Space news

Telesat now expects to start deploying satellites for Lightspeed around 2026, six years later than originally planned as talks to fund the low Earth orbit broadband constellation drag on.

First announced in November 2022, Florida-based Space Perspective has purchased an 89-meter-long (292 feet) vessel named Voyager for conversion into what it describes as the first marine spaceport for human spaceflight. The space tourism company was founded in 2019, selling yet-to-happen high-altitude balloon flights.

Evidence left in rocks is leading scientists to rethink what watery environments looked like on ancient Mars.

Satellite and terrestrial communications infrastructures must evolve to democratize access to connectivity worldwide.  As a fundamental need in today’s technology-driven society, hybrid network infrastructures can democratize access to connectivity for American citizens and the nearly three billion people in the world who remain unconnected.

Attendees of this year’s Space Symposium were understandably distracted by what was going on a thousand miles from Colorado Springs. The conference was bookended by SpaceX’s first attempt to launch […]

Payloads: Actiwatch-Plus: Actiwatch devices were attached to the HRF-1 rack for data downlink and charging. The Actiwatch-Plus is a waterproof, non-intrusive, sleep-wake activity monitor worn on the wrist of a crewmember and contains a miniature uniaxial accelerometer that produces a signal as the subject moves. The data is stored in non-volatile memory within the Actiwatch …

China’s secretive spaceplane may have performed multiple recaptures of an object it released into orbit during its recently completed second flight as part of on-orbit testing.

EchoStar said its long-awaited Jupiter 3 satellite should be ready for a Falcon Heavy launch in August, although its deployment faces further delays if a higher priority government project takes this window.

Redwire reported record revenue in the first quarter as the space technology company gets closer to profitability.

SpaceX successfully launched 51 additional Starlink satellites today, bringing its grand total to 4,391. Launching from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 1:09...

An upgraded Tianzhou cargo spacecraft docked at China’s Tiangong space station Wednesday ahead of a new crewed mission to the orbital outpost.

SpaceX’s Starlink internet unit has unveiled a suite of new internet plans for customers who need the best of the best. The...

Space station startup Vast has announced plans to launch what it bills as the first commercial space station as soon a 2025, a free-flying module that will be visited by Crew Dragon missions.

Payloads: There were no Payload activities today. Systems: In-Flight Maintenance (IFM) Node 1 Zenith Hatch Troubleshooting: Today, the crew performed troubleshooting on the Node 1 Zenith Hatch, which the crew had been unable to open earlier this year to access the Z1 Dome. As part of the troubleshooting, the crew removed the hatch Manual Pressure …

Space Force officials are fleshing out the details of a future digital infrastructure for training satellite operators and testing the performance of new hardware.

The U.S. government can preserve America’s technological edge in space by providing a fair shot and helping hand to the NewSpace industry. Not cash subsidies, but rather open competition and contracts that promote the development of the industrial base by tasking these companies to provide the products and services DoD, the intelligence community, NASA, NOAA, and other agencies need.

European satellite-as-a-service startup EnduroSat raised $10 million in a Series A investment round.

"We have a clear path for how we're going to get there."

For some time now, alarms have been sounding in the United States military over activities of Chinese and Russian spacecraft in orbit that are viewed as potentially threatening. U.S. military […]

VAST announces plans to launch the world's first commercial space station, named Haven-1, into low-Earth orbit no earlier than August 2025.

As other companies suffer technical or financial setbacks, Rocket Lab says it believes it is the leader in the small launch market with little competition.

As Virgin Galactic prepares to finally begin commercial flights, the company is providing new details about how its next generation of vehicles can put the company on a path to profitability.

China plans to continue its ongoing supply chain for the Tiangong Space Station (TSS) by launching the Tianzhou-6 mission. The launch occurred at 13:25 UTC on May 10 and lofted a Tianzhou capsule on top of a Chang Zheng 7 (Long March 7).

Rocket Lab’s revenue increased slightly in the first quarter, but losses grew as well, as the spacecraft and launch company added a NASA contract and continued to invest in its future Neutron vehicle.

