Industry News
Headlines from space publications, linked back to the original articles
Industry / News
- LeoLabs declares Costa Rica Space Radar operational SpaceNews · 22 Apr 2021 LeoLabs’ announced April 22 that two S-band radars in Costa Rica have started tracking objects in low Earth orbit and delivering data to customers.
- Albedo raises $10 million for business to offer ultra-high-resolution Earth imagery SpaceNews · 22 Apr 2021 Albedo, the space startup planning to offer Earth imagery with a resolution of 10 centimeters per pixel, raised $10 million in a seed funding round led by Initialized Capital.
- NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Logs Second Successful Flight NASA · 22 Apr 2021 The small rotorcraft’s horizons were expanded on its second flight.
- OQ Technology secures launches for propriety satellites as connected device market ramps up SpaceNews · 22 Apr 2021 OQ Technology, a Luxembourg space startup created to connect internet of things (IoT) devices to 5G technology, has signed a multi-launch deal with rideshare specialist Spaceflight to loft its own small satellites.
- NASA emphasizes good relationship with Roscosmos as Russia mulls exiting ISS SpaceNews · 22 Apr 2021 NASA’s acting head says the agency’s relationship with Russia remains good despite comments by Russian officials in recent days that the country could abandon the International Space Station as soon as 2025.
- Watch live: Crew Dragon spacecraft docks with International Space Station Spaceflight Now · 22 Apr 2021 After a one-day delay to wait for improved conditions in the offshore abort zone, SpaceX and NASA launched four astronauts at 5:49 a.m. EDT (0949 GMT) Friday aboard a Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spaceship from Kenned...
- Lawmakers continue to question Space Command’s move to Alabama SpaceNews · 21 Apr 2021 Gen. James Dickinson said Space Command could continue to do its job without major disruption if it has to move to Alabama.
- Nelson sails through NASA administrator confirmation hearing SpaceNews · 21 Apr 2021 The Biden administration’s nominee for NASA administrator, Bill Nelson, got a friendly reception from former colleagues on the Senate Commerce Committee during a confirmation hearing April 21 but offered few specifics ab...
- Mars Express and the case of the large, mysterious Martian volcano cloud NASASpaceflight · 21 Apr 2021 Throughout the southern Martian hemisphere’s spring and summer seasons, a large, expansive cloud emerges daily from the volcano Arsia Mons. Why this cloud only forms at this location on Mars, what kind of cloud it is, an...
- NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover Extracts First Oxygen from Red Planet NASA · 21 Apr 2021 The growing list of “firsts” for Perseverance, NASA’s newest six-wheeled robot on the Martian surface, includes converting some of the Red Planet’s thin, carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere into oxygen.
- NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover Extracts First Oxygen From Red Planet NASA · 21 Apr 2021 The milestone, which the MOXIE instrument achieved by converting carbon dioxide into oxygen, points the way to future human exploration of the Red Planet.
- US military wants SpaceX to create a miniature, battery-powered Starlink dish Teslarati · 21 Apr 2021 The US Department of Defense wants to find out if SpaceX can make a miniature, wireless version of the antennas currently used...
- Space Development Agency to add more laser links to satellites if the price is right SpaceNews · 21 Apr 2021 The Space Development Agency needs “affordable” optical terminals that can be mass produced.
- Boeing crew capsule test flight now scheduled for late summer Spaceflight Now · 21 Apr 2021 A second unpiloted test flight of Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule — ordered after an initial demonstration mission fell short of reaching the International Space Station — is now scheduled for launch from Cape Canaveral...
- Downrange weather delays Crew-2 launch SpaceNews · 21 Apr 2021 NASA has delayed the scheduled April 22 launch of the Crew-2 commercial crew mission by a day because of weather not at the launch site but at potential abort locations in the Atlantic Ocean.
- Optical imagery-focused EarthDaily Analytics emerges from UrtheCast SpaceNews · 21 Apr 2021 Private equity firm Antarctica Capital has formed a Canadian optical satellite imagery provider called EarthDaily Analytics, after buying parts of UrtheCast that sought creditor protection last year to avoid bankruptcy.
- Space Force pushing procurement reforms but culture change is a slow go SpaceNews · 21 Apr 2021 Gen. David Thompson said a shift to buying commercially provided space services is going to take time and will require a cultural adjustment.
- NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 Astronauts to Answer Questions Before Return to Earth NASA · 21 Apr 2021 NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 astronauts will answer media questions at 12:30 p.m. EDT Monday, April 26, about their upcoming return to Earth from the International Space Station.
- Bill Nelson backs NASA decision on lunar lander in confirmation hearing Ars Technica · 21 Apr 2021 The hearing was bland, but Nelson's backing of the bidding process was significant.
- NASA Updates Launch Date, TV Coverage for Agency’s SpaceX Crew-2 Mission NASA · 21 Apr 2021 NASA will provide updated coverage of the upcoming prelaunch and launch activities for the agency’s SpaceX Crew-2 mission with astronauts to the International Space Station.
- SLS core ready for shipment to Florida; NASA still hopes for late 2021 launch Spaceflight Now · 21 Apr 2021 Teams at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi removed the core of NASA’s first Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket from a test stand earlier this week for loading onto a barge to carry it to Kennedy Space Center in Flor...
- China is developing plans for a 13,000-satellite megaconstellation SpaceNews · 21 Apr 2021 China is to oversee the construction and operation of a national satellite internet megaconstellation by coordinating the country’s major space actors.
- SpaceX Crew Dragon launch to space station delayed to Friday by offshore weather Spaceflight Now · 21 Apr 2021 Launch of a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying four astronauts to the International Space Station has been delayed 24 hours to Friday because of bad weather in the Atlantic Ocean where the crew could be forced to ditch...
- SpaceX Starlink competitor OneWeb misled the FCC, media with false “near-miss” narrative Teslarati · 21 Apr 2021 In the latest trials and tribulations of a SpaceX Starlink competitor that went bankrupt after spending $3 billion to launch just 74...
- Lockheed Martin removes Momentus from NASA technology demonstration mission SpaceNews · 21 Apr 2021 Six months after including it on the team that was a NASA technology contract, Lockheed Martin has quietly dropped in-space transportation company Momentus from that project.
- NASA chief: Russian cosmonauts unlikely fly on U.S. crew capsules until next year Spaceflight Now · 20 Apr 2021 U.S. government approval of a proposed agreement between NASA and the Russian space agency to fly mixed U.S.-Russian crews on missions to the International Space Station is taking longer than expected, and the deal likel...
- NASA completes launch readiness review for Crew-2 mission SpaceNews · 20 Apr 2021 The next commercial crew mission to the International Space Station passed its final review before its scheduled April 22 launch, with weather the only major issue.
- AE Industrial Partners’ American Pacific Corp. invests in Frontier Aerospace SpaceNews · 20 Apr 2021 AE Industrial Partners subsidiary American Pacific Corp. announced a multimillion-dollar investment in Frontier Aerospace, a space propulsion startup based in Simi Valley, California. The terms of the deal were not discl...
- SpaceX Starship outfitted with upgraded Raptor engines for Wed static fire Teslarati · 20 Apr 2021 SpaceX has installed at least two of three new upgraded Raptors on Starship serial number 15 (SN15) ahead of a triple-engine static...
- SpaceX, Crew-2 mission cleared for launch as eyes turn to the weather NASASpaceflight · 20 Apr 2021 The Crew-2 mission’s Launch Readiness Review, or LRR, has been completed at the Kennedy Space Center, with managers from NASA, SpaceX, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) fo...
- After NASA taps SpaceX’s Starship for first Artemis landings, agency looks to on-ramp future vehicles NASASpaceflight · 20 Apr 2021 Following a year of testing and development, NASA recently selected SpaceX’s Starship-based Human Landing System (HLS) to land astronauts on the moon under the Artemis program. SpaceX’s proposal was the highest rated and...
- Canada budgets for next-generation EO satellites and ground systems SpaceNews · 20 Apr 2021 The Canadian government will fund upgrades to aging ground-based infrastructure for receiving satellite data as well as provide seed money to begin planning for the country’s next generation of Earth observation satellit...
- SpaceX installs second Starship-derived fuel tank at orbital launch pad Teslarati · 20 Apr 2021 For the second time in two weeks, SpaceX has rolled a ‘Starship-derived’ propellant tank to the next-generation rocket’s first orbital launch pad,...
- Ingenuity success opens door for future Mars helicopter missions SpaceNews · 20 Apr 2021 The successful flight of NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter on Mars paves the way for its use on future missions, agency officials said, but exactly when and how remain to be determined.
- Our interview with Steve Jurczyk, NASA’s acting administrator Spaceflight Now · 20 Apr 2021 Stephen Clark, Spaceflight Now’s editor, asked NASA’s acting administrator about the space agency’s commercial crew and Artemis programs during a one-on-one virtual interview Tuesday, April 20.
- NASA, SpaceX watching weather in downrange abort zones for crew launch Spaceflight Now · 20 Apr 2021 Preparations for the planned liftoff Thursday of a SpaceX Dragon capsule with a four-person crew to the International Space Station cleared another readiness review Tuesday at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, but...
- Noosphere Ventures aims to build an integrated space powerhouse: Q&A with managing partner Max Polyakov SpaceNews · 20 Apr 2021 Max Polyakov is on a mission to build out a vertically integrated space business with Noosphere Ventures Partners, his Silicon Valley-based investment vehicle. He tells SpaceNews how COVID-19 has affected these plans, an...
- Congested orbits a top concern for U.S. Space Command SpaceNews · 20 Apr 2021 Gen. James Dickinson told lawmakers that congestion in space mostly fueled by commercial activity could create safety problems if it’s not managed.
- Dragon crew rehearses for launch day, first-look weather forecast looks good Spaceflight Now · 19 Apr 2021 After completing a dress rehearsal for launch day over the weekend, the four astronauts gearing up for liftoff Thursday on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket are in good spirits and spending time with their families in Florida bef...
- NASA Ingenuity completes autonomous flight on Mars NASASpaceflight · 19 Apr 2021 For the first time ever, non-rocket powered flight has been achieved on a body other than Earth. NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter, part of the Mars 2020 mission, completed its first flight on Monday 19 April. The vehicle lift...