Space

WASHINGTON — Rideshare launch service provider Spaceflight Inc. announced a new version of its Sherpa tug Nov. 12 equipped with electric propulsion that can send smallsats to high orbits or cislunar space. Spaceflight announced the first flight of its Sherpa-LTE orbital transfer vehicle (OTV) will take place in mid-2021. The vehicle is based on the

WASHINGTON — An independent review panel created by NASA to examine its plans to return samples from Mars endorsed the overall campaign, but recommended that the agency delay two upcoming missions to provide a more realistic development schedule. NASA established the Independent Review Board (IRB) in August to provide an outside assessment of its overall

SAN FRANCISCO – Luxembourg-based Kleos Space raised $13.8 million following the Nov. 7 launch of its first cluster of radio frequency mapping satellites. “Kleos is now well financed to execute the launch of the second cluster of satellites, Polar Vigilance Mission in mid-2021, and to develop its third cluster of satellites, targeted to be in

WASHINGTON — The Export-Import Bank of the United States is evaluating nearly $2 billion in applications to finance space industry sales as it seeks to return to a field that has changed significantly over the last few years. The Ex-Im Bank had been a major source of financing for commercial satellites and launches prior to

HELSINKI — A draft policy on opening up India’s space sector is expected to bring transformational change, the chairman of the commercial arm of the Indian space agency said Nov. 10. Speaking during an interview at Euroconsult’s World Satellite Business Week Virtual Edition conference, chairman and managing director of Antrix Corp. Rakesh Sasibhushan said the Spacecom

Appropriators questioned “recent moves by some agencies to procure launches outside of the space launch enterprise through direct commercial contracts or delivery on orbit contracts.” WASHINGTON — The Senate Appropriations Committee in a report Nov. 10 criticized the practice by some agencies of procuring launch services directly from commercial providers, bypassing the National Security Space

SAN FRANCISCO – Radar satellite operators continue to see the long-term promise of commercial markets and near-term demand from government customers, according to panelists speaking Nov. 10 at the virtual World Satellite Business Week conference. “We do still believe in the commercial market but it’s not as mature as we would have hoped,” said Payam

HELSINKI — Fleet operator APT Satellite has contracted China Great Wall Industry Corp. to build its Apstar-6E satellite based on a new, small high-throughput platform as part of a joint venture. Apstar-6E will be based on the new DFH-3E small GEO platform developed by the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST). The satellite will launch

SAN FRANCISCO – In spite of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated business challenges, 2020 has been a good year for Airbus Defence & Space satellite sales. “It will be probably one of the best years that we’ve had in terms of orders,” Jean-Marc Nasr, Airbus Defence & Space executive vice president for space systems, said

Raymond says the Space Force will work closely with the civilian space community and the commercial space industry. WASHINGTON — Gen. John “Jay” Raymond, chief of space operations of the U.S. Space Force, on Nov. 9 released a vision document that lays out long-term priorities and goals he intends to pursue during his time in

SAN FRANCISCO – L3Harris Technologies will help the U.S. Defense Defense extract information and insight from satellite and airborne imagery under a three-year U.S. Army Research Laboratory contract. L3Harris will develop and demonstrate an artificial intelligence-machine learning interface for Defense Department applications under the multimillion-dollar contract announced Oct. 26. “L3Harris will assist the Department of

WASHINGTON — A critical test of the core stage of the Space Launch System is facing another delay, this time because of a combination of weather and technical issues that may push back the test to the end of the year. NASA announced late Nov. 6 that it was delaying the final phases of the

Airbus U.S. Space and Defense filed its protest Oct. 28. Raytheon’s protest was filed Nov. 3. WASHINGTON — Airbus and Raytheon have filed protests with the Government Accountability Office challenging Space Development Agency contracts awarded to L3Harris and SpaceX last month for eight missile-tracking satellites, putting the projects on hold until the dispute is resolved.

The new generation of military GPS circuit cards are low power and about the size of a silver dollar. WASHINGTON — Raytheon Technologies, L3Harris’ Interstate Electronics Corp. and BAE Systems collectively received $552.5 million in contracts to develop and produce integrated circuit cards for military GPS receivers. The contracts announced Nov. 6 by the U.S.

