Industry News
Headlines from space publications, linked back to the original articles
Industry / News
- SpaceX Inspiration4 Dragon, Falcon 9 booster return to port after flawless mission Teslarati · 20 Sep 2021 After acing a flawless commercial astronaut launch debut, SpaceX’s Inspiration4 Crew Dragon spacecraft, Falcon 9 booster, and the four private astronauts they...
- FAA releases draft environmental report on SpaceX Starship orbital launches SpaceNews · 20 Sep 2021 A draft environmental assessment released by the Federal Aviation Administration suggests that SpaceX will be able to proceed with orbital Starship launches from Texas, but with a number of mitigations required.
- SpaceX’s orbital Starship launch pad tank farm comes to life for the first time Teslarati · 19 Sep 2021 Update: Two days after a bevy of tanker trucks began to arrive at SpaceX’s orbital Starship launch site with load upon load...
- SpaceX prepares Starship, Super Heavy for milestone Raptor static fire tests Teslarati · 19 Sep 2021 SpaceX has scheduled a full week with as many as 30 hours of road and beach closures for Starship and Super Heavy...
- Space community ponders right-of-way rules for space traffic SpaceNews · 19 Sep 2021 The growing number of satellites in orbit is leading to calls to develop formal “right of way” rules, although there is no consensus on what those rules should be and how they should be established.
- Space Force grappling with aging infrastructure used to operate satellites SpaceNews · 19 Sep 2021 The ground stations and tracking antennas the U.S. military relies on to communicate with its satellites — known as the Satellite Control Network, or SCN — are decades old and short of the capacity needed to keep up with...
- Crew Dragon splashes down to conclude Inspiration4 mission SpaceNews · 18 Sep 2021 SpaceX’s first private crewed mission ended with the splashdown of the Crew Dragon spacecraft off the Florida coast Sept. 18.
- SpaceX to launch Turksat 6A SpaceNews · 18 Sep 2021 Turksat will launch its first domestically built communications satellite on a SpaceX Falcon 9, the Turkish government announced Sept. 17.
- All-civilian crew prepares for Saturday evening splashdown Spaceflight Now · 18 Sep 2021 The Inspiration4 crew members wrapped up their third and final day in orbit Saturday and set their sights on an automated plunge back to Earth, a steep descent to an evening splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean near Cape Can...
- Inspiration4 and all-civilian crew return to Earth with splashdown off Florida coast NASASpaceflight · 18 Sep 2021 The Inspiration4 mission, flown by Crew Dragon Resilience, has concluded its three-day mission with a splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean.
- Four civilian space travelers back on Earth after landmark flight Spaceflight Now · 18 Sep 2021 Four civilian space travelers rode a SpaceX capsule through a blazing re-entry back into Earth’s atmosphere Saturday evening and safely splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean northeast of Cape Canaveral, completing a histor...
- The FAA releases initial report on Boca Chica launches, and it’s not terrible Ars Technica · 17 Sep 2021 "Support is greatly appreciated!"
- CesiumAstro plots in-house satellite production ramp-up after debut launch SpaceNews · 17 Sep 2021 CesiumAstro expects to be building satellites mostly by itself in two years to house the active phased arrays it has been developing, aiming to shift the paradigm for electronically steered antennas with commercial-like...
- New research finds first clear detection of circumplanetary disk surrounding an exoplanet NASASpaceflight · 17 Sep 2021 In recently published research using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), astronomers announced that they had found the first clear detection of a circumplanetary, moon-forming disk surrounding the ex...
- NASA's Ingenuity Helicopter Captures a Mars Rock Feature in 3D NASA · 17 Sep 2021 The rotorcraft captures nuances of rocky outcrop during aerial reconnaissance.
- Space Force to consider space sustainability in any future conflict SpaceNews · 17 Sep 2021 The U.S. military will take space sustainability factors into account should it have to respond to an attack on its satellites, a Space Force official said Sept. 16.
- Rocket Report: Virgin Galactic delays flight, Falcon Heavy nets NASA mission Ars Technica · 17 Sep 2021 "There was a large bang and some white smoke went up."
- U.S. generals planning for a space war they see as all but inevitable SpaceNews · 17 Sep 2021 The Pentagon has declared space is a warfighting domain. Generals and executives in the space industry are preparing to defend the ultimate high ground.
- Shenzhou-12 astronauts return to Earth after 3-month space station mission SpaceNews · 17 Sep 2021 Three Chinese astronauts safely returned to Earth Sept. 17 after completing the first crewed mission aboard the Tianhe space station module.
- Inspiration4 crew describes “incredible perspective” from space Spaceflight Now · 17 Sep 2021 On their final full day in space Friday, the all-civilian Inspiration4 crew circling Earth inside a SpaceX Dragon capsule chatted with Tom Cruise, rang the closing bell on the New York Stock Exchange, and downlinked a li...
