NASA selects Axiom Space for fourth ISS private astronaut mission
SEATTLE — NASA has selected Axiom Space to carry out the fourth in a series of private astronaut missions to the International Space Station in 2024.
Voyager Space and Airbus create commercial space station joint venture
SEATTLE — Voyager Space is joining forces with Airbus Defence and Space on a joint venture for the development of the Starlab commercial space station.
SpaceX launches Intelsat’s last C-band clearing satellite
TAMPA, Fla. — The last satellite Intelsat needs to claim nearly $5 billion in total C-band spectrum clearing proceeds is performing well after launching Aug. 3. on a Falcon 9, its manufacturer Maxar Technologies said.
ISS partners seek to maximize use of station through 2030
SEATTLE — While the partners in the International Space Station have agreed to operate the station through at least the late 2020s, the extended use of the station still faces technical and budgetary challenges.
Space Development Agency to consider commercial LEO options to augment DoD network
WASHINGTON — SpaceX, Kuiper Government Solutions and Aalyria Technologies were selected for market-research studies on how commercial systems could add capacity to the military’s future low Earth orbit constellation.
How Artemis 2 astronauts are training for their 2024 moon mission
The four Artemis 2 astronauts headed for the moon in November 2024 include a woman, a person of color and a Canadian. Between them, they’ve flown on SpaceX’s Dragon capsule, Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft, the International Space Station, in free-flying spacesuits on spacewalks, and on dozens of aircraft types. Their collective career experience includes visits to Antarctica and the U.S. Senate, combat missions and landing on naval carrier aircraft.
NASA to hunt deep space gamma-rays with new high-altitude balloon mission
In August, NASA plans to deploy a high-altitude balloon that’ll hunt for gamma-rays, or high-energy wavelengths produced by some of the most powerful explosions in our universe. And last week, the agency provided an update on the mission.
Archaeology on the moon: How to preserve spaceflight artifacts from Apollo era
As NASA and other entities plan to put humans on the moon again later in the 2020s, a new study suggests we should see what changes the lunar environment causes on human artifacts left on the surface, with an eye to preserving what is possible: Spacecraft, experiments, trash and other things.
Stunning image reveals 1st detection of gas giants being born around a young star
Astronomers have caught a glimpse of a stunning cosmic “phoenix” that represents a planetary system in the making.
Galactic Energy registers sixth consecutive successful launch
HELSINKI — Chinese startup Galactic Energy sent two satellites into orbit early Saturday with the company’s sixth consecutive successful launch.
A Ceres-1 four-stage solid rocket lifted off using a transporter erector launcher at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert at 1:07 a.m. Eastern, July 22. Two satellites were aboard the flight codenamed “Lemon Tree.”
Amazon picks Kennedy Space Center for Project Kuiper processing facility
TAMPA, Fla. — Amazon announced plans July 21 to build a satellite processing facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Florida, as it prepares to start launching 3,200 commercial Project Kuiper broadband satellites next year.
NASA moving into next phase of exploration architecture review
CLEVELAND — Three months after rolling out the first phase of its architecture for human exploration of the moon and Mars, NASA is heading into a second phase that will focus on Mars.
China’s CASIC to begin launching VLEO satellites in December
HONG KONG — Chinese space and defense contractor CASIC says it will begin building a constellation of 300 satellites in very-low Earth orbit late this year.
The very-low Earth orbit (VLEO) constellation is to consist of 192 satellites by 2027 to provide users with space information services every half an hour and be expanded to 300 satellites by 2030, the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) revealed at the China Commercial Aerospace Forum held in the city of Wuhan earlier this month.
CAPSTONE working well more than a year after launch
WASHINGTON — A year after its launch, a privately owned, NASA-funded cubesat orbiting the moon continues to work well, providing data to support the agency’s Artemis lunar exploration efforts.