ArianeGroup subsidiary MaiaSpace has announced the completion of the first hot fire test of the engine that will power the company’s Colibri kick stage. The kick stage will be encased in a three-meter-tall fairing and will allow the launch startup to offer greater flexibility to its customers. To date, ArianeGroup has injected close to €40 […]
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The Artemis II crew made an unannounced visit to the White House today, meeting with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. The President’s and Vice President’s schedules released […]
Researchers often spend months fine-tuning algorithms to improve data quality. For SWOT’s Ka-band Radar Interferometer, known as KaRin, ocean observations were clear immediately.
The United Launch Alliance was hoping to close out 2023 with the inaugural launch of the new Vulcan rocket, but it is not to be. The company confirmed today it […]
The House on Dec. 14 approved the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act by a vote of 310 to 118. The vote came a day after the Senate approved the bill by an 87 to 13 majority.
The U.S. military has long relied on large, expensive satellites parked in fixed orbits above the Earth. Some U.S. Space Force leaders believe it’s time to change that model.
China has launched its experimental reusable spacecraft for the third time; the Long March 2F rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert on December 14, according to Chinese state media Xinhua.
This year’s SpaceNews Icon Awards celebrated the tremendous growth, recent successes, and all-around upswing of the commercial, military, and civil space industries. A highlight of the afternoon was a panel discussion hosted by SpaceNews senior staff writers Jeff Foust and Sandra Erwin, with some of the award winners. During the panel, guests were asked to discuss the industry’s crowning achievements from the past year, some of the main obstacles or challenges currently posing a risk to continued development in space, and what most excites them about the future, among other things.
Keeping up with a torrent of updates from dozens of space companies, just for a single year, feels like a herculean task even for a beat reporter focused solely on this industry. But what perhaps interests me most is what permeates beyond the “space bubble” – especially as I straddle what the industry cares about, versus what the CNBC audience (and the broader American public) wants to read.
After an exciting and milestone-achieving Flight Test Two, SpaceX is ready to move into Flight Three, with the opening of preflight testing via the rollout of Ship 28 to Suborbital Pad B. This will be the start of what is hoped to be a condensed testing campaign for Ship 28 and Booster 10 ahead of a flight early in 2024.
Payloads: Astro Bit: Materials were gathered to support upcoming Astro Bit experiment activities. As part of the ultra:space, Coding on ISS with Astro Bit experiment, students in Denmark and the other Scandinavian countries design an experiment that can also be repeated aboard the ISS with an interesting scientific outcome. The students program their own BBC …
Amazon has successfully tested inter-satellite links between its two Project Kuiper prototypes in low Earth orbit, the company announced Dec. 14 as it prepares to start filling out a mesh broadband network in space next year.
After completion of a successful Wet Dress Rehearsal this week, United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket is one step closer to its debut – entering a new chapter of American rocketry for both military and civilian space launch. The company now hopes to launch their Certification-1 mission carrying the Astrobotic Peregrine lunar lander no earlier than January 8th, 2024 at 2:18 AM Eastern Time.
Amazon is seeking to dismiss a shareholder lawsuit filed in August that alleged that the company’s board of directors acted in bad faith when it awarded Project Kuiper launch contracts to Arianespace, Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance.
As officials from several federal agencies expressed support for a White House proposal for oversight of novel space activities, the chair of a key Senate subcommittee raised concerns about it.
German startup POLARIS Spaceplanes has completed the test campaign of its 1kN AS-1B linear aerospike engine, a version of which will power its MIRA demonstrator. MIRA is a 4,25-metre-long demonstration vehicle that is equipped with four kerosene-fed turbine engines and one of the company’s LOX/kerosene linear aerospike engines. Testing under the power of its four […]
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Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) and other Senators expressed reservations about the White House’s new mission authorization proposal at a Senate hearing today. Released last month by the National Space Council, […]
The first NASA satellite to measure air pollution hourly shows so much promise that the space agency is already thinking about ways to extend its life.
International regulators are set to allow technical studies for changing satellite transmission power limits on the condition that there would not be any regulatory action resulting from them until at least 2031.
As the U.S. Space Force turns four this month, a pair of retired military leaders outline the Space Forces critical need for resources to counter evolving threats and maintain the United State's security interests in an increasingly competitive space environment.
SpaceX had a lighter week of launches, with Rocket Lab, Russia, and China also launching rockets. Following several delays, SpaceX launched the Starlink Group 6-34 mission.
As Axiom Space gears up for its third private astronaut mission to the International Space Station in less than a month, SpaceX is still determining what launch pad it will use for it.
Payloads: Boeing Environment Responding Antimicrobial Coatings-2 (Antimicrobial Coatings-2): The crew performed the routine periodic touching of the six experiment placards deployed in various locations throughout the ISS, and took photos. Boeing Environment Responding Antimicrobial Coatings tests an antimicrobial coating on several different materials that represent high-touch surfaces. Some microbes change characteristics in microgravity, which could …
The UK Space Agency has awarded £6.7 million in funding to Orbex and HyImpulse to “help cement the UK’s position as Europe’s leading destination for commercial spaceflight activities.” HyImpulse was awarded £3.4 million to undertake its “Hybrid Propulsion Test Programme” which will precede the proposed maiden flight of the company’s SL1 launch vehicle from SaxaVord […]
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A House hearing on space mining turned into a partisan debate about both the viability of the nascent field and the jurisdiction of the committee to examine it.
Denver-based startup True Anomaly has successfully raised $100 million in a Series B funding round, marking a significant milestone for the company as it continues its mission to advance space surveillance technology.
Air New Zealand has announced plans to trial Starlink broadband on domestic flights; positioning itself in the intensifying competition to connect planes using Low Earth Orbit (LEO) services.
The U.S. Space Force will launch a new market research study next year to assess commercial weather services to fill some of the military's ever-growing data needs.
Quasar Satellite Technologies — a startup that tracks radio-frequency signals emitted by satellites and analyzes the radio chatter to draw insights — is setting sights on the U.S. defense and intelligence market.
Air New Zealand announced plans Dec. 12 to trial Starlink broadband on domestic flights as competition to connect planes from low Earth orbit prepares to take off next year.
NASA engineers are working to address a technical issue on Voyager 1, one of the agency's iconic deep space probes, as it encounters communication challenges between its onboard computers.
California-based startup Helicity Space, who are focused on developing fusion engines for spaceflight, have successfully raised $5 million in a seed funding round. The funding was secured from a consortium of investors, including Airbus Ventures, TRE Ventures, Voyager Space Holdings, E2MC Space, Urania Ventures, and Gaingels.
Armada, a one-year-old data networking startup has raised more than $55 million in funding, to propel the development of its cutting-edge computing tools; designed to empower remote devices connected to Starlink, SpaceX's low Earth orbit broadband constellation.
Northrop Grumman has successfully test-fired a new solid rocket motor at its Promontory, Utah, facility on December 7, marking the commencement of its annual Solid Motor Annual Rocket Technology Demonstrator (SMART Demo) campaign.
