Washington-based aerospace company Blue Origin has secured a $3.4 billion NASA contract to build a human landing system for Artemis V, an upcoming crewed moon mission aimed at demonstrating exploration capabilities and setting up the support systems for recurring missions. The company’s Blue Moon lander will be developed and tested for compliance with requirements for […]
The U.S. Space Force has awarded orbital logistics and space mining company TransAstra Corp. a phase 1 Small Business Innovation Research contract to explore new use cases for its Omnivore propulsion technology. Under the SBIR award, TransAstra will explore government and commercial use cases for the propulsion system. The Omnivore thruster uses solar reflectors to […]
Japan will launch navigation satellites carrying U.S. Space Force payloads designed for improving space domain awareness capabilities. MIT Lincoln Laboratories developed the optical sensor payloads, which were already delivered to Japan for integration into the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System’s QZS-6 and QZ-7 spacecraft. The satellites were expected to be deployed in 2024 but the liftoff is […]
The chief of the U.S. Space Command said the U.S. military should invest in space-based technologies to stay abreast with new technologies and capabilities. Speaking at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual LANPAC conference, Gen. James Dickinson, who spoke at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2nd Annual Industrial Space Defense Summit in May 2022, said […]
Two House lawmakers have introduced a bill seeking the creation of a Space National Guard under the U.S. Space Force and moving space professionals from the U.S. Air Force’s Air National Guard units to the new component. Reps. Jason Crow and Doug Lamborn introduced the Space National Guard Establishment Act after similar legislation passed the […]
National Aeronautics and Space Administration Administrator Bill Nelson reminded lawmakers on Tuesday during a hearing before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation about the economic and political urgency of funding the Artemis missions to allow the United States and its international partners to land and explore the moon’s south pole before China. Nelson […]
Propulsion system problems have forced NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to end its Lunar Flashlight mission. The Lunar Flashlight cubesat was launched as a rideshare payload on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in December 2022 to map ice in permanently shadowed regions near the moon’s south pole. The satellite, however, failed to reach the moon’s […]
NASA will host a live event on May 19 to reveal the second company tasked with building a sustainable human landing system for the Artemis V mission, an upcoming crewed flight to the moon likely to occur no earlier than 2027. The HLS will be used to ferry astronauts between the moon’s surface and the […]
The Space Development Agency has announced its plan to select two companies that will provide 100 Alpha satellites for the second tranche of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture’s Transport Layer. In a draft solicitation, SDA said each satellite will carry three optical communications terminals and Ka-band and Link 16 payloads. The draft request was posted […]
The Air Force Research Laboratory has selected eight universities to develop nanosatellites for Earth observation, communications and technology demonstration under the AFRL Space Vehicles Directorate-sponsored Mission Concept Program. MCP, in partnership with NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative, aims to reduce the barriers hindering university teams from building smallsats and cubesats. Participating students will receive mentorship and guidance […]
