TAMPA, Fla. — A second pair of O3b mPower satellites for upgrading SES’ medium Earth orbit (MEO) broadband network are due to arrive at their SpaceX launchpad in Florida this week, Boeing announced April 11.

WASHINGTON — A new report recommends that current restrictions on the Federal Aviation Administration’s ability to regulate safety for people flying on commercial spacecraft be allowed to expire later this year.

WASHINGTON — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is once again requesting a significant budget increase for future weather satellite programs after Congress cut its funding request for 2023.

WASHINGTON — Virgin Orbit is proposing a rapid sale of the company or its assets in bankruptcy, hoping to conclude the process before the end of May.

The first-ever 3D-printed rocket is being retired after a single flight. That vehicle, Relativity Space’s Terran 1, launched on its debut test flight on March 22. The rocket performed well initially, surviving Max-Q, the part of flight during which the structural loads are highest on a vehicle. But something went wrong shortly after the Terran 1’s two stages separated, and the rocket failed to reach orbit.

The Starship vehicle lifted off from SpaceX’s Starbase test site at Boca Chica, Texas, at 9:33 a.m. Eastern. The liftoff took place after a brief hold at T-40 seconds to clear final issues pressuring the rocket’s propellant tanks.

Japan’s Hakuto-R spacecraft is preparing to make a historic lunar landing attempt on April 25.

“Satellite and orbital debris rules” will be one of the primary responsibilities of the newly created Space Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The regulator announced (opens in new tab) the new bureau on Tuesday (April 11).

Even after Europe’s Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer (JUICE) concludes its mission more than ten years from now, we are unlikely to know for sure whether life might be thriving in the vicinity of the solar system’s largest planet.

HELSINKI — China has selected near-Earth object 2019 VL5 for a combined asteroid deflection and observation test to launch 2025.

WASHINGTON — Rocket Lab has shifted a pair of Electron launches of NASA storm-monitoring cubesats from Virginia to New Zealand, avoiding a potential conflict with another launch.

WASHINGTON — Europe’s first mission to Jupiter is ready to launch on the next to last flight of the Ariane 5 on April 13.

WASHINGTON — Slingshot Aerospace, a space tracking and data analytics company, announced April 12 it is expanding its network of ground-based optical telescopes to increase coverage of low Earth orbit. 

WASHINGTON — As Canada celebrates its first astronaut to go to the moon, it is starting a new project that could eventually enable a Canadian to walk on the lunar surface.

HOUSTON — As preparations for the Artemis 2 mission ramp up, NASA has established a congressionally mandated office to oversee planning for that and future missions to the moon.

TAMPA, Fla. — Thuraya is providing Swiss small satellite operator Astrocast a $17.5 million financial lifeline in a deal that marks the Emirati company’s first investment in a low Earth orbit (LEO) constellation.