WASHINGTON — A key senator says she will continue to push for passage during a lame-duck session of a NASA authorization bill that supports the Artemis lunar exploration program, but not necessarily the agency’s goal of return humans to the moon by 2024. In a talk Nov. 6 at a conference organized by the University

HELSINKI — Chinese rocket firm Galactic Energy successfully sent a small satellite into orbit Saturday with the first launch of its Ceres-1 launch vehicle. The Ceres-1 four-stage solid rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center near the Gobi Desert at 2:12 a.m. Eastern Saturday. First indications of launch came from spectators posting footage

HELSINKI — The Indian Space Research Organisation successfully carried out its first launch since the COVID-19 outbreak Saturday sending the EOS-1 Earth observation satellite and nine smaller payloads into orbit. Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C49 (PSLV-C49) lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center on the Indian island of Sriharikota at 4:42 a.m. Eastern Nov. 7

SAN FRANCISCO – Maxar Technologies plans to launch its first two WorldView Legion satellites as early as September 2021 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. “We continue to make progress on the integration, assembly and test of all six spacecraft and instruments, and we expect to go into

WASHINGTON — With the successful launch of 10 satellites, Earth observation company Satellogic says it can now move ahead of its rivals in providing high-resolution imagery. A Long March 6 rocket lifted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center at 10:19 p.m. Eastern Nov. 5 and successfully deployed 13 satellites into a sun-synchronous orbit. The

SAN FRANCISCO – EchoStar Corp. plans to launch the Jupiter 3 broadband satellite in the first quarter of 2022 but has not yet selected a launch provider, company officials said during a Nov. 5 earnings call. EchoStar originally planned to launch the 500 gigabit-per-second Ka-band satellite in 2021 to expand broadband capacity over North and

WASHINGTON — Virgin Galactic executives said Nov. 5 that the company is ready to begin a final series of test flights of its SpaceShipTwo suborbital vehicle as the company attempts to move into commercial operations in 2021. In its release of its third quarter financial results and accompanying earnings call, the company said it is

WASHINGTON — Rocket Lab will try to recover the first stage of its Electron rocket on its next launch as the company continues its efforts to reuse that stage. The company announced Nov. 5 that its next Electron launch, scheduled for Nov. 15 (U.S. time) from New Zealand, will include the first attempt by the

The Air Force Research Laboratory’s Space Vehicles Directorate will use the new facility to test advanced composite materials and structures. WASHINGTON — The Air Force Research Laboratory is opening a $4 million facility focused on spacecraft component testing, AFRL announced Nov. 3. The so-called Deployable structures Laboratory will be part of AFRL’s Space Vehicles Directorate.

SAN FRANCISCO – Frontier Aerospace, a small Simi Valley, California, company, has completed the design of attitude control thrusters developed with NASA and Astrobotic Technologies for deep space missions. “We are well on our way to qualifying both 150 and 10 [pounds of thrust] engines for Astrobotic’s near-term Peregrine lunar lander mission,” Frontier Aerospace announced

WASHINGTON — Former NASA astronaut Mark Kelly won his race for the U.S. Senate in Arizona Nov. 3 while two members of Congress involved in space issues lost their bids for reelection. Kelly, a Democrat, defeated incumbent Republican Sen. Martha McSally by a margin of 52.6% to 47.4%, according to results published by the Arizona

WASHINGTON — A new “national initiative” wants to promote the development of satellite servicing and in-space assembly technologies among U.S. government agencies that have differing views on the value of such capabilities. The On-Orbit Servicing, Assembly and Manufacturing (OSAM) National Initiative is intended to exchange information and establish partnerships among government agencies, and with industry

WASHINGTON — NASA is delaying the launch of an ocean science satellite on one Falcon 9 rocket, but says that delay will not affect another Falcon 9 launch of a commercial crew mission. The agency announced Nov. 3 it was delaying the launch of the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite on a Falcon 9 from Vandenberg

WASHINGTON — Vector, a small launch vehicle developer that went bankrupt in 2019, is getting a second chance under new ownership, with changes to both its technology and initial markets. Vector has raised more than $100 million to develop a family of small launch vehicles, but suspended operations in August 2019 and laid off most

“It’s a brave new world for the DoD to embark on,” said Capt. David Buehler, manager of the AFRL experiment named CHPS, for Cislunar Highway Patrol System. U.S. military space activities today are confined to Earth orbit. That could change in the coming years as NASA begins to establish a permanent presence at the moon

SAN FRANCISCO – Spacebit is inviting university researchers to share data the London-based company plans to obtain from two miniature rovers scheduled to travel to the moon with Astrobotic Technology and Intuitive Machines in 2021. Spacebit’s sensor-laden rovers are designed to transmit data through the Astrobotic and Intuitive Machine landers to the company’s mission control

“We will sell no wine before its time” — Paul Masson, 1978 Compared to the rapid-fire tempo of SpaceX Starlink and OneWeb’s upcoming return to launch operations in December, Telesat’s pace to build a global LEO broadband constellation is glacial. It still hasn’t selected a satellite manufacturer, a task it expected to complete over a

Twenty years ago, the joint U.S.-Russia space mission Expedition 1 docked with the first modules of the International Space Station (International Space Station). An American astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts arrived to, in effect, bring the station to life. They turned on the lights, unpacked the boxes, and set up the kitchen. Over 136 days