- Chinese crew landing caps record-setting day in human spaceflight Spaceflight Now · 17 Sep 2021 Three Chinese astronauts landed in the remote Gobi Desert of northwestern China Friday, returning to Earth after a three-month mission on the country’s new Tiangong space station, and ending a historic day in human space...
- Inspiration4 mission to conclude with Sept. 18 splashdown SpaceNews · 17 Sep 2021 SpaceX’s first private Crew Dragon mission is set to end with a splashdown off the Florida coast Sept. 18, three days after liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center.
- L3Harris opens manufacturing facility in Indiana for DoD missile-defense satellites SpaceNews · 16 Sep 2021 L3Harris Technologies on Sept. 16 opened a classified facility in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where the company will assemble and test satellites for U.S. missile-defense programs.
- Satellite operators need more accurate SSA data SpaceNews · 16 Sep 2021 Space situational awareness data used by satellite operators isn’t accurate enough to support the decisions they need to make on whether and how to maneuver their spacecraft to avoid potential collisions.
- OneWeb signs distribution deal with Peraton, broadens reach into military market SpaceNews · 16 Sep 2021 Under a new agreement with U.S. defense contractor Peraton, OneWeb’s satellite communications services will be more widely available to military users in hard-to-reach areas, including ships at sea.
- New Raptor Factory under construction at SpaceX McGregor amid continued engine testing NASASpaceflight · 16 Sep 2021 SpaceX’s engine testing facility on 4,300 acres of land in McGregor, Texas, just south of the city of Waco, is undergoing new development and testing related to the Raptor engine for Starship and Super Heavy.
- SpaceX shows off largest window in space after spectacular Inspiration4 launch Teslarati · 16 Sep 2021 SpaceX has revealed the first on-orbit view of the largest window every launched on a rocket – and provided an update on...
- Take a 3D Spin on Mars and Track NASA's Perseverance Rover NASA · 16 Sep 2021 Two interactive web experiences let you explore the Martian surface, as seen by cameras aboard the rover and orbiters flying overhead.
- ABL Space Systems to launch NASA technology demonstration mission SpaceNews · 16 Sep 2021 Small launch vehicle developer ABL Space Systems has won a contract to launch a NASA technology demonstration spacecraft in 2023.
- NASA to Announce Landing Site for Artemis Lunar Robotic Rover NASA · 16 Sep 2021 NASA will host a media teleconference Monday, Sept. 20, at 4 p.m. EDT, to announce the lunar landing site for the agency’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER).
- NASA awards five contracts for lunar landers to follow SpaceX demonstration Ars Technica · 16 Sep 2021 The announcement comes as one of the winners, Blue Origin, is suing NASA.
- ESA to be anchor customer on commercial lunar satellite SpaceNews · 16 Sep 2021 The European Space Agency has signed a contract with Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL) to be the anchor customer on a commercial lunar communications satellite that company is developing.
- China rolls out cargo mission rocket as Shenzhou-12 astronauts leave space station SpaceNews · 16 Sep 2021 China is preparing to launch its second space station cargo mission just as its Shenzhou-12 astronauts are set to return to Earth.
- Four private citizens ride SpaceX rocket into orbit on historic mission Spaceflight Now · 16 Sep 2021 With the backing of a billionaire businessman, four private citizens blasted off Wednesday night from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a first-of-its-kind fully commercial three-day spaceflight aboard a SpaceX crew cap...
- SpaceX Falcon 9 booster returns to California port for the first time in years Teslarati · 16 Sep 2021 For the first time in almost three years, a SpaceX Falcon 9 booster has returned to a California port after a successful...
- Inspiration4 crew chats with Elon Musk, works through first full day in space Spaceflight Now · 16 Sep 2021 The first all-civilian, privately-funded crew to reach orbit came through their initial hours in weightless environment of space “healthy, happy and resting comfortably,” SpaceX reported Thursday.
- Shenzhou crew departs Chinese space station, heads for Earth Spaceflight Now · 16 Sep 2021 China’s three-man Shenzhou 12 crew floated into their return craft and undocked from the Tiangong space station Wednesday, heading for landing in remote northwestern China to close out a three-month mission, the longest...
- SpaceX emphasizes coordination with other satellite operators SpaceNews · 16 Sep 2021 Two years after the close approach of a Starlink satellite with a European Space Agency satellite alarmed some in the space industry, SpaceX says it’s working closely with a wide range of satellite operators to ensure sa...
- Photos: Inspiration4’s rocket ready for launch on pad 39A Spaceflight Now · 15 Sep 2021 Photographers visited launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center early Wednesday to set up remote cameras. Photographer Michael Cain captured these views of the 215-foot-tall Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft...
- Crew Dragon has flown four more people—all private citizens—into space Ars Technica · 15 Sep 2021 SpaceX promised to make spaceflight available to the masses. This is a good start.