Brightline said it has become the first passenger rail company to offer Starlink satellite broadband, which it plans to deploy on a total 10 trains connecting cities across parts of Florida this summer.

Virgin Galactic is aiming to fly its first spaceflight in nearly two years later this month, but the company’s first quarter loss widened dramatically as it funds its fleet growth.

Small launch vehicle developer Orbex says that it has started construction on its launch site in northern Scotland, but remains guarded about when it plans to start launching from there.

On the heels of last month’s dramatic launch of Booster 7 and Ship 24, repairs on the Orbital Launch Site and tank farm are proceeding at pace. Over at the Production Site, several Ships are in various stages of preparation, ahead of the selection for which will be the next to launch with Booster 9.

Viasat’s plan to buy London-based Inmarsat has just regulators left to clear in the United States and Europe after getting unconditional approval from the United Kingdom.

Former Texas congressman William “Mac” Thornbery, who led the House Armed Services Committee, has joined the board of advisers of CesiumAstro

The global satellite industry is booming and now dominates the rapidly expanding space economy. For 2023 and beyond, look for the sector to maintain its robust growth.

Orbital Outpost X, a Silicon Valley space technology startup formerly called Space Villages, received a $5 million convertible note from Space Infrastructures Ventures of the Netherlands.

Payloads: Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR): Manifold #2 Bottle of High Percentage Oxygen was swapped out for a fresh bottle. The CIR includes an optics bench, combustion chamber, fuel and oxidizer control, and five different cameras for performing combustion investigations in microgravity. Human Research Facility-1 (HRF-1): The crew performed a resupply of HRF-1 hardware and accessories. …

James L. Reuter, associate administrator for NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD), announced Tuesday he will retire from NASA after 40 years of service. Reuter's retirement will be effective Friday, June 30.

The mission could uncover secrets about objects beyond Neptune.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s new weather satellite campaign begins with a free-flying sounder and continues over decades with launches of small to medium-sized satellites.

NASA is proposing a hybrid contract approach for procuring a vehicle to help deorbit the International Space Station at the end of the decade, combining elements of cost-plus and fixed-price contracts.

ClearSpace has signed a contract with Arianespace to launch its first debris de-orbit mission on Europe’s Vega C rocket in the second half 2026, the Swiss startup announced May 9.

The U.S. Space Force is reviewing bids from satellite manufacturers competing to produce and integrate experiments for the Space Test Program.

SpaceNews spoke with Jake Sauer, Ball Aerospace’s new vice president and chief technologist, to learn how the company will focus its investments.

Daniel Cavender has worked extensively with ASCENT, the non-toxic propellant developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory.

As space advocates, we are simply terrible at communicating our perspective. Our collective dysphasia makes it harder for space companies to raise money and dramatically more difficult to sustain support in Washington.

While SpaceX has captured headlines with its first test flight of Starship, Blue Origin, the company founded by rival billionaire Jeff Bezos, is ramping up work on its own reusable heavy-lift rocket and a reusable Starship-like vehicle.

Crew-6 Port Relocation: On Saturday, May 6th, Crew Dragon Endeavor was successfully relocated from Node 2 Zenith to Node 2 Forward. This relocation was completed in preparation for the arrival of SpX-28 in early June, which requires the Node 2 Zenith port for robotic arm access. The crew will be off duty today to recover …

Two NASA CubeSats designed to study tropical cyclones, including hurricanes and typhoons, successfully launched at 1 p.m. Monday NZST (9 p.m. EDT Sunday).

The Soviets were actually orbiting the Moon when Apollo 11 landed.

Maxar Technologies is set to deliver in early 2024 the first of 16 satellite buses ordered by L3Harris for a military constellation in low Earth orbit (LEO) run by the U.S. Space Development Agency.

Competition among builders of the world’s largest communications satellites is intensifying in a shrinking market.

Momentus announced May 8 that it has successfully demonstrated the propulsion system on its Vigoride space tug, raising the vehicle’s orbit.

The United States has agreed with the Philippines to strengthen cooperation on space situational awareness and space-based maritime domain awareness in the latest series of actions Washington has taken to strengthen ties with Asia-Pacific countries to counter China.