Space news

Globalstar said Feb. 28 that Apple is lending the company $252 million to help cover upfront costs for replenishing its low Earth orbit constellation.

Rocket Lab said Tuesday it has doubled its order backlog — from about $241 million in contracts at the end of 2021 to $503.6 million at the end of 2022 — and made progress on the Neutron rocket it’s developing.

NASA has awarded a contract to Analytical Mechanics Associates of Hampton, Virginia, for services to support NASA Langley Research Center’s research, engineering, and science services (RSES).

Virgin Galactic said on Tuesday it remains on track to resume spaceflights in the coming months after completing upgrades to its carrier aircraft and spacecraft.

The Space Information Sharing and Analysis Center, or Space ISAC, is forming a group to focus on the security threats the United States could face in cislunar space outside Earth orbit.

Japanese lunar lander company ispace confirms its first mission is on track to attempt a lunar landing in two months as work continues on next two missions.

Nearly six months after an in-flight anomaly on a New Shepard suborbital mission, Blue Origin says it is still investigating the mishap and has no firm schedule for resuming launches.

China is planning to expand its Tiangong Space Station to enhance its capabilities and allow more visiting vehicles.

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has announced the selection of its first group of astronauts in 14 years who will participate in the ISS and Artemis programs.

SAN FRANCISCO – Lux Semiconductors, a microelectronics startup with U.S. Air Force and Space Force awards, raised $2.3 million in seed funding. Ultratech Capital Partners led the seed round. AIN Ventures, Hemisphere Ventures and Lockheed Martin Ventures participated. With the latest investment, New York-based Lux Semiconductors will continue development and commercialization of the company’s “System-on-Foil” […]

NASASpaceflight interviewed two speakers and subject matter experts about Orion, the European Service Module (ESM), Artemis I, and other space cooperations between the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA as part of the Moon Media Day of ESA and Airbus.

Vast's acquisition of Launcher shows that Jed McCaleb is serious about this space thing.

China is planning to expand its Tiangong space station with a multi-functional module to enhance its capabilities.

Payloads: Human Research Facility-2 (HRF-2): The HRF Boot Drive was inserted into the HRF PC2 laptop. The HRF PC2 was restarted, and the crew entered the BIOS settings to start the software image load. HRF-2 provides an on-orbit laboratory that enables human life science researchers to study and evaluate the physiological, behavioral, and chemical changes …

Japan’s space agency JAXA said Feb. 28 it had selected two astronaut candidates as part of efforts to support the NASA-led Artemis lunar exploration program.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has launched the first batch of its next-generation Starlink internet satellites as the company upgrades and further builds out its orbiting network.

SpaceX launched the first set of upgraded Starlink satellites for its second-generation constellation Feb. 27, featuring increased capacity and new technologies.

Japanese lunar lander developer ispace said Feb. 27 that its first mission remains on track to attempt a landing in two months as it makes progress on its next two missions.

On Monday, SpaceX conducted the first of two Starlink launches this week from each coast of the United States. The first was the launch of the Starlink Group 6-1 mission at 6:13 PM EST (23:13 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

NASA's Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) spacecraft's main instrument as unexpectedly gone offline during commissioning.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 will answer media questions at 12:30 p.m. EST Wednesday, March 1, about their time aboard the International Space Station. The event takes place prior to their return to Earth later this month.

The U.S. Army has extended its contract with Maxar Technologies to provide 3D geospatial data used to create immersive digital environments.

The Next Great Space Race is well underway, China has unveiled the design for their first lunar lander and the goal of sending astronauts to the moon by the close of the decade.

NASA has selected the head of its heliophysics division as its new associate administrator for science, responsible for a $7.8 billion portfolio of more than 100 missions.

A U.S. Space Force mission carrying a navigation satellite to geostationary Earth orbit has been confirmed as the first national security launch of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket.

Astroscale said Feb. 27 it has raised $76 million from investors including satellite maker Mitsubishi Electric, which plans to add docking plates to Japanese national security spacecraft to make them compatible with the debris removal venture’s servicers.

SpaceX scrubbed the launch from Florida of a four-man crew heading to the International Space Station early Monday with less than three minutes remaining in the countdown, delaying the start of a six-month mission to examine a problem with a ground system needed to ignite the Falcon 9 rocket’s main engines.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced Monday Dr. Nicola Fox will serve as the associate administrator for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, effective immediately.

A breakdown of Europe's contributions to the Artemis programme.

Payloads: Human Research Facility-2 (HRF-2): The One Terabyte Hard Drives (HDDs) were removed from the HRF-2 UltraBay and PC2 Zbook and replaced with new HDDs. The old HDDs will be trashed. HRF-2 provides an on-orbit laboratory that enables human life science researchers to study and evaluate the physiological, behavioral, and chemical changes induced by spaceflight. …

A last-minute problem with a rocket ignition system halted a Falcon 9 launch of a NASA commercial crew mission Feb. 27, delaying the launch by at least three days.

China has revealed a concept for a lunar lander it hopes will put astronauts on the moon around the end of the decade.

NASA and SpaceX are now targeting Thursday, March 2nd at 12:34am EST for the next launch attempt of Crew 6.

SpaceX and NASA scrubbed a launch of four people to the International Space Station (ISS) due to an issue with the TEA-TEB system that is used to light the engines. The launch director called a hold with just minutes remaining in the countdown.

"Standing down from tonight's launch of Crew-6 due to a TEA-TEB ground system issue."

NASA SpaceX Crew 6's launch countdown has been halted and launch scrubbed due to an issue with TEA-TEB.

SpaceX launched the first batch of next-generation Starlink internet satellites Monday from Cape Canaveral, deploying 21 bigger, heavier, more capable spacecraft to boost capacity for the global broadband network.

SpaceX has successfully launched its first batch of next-generation Starlink V2 satellites, likely kicking off a new era of affordability for the...

The Spaceport Company, a startup founded by Tom Marotta, is proposing a solution to the increasing congestion at major launch sites: mobile launch pads that operate at sea.

SpaceX has released official specifications and photos of its next-generation Starlink V2 Mini satellites, which are set to launch for the first...

A startup is proposing one solution to the increasing congestion at major launch sites: build mobile launch pads that operate at sea.

A replacement for a damaged Russian Soyuz crew ferry spacecraft docked at the International Space Station Saturday night, two days after launching from Kazakhstan on a mission to give two Russian cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut a ride back to Earth later this year.

SpaceX is counting down to the deep overnight launch early Monday of a Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule carrying two NASA astronauts, a Russian cosmonaut and a history-making United Arab Emirates astronaut to the International Space Station.

SpaceX is set to the first batch of Starlink version 2 mini satellites from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Monday.

SpaceX released the first photos of the company’s upgraded Starlink internet satellite design, with 21 of the heavier, higher-capacity internet satellites set to ride a Falcon 9 rocket into orbit from Cape Canaveral on Monday.

An uncrewed Soyuz spacecraft launched to replace a damaged Soyuz arrived at the International Space Station Feb. 25.

The Russian space agency, Roscosmos, docked an uncrewed Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of a plan to replace the stricken Soyuz MS-22 vehicle. The MS-23 mission launched atop a Soyuz-2.1a rocket from Site 31/6 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Friday, Feb. 24, at 00:24 UTC. It docked without issue on Saturday.

Sony has released the first test picture from their new Star Sphere satellite camera.

U.S. Space Force officials will sit down with industry executives in Los Angeles this week to discuss the fine points of the upcoming national security space launch procurement.

Commercial space issues, including supporting emerging markets and regulating them, emerged as major priorities at a meeting of a National Space Council advisory group.