Industry News
Headlines from space publications, linked back to the original articles
Industry / News
- SpaceX recovers second upgraded Cargo Dragon spacecraft for future reuse Teslarati · 14 Jul 2021 Four days after reentering Earth’s atmosphere and splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico, SpaceX has safely returned its second upgraded Cargo...
- DIU director Michael Brown withdraws as Pentagon acquisition nominee SpaceNews · 14 Jul 2021 President Biden’s pick to serve as undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, Michael Brown, has withdrawn his nomination.
- Seraphim’s investment trust gets firepower for bigger space deals SpaceNews · 14 Jul 2021 Space startup investor Seraphim Capital’s investment trust started trading on the London Stock Exchange July 14, raising about $250 million for larger international acquisitions.
- Previewing EnVision: ESA’s newest mission to Venus NASASpaceflight · 14 Jul 2021 On June 10, the European Space Agency (ESA) announced that they had selected their next mission to Venus — EnVision. The mission, set to operate alongside NASA’s newly announced DAVINCI+ and VERITAS missions, will study...
- SpaceX will soon fire up its massive Super Heavy booster for the first time Ars Technica · 14 Jul 2021 What has SpaceX been up to in South Texas since early May?
- National Reconnaissance Office official picked to run Space Force acquisitions command SpaceNews · 14 Jul 2021 President Biden has nominated the deputy director of the NRO Maj. Gen. Michael Guetlein for promotion to lieutenant general and assignment as commander of the U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command.
- Upper stage added to SLS stack in Vehicle Assembly Building Spaceflight Now · 14 Jul 2021 The upper stage for the first flight of NASA’s Space Launch System was installed on top of the heavy-lift rocket earlier this month, moving the agency one step closer to liftoff of the Artemis 1 test mission to the moon.
- NASA and ESA sign agreement on climate science cooperation SpaceNews · 14 Jul 2021 NASA and the European Space Agency have agreed to cooperate on future Earth science missions and related activities in an effort to better understand climate change.
- Chinese rocket companies are preparing for hop tests SpaceNews · 14 Jul 2021 A number of Chinese rocket firms are preparing to carry out first hop tests in a bid to develop reusable launch vehicles.
- SpaceX to build world’s most advanced rocket engine factory in Central Texas Teslarati · 14 Jul 2021 CEO Elon Musk says that SpaceX has plans to build the “most advanced rocket engine factory in the world” in Central Texas...
- LEOcloud establishes partnerships for satellite-based cloud computing SpaceNews · 14 Jul 2021 Satellite communications startup LEOcloud announced a partnership July 13 with supercomputer firm Ramon.Space to develop satellite-based cloud computing.
- NASA issues contracts for nuclear thermal propulsion studies SpaceNews · 13 Jul 2021 NASA has selected three teams of companies to perform concept studies of nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) reactors while making plans to fund similar studies for nuclear surface power systems.
- NASA TV to Air Launch of Space Station Module, Departure of Another NASA · 13 Jul 2021 NASA will provide live coverage of a new Russian science module’s launch and automated docking to the International Space Station, and the undocking of another module that has been part of the orbital outpost for the pas...
- NASA, ESA Partner in New Effort to Address Global Climate Change NASA · 13 Jul 2021 NASA and ESA (European Space Agency) have formed a first-of-its-kind strategic partnership to observe Earth and its changing environment.
- La NASA y la ESA se asocian en un nuevo esfuerzo para abordar el cambio climático global NASA · 13 Jul 2021 La NASA y la Agencia Espacial Europea (ESA, por sus siglas en inglés) han formado una asociación estratégica única en su tipo para observar la Tierra y su entorno cambiante.
- SpaceX prepares for first Super Heavy static fire NASASpaceflight · 13 Jul 2021 SpaceX is readying for the first static firing of Raptor engines connected to the base of a Super Heavy booster, known as Booster 3. The test is a critical step in verifying and validating Super Heavy’s initial design fo...
- Russia’s space chief wishes his oligarchs invested in space like Branson and Musk Ars Technica · 13 Jul 2021 Dmitry Rogozin called the Virgin Galactic flight a "landmark."
- NASA Announces Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Reactor Concept Awards NASA · 13 Jul 2021 NASA is leading an effort, working with the Department of Energy (DOE), to advance space nuclear technologies. The government team has selected three reactor design concept proposals for a nuclear thermal propulsion syst...
- SpaceX Super Heavy booster survives first major test Teslarati · 13 Jul 2021 A SpaceX Super Heavy booster prototype has survived its first major test seemingly without issue, potentially opening the door for a static...
- Stable Road and Momentus reach SEC settlement over false claims SpaceNews · 13 Jul 2021 The SEC has reached a settlement with in-space transportation company Momentus and the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) it is planning to merge with regarding false claims the companies made, while continuing t...
