test of the 68S Soyuz thrusters. Performance was nominal and no issues were observed. Russian and NASA teams continue to work together to assess the vehicle. Payloads: ISS Ham Radio: A crewmember initiated ISS Ham contact with Maitland Air Cadet Association, Goderich, ON, …

The biggest concern is the flight computers on board the Soyuz spacecraft.

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket at 5:48 p.m. EST (2221 GMT) Friday from Cape Canaveral on a mission to boost two high-power broadband satellites for SES’s O3b mPOWER network toward a unique equatorial orbit some 5,000 miles above Earth.

The 10 sample tubes being dropped on Mars’ surface so they can be studied on Earth in the future carry an amazing diversity of Red Planet geology.

Space imagery and infrastructure company Maxar on Friday announced an agreement to go private through an acquisition led by Advent International.

A satellite built for NASA and the French space agency Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES) to observe nearly all the water on our planet’s surface lifted off on its way to low-Earth orbit at 3:46 a.m. PST on Friday.

A Falcon 9 successfully launched an Earth science mission jointly developed by the United States and France to monitor water levels and the effects of climate change.

Maxar Technologies, a space company that gained global attention with its high-resolution satellite images of the Ukraine war, is being acquired by the private equity firm Advent International for $6.4 billion.

No one has yet stepped forth to win the great methane rocket race.

China launched a Long March 11 solid rocket from Xichang early Friday, completing a campaign of seven orbit launch attempts in just over a week which included the debut of two new launch vehicles.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launched the joint NASA/CNES Surface Water and Ocean Topography satellite mission from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base at 3:46 AM PST (11:46 UTC) on Friday, Dec. 16, after a 24-hour delay to allow teams to complete further data review and analysis after moisture was identified in two of the first stage’s Merlin engines.

SpaceX launched the first O3b mPower satellites for SES’ next-generation broadband constellation Dec. 16, each promising 10 times more throughput than their predecessors in medium Earth orbit.

EOI Space, the Earth-observation startup formerly known as Earth Observant, attracted its first major customer for ultra-high-resolution imagery drawn from a constellation of satellites destined for very low Earth orbit.

Frank Calvelli, assistant secretary of the Air Force for space acquisitions and integration, wants acquisition officers to avoid cost-plus contracts and buy satellites at fixed prices

British cybersecurity software developer Arqit is looking to sell a partly built satellite after scrapping plans for a space-based quantum encryption network.

NASA has selected Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation of Redondo Beach, California, to support the James Webb Space Telescope Phase E – Operations and Sustainment contract.

NASA and AST & Science, a subsidiary of AST SpaceMobile, Inc., have signed a joint agreement to formalize both parties’ strong interest in the sharing of information to maintain and improve space safety.

A planned spacewalk aboard the International Space Station on the evening of Dec. 14 involving cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin was canceled due to a coolant leak aboard the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft.