Space news

Another NASA mission to the International Space Station ended successfully just after midnight with the splashdown of Crew-6 off the coast of Jacksonville, FL. Two U.S. astronauts and one each […]

The first week of September will see only four orbital launches and a single sub-orbital crewed launch. SpaceX started the week off with its Starlink Group 6-12 mission. China will then launch two back-to-back missions with the Ceres-1S and Chang Zheng 4C. Virgin Galactic will then launch its fourth crewed mission of four months with Galactic-03. Finally, China will end the week with a Chang Zheng 6A launch.

Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of September 3-9, 2023 and any insight we can offer about them. The Senate returns from summer break on […]

After more than six months in space, four people splashed down in the waters near Florida. The SpaceX Crew-6 mission, which launched on March 2 and docked with the International Space Station (ISS) the following day, undocked on Sept. 3 at 7:05 EDT (11:05 UTC). Recovery vessels retrieved the crew and their capsule, Crew Dragon Endeavour (C206), from the Atlantic Ocean with the help of support vessel Megan in the early morning hours of Sept. 4.

Orion prime contractor Lockheed Martin has the spacecraft for NASA’s Artemis III and IV lunar landing missions in production alongside the Artemis II vehicle that is going into final assembly at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. Simultaneous assembly and test of three Orions is becoming the norm, as the Orion program works towards its goal of delivering one spacecraft every year for eventual, annual Artemis missions.

NASA will provide coverage of the agency’s SpaceX Crew-6 mission return to Earth from the International Space Station, beginning with hatch closure coverage live at 5 a.m. EDT on Sunday, Sept. 3.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off Sept. 2 at 7:25 a.m. Pacific from Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, carrying 13 U.S. military satellites.

The European Space Agency, the German Space Agency DLR, and project prime ArianeGroup successfully completed a full-duration hot fire test of an Ariane 6 second stage. Conducted on the P5.2 test stand at the DLR propulsion testing facility in Lampoldshausen, the test represented the entire sequence that the stage would be required to perform during […] The post ESA Complete Full-Duration Hot Fire Test of Ariane 6 Second Stage appeared first on European Spaceflight.

Microsoft Corporation has announced a five-year partnership with Synthetaic, a Wisconsin-based startup specializing in utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze data from space and air sensors.

A team led by NASA in Utah’s West Desert are in the final stages of preparing for the arrival of the first US asteroid sample which will return to Earth this September.

NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD) has confirmed that the call for proposals for the next New Frontiers planetary science mission will be delayed until no earlier than 2026.

India’s space program continued its busy 2023 with the launch of its first solar research mission, Aditya-L1, on Saturday. Liftoff, aboard the country’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) XL rocket, occurred at 11:50 Indian Standard Time (06:20 UTC) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has spotted the likely crash site of Russia’s Luna-25 spacecraft on the Moon. Luna-25 was intended to make a soft landing near the Moon’s South Pole, […]

Payloads: Advanced Resistive Exercise Device-Kinematics (ARED-K): Preparation activities continued for the ARED-K experiment, with a goal of performing the first science session next week. ARED is the current resistive exercise device used as a countermeasure to musculoskeletal deconditioning in microgravity. However, a major unknown is the internal bone and muscle forces developed during exercise in …

The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, launched in September 2016, is now less than a month away from bringing back samples from asteroid Bennu. NASA conducted a press conference on Aug. 30 to preview the Sept. 24 landing at the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah.

Ball Aerospace, Northrop Grumman, Orbital Micro Systems and Spire Global won contracts, announced Aug. 31, to design microwave sounders for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

NASA will host a news conference at 1 p.m. EDT Wednesday, Sept. 6, to discuss the agency’s upcoming Psyche mission, which will be its first to visit a metal-rich asteroid. Riding along with Psyche is a laser transceiver for NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) technology demonstration.

NASA’s Small Bodies Assessment Group is encouraging NASA to find a way to send a spacecraft to study the asteroid Apophis before it reaches Earth in 2029. Apophis will come […]

Space Tango, a Kentucky-based startup that conducts research and science experiments on the International Space Station, on Sept. 1 announced the appointment of S. Sita Sonty as its new chief executive officer.

An Amazon shareholder lawsuit says the company snubbed SpaceX for valuable satellite launch contracts because of Jeff Bezos’ personal rivalry with Elon Musk, who has taunted his fellow billionaire’s space ambitions for years.

Plaintiffs: Amazon decision "lays bare the extent" of Bezos’ personal rivalry with Musk.

See the month’s coolest space pictures, see planets in the night sky, and create the future in space that you want to see.

In April, ESA signed a letter of intent with the Swedish National Space Agency to send an ESA astronaut aboard an Axiom mission to the International Space Station. In June, the agency announced that Marcus Wandt, a member of ESA’s newly formed astronaut reserves, had been selected to fly aboard the mission. This meant that […] The post What is the ESA Astronaut Policy? appeared first on European Spaceflight.

Meet the asteroid hunters you help support.

An interview with Scott Pace about the Moon’s role in internationally cooperative human space exploration.

How the origins of the Moon could shape the future of human space exploration.

Students from Georgia and Texas will have separate opportunities next week to hear from NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

Globalstar has contracted SpaceX to launch Apple-backed satellites in 2025 to replenish its low Earth orbit connectivity constellation.

Lunar lander developer Intuitive Machines announced Aug. 31 it raised $20 million through a sale of stock as the company gears up for its first mission.

"What we found out is that fairings float pretty well."

Emerging trends in how China is utilizing and operating its Tiangong space station could impact how the country’s space program is viewed internationally.

A pension fund has filed suit against the board of directors of Amazon, claiming they “acted in bad faith” in approving launch contracts for the Project Kuiper broadband constellation that awarded billions of dollars to Blue Origin, the company founded by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos.

Payloads: Exploration Potable Water Dispenser (xPWD): The xPWD hardware was installed, activated, and checked out in Expedite the Processing of Experiments to Space Station (EXPRESS) Rack 7. The current on-orbit Potable Water Dispenser (PWD), launched in fall 2008, provides water for crew consumption and food preparation on the ISS. The new system, xPWD, reflects advances …

If the Florida weather cooperates, SpaceX will launch their 9th mission of the month with the Starlink Group 6-13 mission. A Falcon...

FireFly Aerospace and payload provider Millenium Space Systems have entered a 6 month “hot standby phase” for the Victus Nox mission out...

Low Earth orbit satellite constellations are all the rage, but up to this point they’ve been the prospective domain of commercial entities. 

Starship is getting close to its second Integrated Flight Test (IFT). Booster 9 completed its pre-flight testing and now awaits its partner for the second launch. Since Ship 25 was already tested months ago, this only leaves full stack testing and pending regulatory approval for the second flight.

China's mission will collect the first samples from the far side of the Moon.

TLP's Founder and Network Director, Zac Aubert, was invited inside Space Engine Systems' (SES) Design And Assembly Of Turbo Ramjet Engine Shop in Alberta, Canada for an exclusive first look at their DASS GNC engine and had the chance to sit down with SES President and Chief Technology Officer, Pradeep Dass!

QinetiQ US, a defense contractor based in Lorton, Virginia, was awarded a $224 million contract to provide systems engineering and technical support to the Space Development Agency.

A document published by the UN Open-Ended Working Group on Reducing Space Threats outlines the commitment of 27 EU member states to ban all direct-ascent anti-satellite tests. “Concerned that the use of destructive ASAT systems might have widespread and irreversible impacts on the outer space environment, the Member States of the EU consider such commitment […] The post EU Member States Commit to Not Test Direct-Ascent ASAT Systems appeared first on European Spaceflight.

Israeli satcoms equipment maker SatixFy announced plans Aug. 31 to sell its satellite payload subsidiary to MDA as part of a $60 million strategic transaction with the Canadian space hardware specialist.

Following two scrubs, SpaceX launched on the third attempt with a batch of 13 communications and missile tracking satellites from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base on the Tranche 0 Flight 2 mission for the Space Development Agency (SDA) on Friday. An issue with engine 4 scrubbed the first attempt, with a ground valve issue scrubbing Friday’s attempt.

NASA is making the final preparations to recover samples from an asteroid that a spacecraft will bring back to Earth in September.

Chinese researchers have noted close approaches by U.S. GSSAP satellites to Chinese spacecraft in the geostationary belt, describing the activities as threats.

NASA’s LRO – the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter – spacecraft imaged a new crater on the Moon’s surface that is likely the impact site of Russia’s Luna 25 mission.

In a preview today of the imminent return of samples from the asteroid Bennu, NASA declared the next few months as “Asteroid Autumn.” The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is just one of […]

Australian startup Spiral Blue is inviting developers and researchers to run custom code on the company’s SE-1 computer on a Satellogic satellite in low-Earth orbit.

In a significant stride towards advancing rapid-response space missions, Firefly Aerospace and Millennium Space Systems have announced they are ready and awaiting instructions from the U.S. Space Force to initiate the launch of a satellite.

A team led by NASA in Utah’s West Desert is in the final stages of preparing for the arrival of the first U.S. asteroid sample – slated to land on Earth in September.