The European Space Agency announced 19 February that it had awarded €1.3 million in co-funding to PLD Space for the development of a modular payload adapter that will be utilized aboard Miura 5. In 2023, PLD successfully conducted the maiden flight of its suborbital Miura 1 launch vehicle. The company is now working towards the […]
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Europe’s Thales Alenia Space has marked a significant milestone in the construction of the Axiom Hab One (AX-H1) commercial space station module. Thales Alenia Space is one of few companies in the world that boasts significant experience in the development of space station modules. The company developed and built the International Space Station’s Harmony, Tranquility, […]
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Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of February 18-24, 2024 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in recess […]
A Rocket Lab Electron launched an Astroscale spacecraft that will rendezvous with and inspect a spent upper stage in low Earth orbit as a precursor to removing it.
The U.S. Space Force is preparing to kick off environmental studies that could lead to SpaceX Starship launches from either the Cape Canaveral facility used by the Delta 4 or a new complex.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries succeeded in launching the new H3 rocket today almost a year after the first attempt failed. H3 will replace Japan’s existing […]
Thales Alenia Space will supply NEO Surveyor’s S-band transponder, K-band modulator and K-band travelling wave tube amplifier to transmit data 1.5 million kilometers between L1 and Earth.
Eutelsat has decided to hold off deploying significantly upgraded OneWeb broadband satellites to instead focus on adding continuity of service capacity for customers with long-term contracts, the French fleet operator said Feb. 16.
Japan’s H3 rocket made a second attempt to reach orbit on Saturday, 11 months after it failed during its maiden flight. The rocket successfully sent a mass simulator and two small satellites to the same 669-kilometer Sun-synchronous orbit it targeted on the previous mission. Liftoff commenced at 00:22 UTC (9:22 AM local time) from Launch Pad 2 of the Yoshinobu Launch Complex of the Tanegashima Space Center.
Payloads: Exploration Potable Water Dispenser (xPWD): Following the 2-day incubation period, the xPWD water sample was assessed for Coliform contamination. An on-orbit PWD, launched in fall 2008, provides water for crew consumption and food preparation on the ISS. A new system, the xPWD, reflects advances in water sanitization methods and microbial growth reduction and includes …
Shares of Intuitive Machines jumped for a second consecutive day after the company issued an update that said its moon lander mission “is in excellent health.”
As China expands its presence in orbit, the U.S. Space Force continues to express concern about Beijing’s advancing satellite capabilities. The latest cause for alarm is China’s deployment of imaging satellites in geostationary orbit.
India is planning up to 30 launches over a 15-months period, indicating the ambition for a significant rise in both civil and commercial launch activities.
German launch startup Rocket Factory Augsburg has stated that it is preparing for the maiden flight of its RFA ONE rocket in the second quarter of 2024. However, the flight appears to have slipped to the fourth quarter of this year. RFA will be launching the maiden flight of RFA ONE from SaxaVord, a spaceport […]
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Iridium Communications expects to get another five years out of its satellites, pushing out any need to complete a replenishment of the L-band connectivity constellation to at least 2035.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby confirmed today that Russia is developing a “troubling” antisatellite, or ASAT, capability, but stressed it is not an immediate threat. Kirby was reacting to […]
Executives with two companies developing commercial space stations called on NASA and Congress to take fiscal and policy steps to avoid a space station gap they feared could cede leadership in low Earth orbit to China.
For even the most accomplished satellite operators, losing 100 satellites in a year would represent wiping out most, if not all, of their current fleet.
Despite multiple scrubs and delays due to weather violations, SpaceX broke its own cadence record in January with 10 launches and landings in a calendar month. Those weather challenges have prevailed into February. Between these and the pad logistics related to launching the Intuitive Machines IM-1 mission, PACE satellite, USSF-124, and an upcoming crewed mission, it currently looks unlikely that the company will repeat this target by the end of February.
87 Progress (87P) Launch: Yesterday evening, at 9:25 PM CST, 87P launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome carrying food, fuel, and supplies to the ISS. An automated docking to the ISS SM aft docking port will occur on Saturday, February 17th, at approximately 12:12 AM CST after completing a 34-orbit rendezvous. Payloads: Boeing Environment Responding Antimicrobial …
On January 15th, at 1:05 AM Eastern Time, Intuitive Machine’s NOVA-C lander Odysseus lifted off in support of the IM-1 mission – with the aim of becoming the first American spacecraft to make it to the lunar surface in over 50 years, following the failure of the Astrobotic Peregrine lander in January. The mission, the second under the Commercial Lunar Payload Service initiative, aims to deliver lower cost science packages to the lunar surface by utilizing If successful, IM-1 will become the first American spacecraft to set down on the South Pole, a region prized for its resources but rife for potential conflict in the near future.
Texas-based Intuitive Machines’ inaugural moon mission began early Thursday morning, heading toward what could be the first U.S. lunar landing in more than 50 years.
Italian launch startup Sidereus Space Dynamics has announced the completion of a short-duration hot fire test campaign for its MR-5 rocket engine. Sidereus Space was founded in 2019 with the aim of developing a small reusable single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) launch vehicle called EOS. The vehicle will stand at 3.5 metres tall and will be capable of […]
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A U.S. spacecraft is once again on its way to the Moon. If successful, it will be the first U.S. lunar lander since the Apollo era. Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic tried last […]
An Intuitive Machines spacecraft is on its way to the moon Feb. 15 in the company’s quest to be the first commercial entity to successfully land on the lunar surface.
A congressional hearing today illuminated a wide range of policy issues awaiting resolution as the International Space Station nears its end, but the answers remain elusive. The ISS is expected […]
Space startup Varda received long-awaited approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to bring its first spacecraft back to earth after a stint manufacturing drugs in space.
Payloads: Boeing Environment Responding Antimicrobial Coatings-2 (AC-2): The crew performed a routine, periodic touching of two of the six experiment placards deployed in various locations throughout the ISS. Antimicrobial Coatings-2 tests an antimicrobial coating on several different materials that represent high-touch surfaces. Some microbes change characteristics in microgravity, which could create new risks to crew …
Chinese launch firm Orienspace announced a series B funding round shortly after its successful debut launch, as China moves to nurture its growing commercial space ecosystem.
The UK Space Agency has committed £7.4 million in contributions to eight international missions that will explore the Moon, Mars, Venus, and our Universe. “From exploring water on Mars and the possibility of sustained human activity on the red planet to how galaxies evolved over time, our more than £7 million investment is pushing the […]
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