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Low-Earth orbit satellite constellation company Muon Space has announced a Small Business Innovation Research Phase I contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory’s AFWERX directorate to support weather intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance activities. AFWERX requires a feasibility study on the benefit of modifying a multispectral electro-optical/infrared instrument for cloud characterization observation, which the U.S. Air […]

NASA has postponed the Artemis 2 and 3 lunar missions to resolve technical problems that could pose safety risks to their crews.  According to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, Artemis 2 and its four astronauts’ orbital moon mission had been reset from its end-2024 schedule to no earlier than September 2025. Nelson also said that the […]

Astrobotic announced that its Peregrine lunar lander experienced an anomaly with its propulsion system hours after launch on Monday. The company said the Peregrine spacecraft was operating as expected shortly after the United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur’s upper stage deployed and was communicating with NASA’s Deep Space Network. However, an anomaly occurred when Peregrine attempted […]

The U.S. Space Force’s deputy chief of space operations said the agency is finalizing a strategy document describing how the organization would work with the commercial space industry. Speaking at an event hosted by the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, Lt. Gen. DeAnna Burt said the Space Force is “days away from signing off on […]

NASA has announced that the United Arab Emirates’ Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre will provide the Crew and Science Airlock Module for the Gateway space station, the first such spacecraft in lunar orbit. The Gateway will serve as a staging point for moon missions under the Artemis program, NASA said.  The space station is also […]

NASA is accelerating its Commercial Low-Earth Orbit Development program with added funding reallocated to two of its partners developing LEO destinations for commercial space activities in anticipation of the International Space Station’s 2030 retirement. According to Phil McAlister, the agency’s commercial space director, the program’s partners were also assigned new technical milestones to help ensure […]

The Space Systems Command has conducted the Parallax Rising 2.2 tabletop exercise to identify space refueling models. During the three-day exercise, participants across the SSC and other organizations across the space enterprise looked at space refueling from a tactical command-and-control perspective to understand how to integrate commercial refuelers with the Department of Defense’s systems. They […]

 SpaceWERX, the Space Force’s technology unit, is seeking proposals from small businesses on American space launch sites’ information systems modernization. The project, dubbed Digital Spaceport of the Future Challenge, is open to U.S.-based companies with 500 employees or less, with proposals submitted through the Department of Defense’s Small Business Innovation Research website.  SpaceWERX is collaborating […]

Thirteen research projects have been selected for the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts’ 2024 Phase I program, with the awardees’ focus ranging from planetary exploration to a star-bound journey of a swarm of communication spacecraft.  The 2024 NIAC fellows are companies and institutions from across the United States, with each awardee receiving a $175,000 grant to […]

The U.S. Space Force’s two Integration Mission Delta prototypes are showing benefits early on, two service officials said. According to Col. Carl Bottolfson, director of futures and integration at the Space Force, the IMD concept allowed the Space Force to better understand how things work. Col. Marc Brock, director of combat power at the Space […]