- House appropriations bill supports increase to NASA’s budget SpaceNews · 12 Jul 2021 A House appropriations subcommittee advanced a spending bill July 12 that would provide NASA with a small increase over what the administration proposed for fiscal year 2022, but does not address some key areas of concer...
- Missile Defense Agency confirms deployment of cubesats launched by Virgin Orbit SpaceNews · 12 Jul 2021 Two Missile Defense Agency cubesats launched June 30 on Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne successfully began communicating with ground stations last week, the agency announced July 12.
- NASA Awards Contract for Test Evaluation, Support NASA · 12 Jul 2021 NASA has awarded a five-year contract to Sierra Lobo Inc. of Fremont, Ohio, for test and operations support at the agency’s White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
- Elon Musk reveals SpaceX’s newest rocket-recovery drone ship Teslarati · 12 Jul 2021 CEO Elon Musk has released the first official video of A Shortfall of Gravitas (ASOG), the newest member of SpaceX’s fleet of...
- NASA's Mars Helicopter Reveals Intriguing Terrain for Rover Team NASA · 12 Jul 2021 Ingenuity’s ninth flight provided imagery that will help the Perseverance rover team develop its science plan going forward.
- NASA Launches Entrepreneurs Challenge to Identify Innovative Ideas NASA · 12 Jul 2021 NASA is announcing its 2021 Entrepreneurs Challenge to invite fresh ideas and new participants that will lead to new instruments and technologies with the potential to advance the agency’s science mission goals.
- Spacecom extends AsiaSat satellite leasing deal SpaceNews · 12 Jul 2021 Israeli fleet operator Spacecom has secured an extension to use AsiaSat-8 until 2024, filling a coverage gap left by the loss of its Amos-6 satellite in 2016.
- NASA, Northrop Grumman designing new BOLE SRB for SLS Block 2 vehicle NASASpaceflight · 12 Jul 2021 NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) program and booster element prime contractor Northrop Grumman are developing an upgrade to the current Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs). The SLS Booster Obsolescence and Life Extension (BOLE)...
- Here’s why Richard Branson’s flight matters—and, yes, it really matters Ars Technica · 12 Jul 2021 “I absolutely believe this is that moment."
- China launches satellite group to detect global radio transmissions Spaceflight Now · 12 Jul 2021 China launched five small satellites designed to detect and monitor global radio transmissions Friday on top of a Long March 6 rocket, joining five similar spacecraft deployed in orbit in 2019.
- SpaceX begins installing Raptor engines on first Super Heavy booster Teslarati · 12 Jul 2021 SpaceX has installed a Raptor engine on a Super Heavy booster prototype for the first time, defying expectations and setting the rocket...
- Virgin Galactic, Branson laud SpaceShipTwo flight “beyond my wildest dreams” SpaceNews · 11 Jul 2021 Virgin Galactic and its founder, Richard Branson, hailed a successful test flight by the company’s SpaceShipTwo suborbital spaceplane that carried him and five others to suborbital space, but offered few new details abou...
- Richard Branson rockets into space Spaceflight Now · 11 Jul 2021 Virgin Galactic owner Richard Branson rocketed into space Sunday, an edge-of-the-seat sub-orbital test flight intended to demonstrate his company’s air-launched spaceplane is ready for passengers who can afford the ultim...
- Branson flies to edge of space on SpaceShipTwo SpaceNews · 11 Jul 2021
- China launches satellite to link mission control with space station Spaceflight Now · 11 Jul 2021 China launched a fresh satellite for the country’s Tianlian data relay network July 6, reinforcing a fleet of spacecraft designed to connect ground controllers with the country’s space station.
- Virgin Galactic successfully flies six person crew including founder Sir Richard Branson NASASpaceflight · 11 Jul 2021 Seventeen years after Sir Richard Branson watched SpaceShipOne win the Ansari X-Prize, the English entrepreneur and billionaire has flown aboard a successor vehicle known as SpaceShipTwo as part of a crew of six people,...
- Increasing demands putting pressure on Deep Space Network SpaceNews · 10 Jul 2021 A growing number of spacecraft missions, as well as NASA’s Artemis program, are putting new pressures on the agency’s Deep Space Network of antennas that communicate with them.
- SpaceX cargo capsule splashes down in Gulf of Mexico Spaceflight Now · 10 Jul 2021 Wrapping up a 36-day mission to the International Space Station, a SpaceX Cargo Dragon capsule splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico Friday night with biomedical experiments, spacewalk equipment, and other hardware returni...
- Richard Branson’s flight signals confidence in commercial space travel Spaceflight Now · 10 Jul 2021 Virgin Galactic-founder Richard Branson and five company crewmates are set to take a barnstorming ride to space Sunday in a bold show of confidence in his company’s readiness to start carrying passengers on brief trips o...
- NC, Wisconsin, NY Students to Hear from Astronauts on Space Station NASA · 9 Jul 2021 Students from three states will hear from astronauts from three different countries aboard the International Space Station next week.