Industry News
Headlines from space publications, linked back to the original articles
Industry / News
- Hakuto-R Lunar Lander Experiences Landing Failure The Launch Pad · 25 Apr 2023 “We already confirmed that we have established communication until the very end of the landing – however, now we have lost the communication, so we have to assume that… we could not complete the landing on the lunar surf...
- SpaceX to take over West Coast launch pad previously used by ULA SpaceNews · 25 Apr 2023 SpaceX is getting a second launch pad on the West Coast after gaining approval to lease Space Launch Complex 6 (SLC-6) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, a historic pad previously occupied by United Launch Allia...
- NASA Selects 12 Companies to Collaborate on Key Technology Development NASA · 25 Apr 2023 NASA has selected 16 proposals from 12 companies under the 2022 Announcement of Collaboration Opportunity (ACO) to advance capabilities and technologies related to NASA's Moon to Mars Objectives. The cadre of U.S. indust...
- Ursa Major Engine To Be Used On Astra Rocket 4 The Launch Pad · 25 Apr 2023 Ursa Major CEO, Joe Laurienti, says that the partnership with Astra “marks an important industry milestone in outsourcing propulsion to unlock growth and innovation for launch providers”
- First ispace lunar lander feared lost SpaceNews · 25 Apr 2023 Controllers lost contact with a lunar lander developed by a Japanese company moments before its scheduled touchdown, raising fears the spacecraft crashed during its final descent.
- NASA Retires Mineral Mapping Instrument on Mars Orbiter NASA · 25 Apr 2023 One of six instruments aboard the agency’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, CRISM produced global maps of minerals on the Red Planet’s surface.
- Japanese lander appears to fail just before touchdown on the Moon [Updated] Ars Technica · 25 Apr 2023 This lunar landing is at the vanguard of a number of private landing attempts.
- Japanese ispace moon landing attempt falls short at ‘very end,’ CEO says CNBC · 25 Apr 2023 Japanese lunar exploration company ispace attempted to land its first cargo mission on the moon on Tuesday, but lost communication with the spacecraft and has deemed the attempt unsuccessful, CEO Takeshi Hakamada said.
- NASA Announces Student Winners of Power to Explore Challenge NASA · 25 Apr 2023 NASA selected three winners out of nine finalists in the second annual Power to Explore Challenge, a national competition for elementary through high school students featuring the power of radioisotopes for space explora...
- Connecting the Dots | SES-Intelsat merger would face uphill regulatory struggle SpaceNews · 25 Apr 2023 Plenty of operational synergies await SES and Intelsat if the world’s largest fixed satellite service providers can craft a merger able to clear regulatory scrutiny.
- Hydrosat collects $20 million in investment and grants SpaceNews · 25 Apr 2023 Hydrosat received $20 million in government grants and investment for its campaign to measure water stress in plants and other indicators of climate change.
- Quantum Space moves up development of Ranger transfer vehicle SpaceNews · 25 Apr 2023 Quantum Space is accelerating work on a transfer vehicle designed to take payloads to both geostationary orbit and cislunar space to support growing demand from commercial and government customers.
- SpaceX conducts Starlink Group 3 deployment launch NASASpaceflight · 25 Apr 2023 SpaceX’s 27th launch of the year occurred Thursday, April 26, 2023, lofting another batch of 46 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit. Liftoff was at 6:40 AM PDT (13:40 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) a...
- Falcon Heavy delay affects space station manifest SpaceNews · 25 Apr 2023 A delayed launch of commercial satellites on a Falcon Heavy could upend the schedule of flights to the International Space Station, including a private astronaut mission that was scheduled for early May.
- SpaceX Receives Permission To Lease Historic SLC-6 At Vandenberg Space Force Base The Launch Pad · 25 Apr 2023 Vandenberg Space Force Base has granted SpaceX permission to lease Space Launch Complex 6 for Falcon rocket launches.
- NASA InSight Study Provides Clearest Look Ever at Martian Core NASA · 24 Apr 2023 A pair of quakes in 2021 sent seismic waves deep into the Red Planet’s core, giving scientists the best data yet on its size and composition.
- Ursa Major to supply upper-stage engine for Astra’s new rocket SpaceNews · 24 Apr 2023 Rocket propulsion startup Ursa Major announced April 24 that Astra Space selected the company’s Hadley liquid engine to power the upper stage of its new Rocket 4 launch vehicle.
- Report: Space Force could benefit from commercial data to monitor satellites and debris SpaceNews · 24 Apr 2023 The Space Force is investing in new sensors and technologies to better characterize objects in orbit, but is not taking full advantage of commercially available data and services, says a new report by the Government Acco...
- SpaceX aims to launch Falcon Heavy and two Falcon 9 rockets this week Teslarati · 24 Apr 2023 SpaceX will aim to complete three successful launches this week, with Falcon Heavy leading the charge and two Falcon 9 launches coming...
- KMI advertises prices for debris removal SpaceNews · 24 Apr 2023 Kall Morris Inc. handed out a deck of cards at the Space Symposium to advertise prices the company plans to charge for grabbing space junk.