U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.), a co-chair of the recently established House Space Force Caucus, suggested Oct. 28 that orbital debris is a major threat to a prosperous space economy and that better space situational awareness is crucial to protecting the sector. “I think space debris and situational awareness, the need to deconflict is a

SAN FRANCISCO – Canadian satellite fleet operator Telesat is in advanced discussions with vendors seeking to build and launch satellites for its multibillion dollar, 298-satellite Telesat LEO constellation. “My expectation is that we’d be in a position to make some announcements about who those vendors are by the end of this year,” Telesat CEO Dan

SAN FRANCISCO – NXT Communications Corp. (NXTCOMM) announced plans Oct. 28 to begin demonstrating the performance of its electronically steered antenna through leased capacity on a Eutelsat Communications satellite. Atlanta-based NXTCOMM unveiled its electronically steered antenna in June, which it considers a building block for a family of satellite antennas for mobile connectivity. Specifically, NXTCOMM

WASHINGTON — Virgin Orbit plans to invest in Sky and Space Global (SAS), the financially troubled satellite constellation company, and partner with it on launch and satellite services. In an Oct. 28 statement, SAS said that Virgin Orbit will take a stake of no less than 14.7% in the company by purchasing shares in the

HELSINKI — China has outlined a proposed architecture for getting astronauts to the moon and back as part of plans for long-term lunar exploration. A presentation at the 2020 China Space Conference in September details infrastructure including a new launch vehicle, new-generation spacecraft and a lunar lander, along with a potential lunar orbit module and

WASHINGTON — While NASA and the European Space Agency hailed an agreement this week to work together on the lunar Gateway, both agencies have work ahead to establish international cooperation on the overall Artemis program of human lunar exploration. NASA and ESA announced Oct. 27 that they had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to

In a memo Oct. 29, Deputy Secretary of Defense David Norquist said the new position will be filled by Justin Johnson, the acting deputy assistant secretary of defense for space policy.  WASHINGTON — The Defense Department announced Oct. 30 it has established the office of the assistant secretary of defense for space policy, a new

WASHINGTON — The commercial space industry hopes to continue recent progress in regulatory reform even if there is a new president or a change in party control in Congress after the election. The last six months have seen two major milestones in government regulation of commercial space activities: the publication of revised commercial remote sensing

WASHINGTON — NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has secured material it collected from the asteroid Bennu into a sample return capsule, a process the mission accelerated after images showed material leaking into space. At an Oct. 29 briefing, project officials said they had stowed a sample collection device called the Touch-And-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) into a

U.S. investment in commercial geoint has been relatively flat over the last five years WASHINGTON — A new study by the MITRE Corp. says the U.S. commercial geospatial intelligence industry is being outpaced by foreign competitors and the U.S. government could do more to help. U.S. investment in commercial geoint has been relatively flat over

Braxton, based Colorado Springs, will be merged into Parsons’ space and geospatial business. WASHINGTON — Parsons announced Oct. 29 it will acquire Braxton Science & Technology Group for $258 million. The acquisition broadens the company’s footprint in space and cybersecurity.  Braxton, based Colorado Springs, Colorado, will be merged into Parsons’ space and geospatial business, adding

WASHINGTON — A Rocket Lab Electron rocket successfully placed 10 satellites into orbit for two customers who lost payloads on a launch failure earlier this year. The Electron rocket lifted off from the company’s launch site on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula at 5:21 p.m. Eastern Oct. 28. The rocket’s kick stage deployed its payload of

Barrett: Over the past several months “there’s been a big mindset change.” WASHINGTON — The Space Force has been the subject of snark since it was first proposed. But the naysayers are coming around, Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett said Oct. 28. “A year ago Space Force was an idea that was mocked,” Barrett said

Air Force Col. Michael “Hopper” Hopkins, commander of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission, will be commissioned into the U.S. Space Force. WASHINGTON — NASA astronaut Michael Hopkins, a U.S. Air Force colonel and the commander of the upcoming SpaceX Crew Dragon mission, is transferring to the U.S. Space Force and is expected to be commissioned aboard

SAN FRANCISCO — The Federal Communications Commission approved the creation Oct. 27 of a 5G Fund for Rural America to distribute as much as $9 billion over the next decade to extend 5G wireless broadband connectivity to rural communities. The FCC plans to distribute the funds through a series of reverse auctions. During the first

SAN FRANCISCO – The Aerospace Corp. is calling for the U.S. government to work with industry and international partners to develop space solar power technologies. The concept of space solar power “evolved over a very long time and is probably a couple of generations away from being hooked into the terrestrial power grid,” James Vedda,