Space

WASHINGTON — NASA is moving ahead with work on a pair of Mars sample return missions, although some in the planetary science community worry how the cost of that effort will affect other projects. NASA announced Dec. 17 that it approved moving the Mars Sample Return (MSR) program into Phase A of development, working on

WASHINGTON — NASA will not repair a faulty electronics unit on the Orion spacecraft recently completed for the Artemis 1 mission after concluding there was sufficient redundancy in the overall system. In a Dec. 17 statement, NASA said it had decided to “use as is” one of eight power and data units (PDU) on the

A Falcon 9 carrying the NROL-108 mission lifted off at Dec. 19 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern from Space Launch Complex 39 at Kennedy Space Center. WASHINGTON — A SpaceX Falcon 9 launched a classified mission for the National Reconnaissance Office Dec. 19. It was the company’s 26th and final launch of 2020. The Falcon 9

WASHINGTON — The Senate unanimously approved a NASA authorization bill Dec. 18, a largely symbolic move intended to set up work on a new version of the legislation next year. The Senate passed by unanimous consent S. 2800, the NASA Authorization Act of 2019. The bill had been awaiting action by the full Senate since

The Space Force says Guardians is a “name with a long history in space operations.” WASHINGTON — The members of the U.S. Space Force finally have a name: Guardians.  Vice President Mike Pence revealed the name Dec. 18 at a ceremony at the White House for the Space Force’s one-year anniversary.  “Henceforth the men and

WASHINGTON — OneWeb resumed deployment of its broadband satellite constellation with a Dec. 18 launch of 36 satellites, the first since the company emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. A Soyuz-2.1b rocket lifted off from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia at 7:26 a.m. Eastern. The rocket’s Fregat upper stage released the 36 satellites in nine sets

WASHINGTON — NASA has added New Glenn, the large launch vehicle under development by Blue Origin, to the list of vehicles eligible to compete for future agency missions. NASA announced Dec. 16 it awarded a launch services contract to Blue Origin, adding New Glenn to its NASA Launch Services (NLS) 2 contract vehicle as part

Tory Bruno said he is confident that Vulcan and first customer — Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander —  will be on the launch pad “by the end of next year.” WASHINGTON — United Launch Alliance’s new Vulcan Centaur rocket will be ready to launch its first mission in late 2021, CEO Tory Bruno said Dec. 17.

WASHINGTON — The next leader of the European Space Agency says his top priorities are to improve the agency’s relationship with the European Union and support commercial space activities in Europe. ESA announced Dec. 17 that the ESA Council selected Josef Aschbacher to be the next director general, effective at the end of June 2021

WASHINGTON — Amazon has tested what it describes as a low-cost flat-panel antenna for use with its Project Kuiper constellation, an innovation that could be essential to the long-term success of satellite broadband. Amazon announced Dec. 16 that it developed a Ka-band phased-array antenna that is much smaller and less expensive that traditional antennas that