- NASA, Rocket Lab Set Coverage for Tropical Cyclones Mission NASA · 24 Apr 2023 NASA and Rocket Lab are targeting 9 p.m. EDT, Sunday, April 30 (1 p.m. New Zealand Standard Time, Monday, May 1), to launch two storm tracking CubeSats into orbit.
- Using Hubble, researchers accidentally discover ejected black hole forcing star creation NASASpaceflight · 24 Apr 2023 Throughout the universe, supermassive black holes can typically be found at the center of massive galaxies that stretch tens of light years across. However, using Hubble, a team of researchers has discovered a supermassi...
- VP Harris, South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol to Visit NASA Goddard NASA · 24 Apr 2023 Vice President Kamala Harris and Republic of Korea (ROK) President Yoon Suk Yeol will visit NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, on Tuesday, April 25, to see firsthand the agency’s climate change wo...
- Inmarsat Q&A | Mobile satellite services coming back stronger than a ‘90s trend SpaceNews · 24 Apr 2023 SpaceNews interviewed Peter Hardinger, Inmarsat’s chief technology officer, about how the operator plans to take advantage of emerging direct-to-smartphone capabilities that are breathing new life into the mobile satelli...
- Maxar eyes summer launch of WorldView Legion imaging satellites SpaceNews · 24 Apr 2023 After years of delays, Maxar Technologies is preparing for the first launch this summer of its next-generation imaging satellites WorldView Legion.
- Virgin Orbit completes LauncherOne investigation as Chapter 11 bankruptcy continues SpaceNews · 24 Apr 2023 Virgin Orbit says it is moving ahead with plans to return its LauncherOne rocket to flight later this year even though there is no certainty the company will emerge from bankruptcy.
- As megaconstellations grow, scientists become concerned with their impacts on astronomy NASASpaceflight · 23 Apr 2023 Since their initial launch in 2019, SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites have become infamous for photobombing observations from ground-based telescopes. While Starlink — along with other satellite “megaconstellations”...
- China may include helicopter in Mars sample return mission SpaceNews · 23 Apr 2023 China could include a helicopter in its Tianwen-3 mission to collect samples from Mars and deliver them to Earth.
- Astra wins $11.5 million contract to launch military experimental payloads SpaceNews · 22 Apr 2023 Astra Space won a task order worth $11.5 million to launch experimental payloads for the Defense Department’s Space Test Program.
- U.S. military buying SES mPower satcom services under new NATO agreement SpaceNews · 22 Apr 2023 The U.S. Space Force in its 2024 budget allocated $59 million to buy satellite communications services from SES’ new broadband constellation in medium Earth orbit known as O3b mPower.
- U.S. Space Force will be the first customer for BlueHalo’s mobile ground station SpaceNews · 22 Apr 2023 The U.S. Space Force in 2025 plans to start replacing decades-old parabolic satellite dishes with electronic phased array antennas developed by BlueHalo.
- Swedish astronaut to fly to ISS on Axiom mission SpaceNews · 21 Apr 2023 A Swedish astronaut may fly to the International Space Station on a commercial mission within the next year under an agreement signed this week.
- Inmarsat still trying to restore satellite phone services in Asia Pacific SpaceNews · 21 Apr 2023 Inmarsat has restored maritime and aviation safety capabilities on its I-4 F1 satellite over Asia Pacific but is still trying to recover services for L-band phones that have been down for nearly a week.
- EGS launch team applying first SLS launch lessons to future Artemis missions NASASpaceflight · 21 Apr 2023 The NASA Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) program is now working on collecting, analyzing, and applying lessons learned during the long Artemis I launch processing flow to streamline future launch campaigns, beginning wi...
- Government calls for greater responsibility by satellite operators SpaceNews · 21 Apr 2023 Government officials say satellite operators need to take greater responsibility for safe operations of their spacecraft in increasingly congested orbits.
- LeoLabs highlights on-orbit maneuvers SpaceNews · 21 Apr 2023 A LeoLabs maneuver-detection dashboard displayed at the 38th Space Symposium tracked the location of about 30 Chinese, Iranian and Russian spacecraft in low-Earth orbit.
- Pennsylvania Students to Hear from NASA Astronaut Aboard Space Station NASA · 21 Apr 2023 Students from North Allegheny School District in McCandless, Pennsylvania, will have an opportunity this week to hear from a NASA astronaut aboard the International Space Station.
- Nelson supports continuing restrictions on NASA cooperation with China SpaceNews · 21 Apr 2023 NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said he supports continuing current restrictions on the agency’s ability to work with China in spaceflight as he warns of a “space race” between the countries.
- Rocket Report: Starship RUDs on the way to space; Rocket Lab to reuse engine Ars Technica · 21 Apr 2023 "Obviously we’re closely following that."
- FCC adopts revised NGSO spectrum-sharing rules SpaceNews · 21 Apr 2023 The Federal Communications Commission adopted new rules April 20 governing how fixed-satellite service operators in non-geostationary orbit share spectrum amid an unprecedented flood of proposed constellations.