Industry News
Headlines from space publications, linked back to the original articles
Industry / News
- NRO to sign deals with commercial providers of satellite radar imagery SpaceNews · 19 Apr 2021 The National Reconnaissance Office wants to better understand the capabilities of commercial satellite radar imagery providers.
- After successful first flight, NASA wants to push Mars helicopter to its limits Spaceflight Now · 19 Apr 2021 The work isn’t over for NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter. NASA engineers hope to fly the rotorcraft four more times in the next two weeks before calling it quits on the pioneering technology experiment, which accomplishe...
- ULA completes Delta IV Heavy pad upgrades ahead of NROL-82 mission NASASpaceflight · 19 Apr 2021 United Launch Alliance (ULA) has recently made pad upgrades to Space Launch Complex-6 (SLC-6) at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, ahead of the upcoming Delta IV Heavy launch of the NROL-82 mission for the National...
- Amazon buys nine Atlas 5 launches for Kuiper broadband constellation Spaceflight Now · 19 Apr 2021 Amazon has selected United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 rocket for nine missions from Cape Canaveral to deploy satellites for the Kuiper internet constellation, a fleet designed to eventually number more than 3,200 spacecra...
- Amazon contracts nine Atlas 5 missions for Kuiper broadband satellites SpaceNews · 19 Apr 2021 Amazon has ordered nine Atlas 5 rockets from United Launch Alliance to help place its 3,236-strong Project Kuiper broadband constellation.
- Amazon’s first Internet satellites will not launch on Blue Origin rockets Ars Technica · 19 Apr 2021 "ULA is a fantastic partner that’s successfully launched dozens of missions."
- Download our April 19 issue of SpaceNews magazine SpaceNews · 19 Apr 2021 Download the digital edition of the April 19 issue of SpaceNews magazine, provided compliments of Blacksky.
- Gulf Energy excludes Thaicom in $5.4 billion buyout deal for parent company InTouch SpaceNews · 19 Apr 2021 Gulf Energy Development, a Thailand-based power producer, offered April 19 to buy out the parent company of Thai satellite operator Thaicom for as much as 169 billion baht ($5.4 billion).
- NASA celebrates first historic helicopter flight on Mars Spaceflight Now · 19 Apr 2021 An automated mini-helicopter driven by two fast-spinning counter-rotating rotors took off from the surface of Mars, hovered for a few seconds, then successfully landed Monday to complete the historic first powered flight...
- Ingenuity performs first flight on Mars SpaceNews · 19 Apr 2021 NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter successfully performed the first powered flight on another planet April 19, briefing hovering above the surface of Mars.
- NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Succeeds in Historic First Flight NASA · 19 Apr 2021 The small rotorcraft made history, hovering above Jezero Crater, demonstrating that powered, controlled flight on another planet is possible.
- NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Succeeds in Historic First Flight NASA · 19 Apr 2021 Monday, NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter became the first aircraft in history to make a powered, controlled flight on another planet. The Ingenuity team at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California co...
- NASA has flown a helicopter on Mars, and it went brilliantly [Updated] Ars Technica · 19 Apr 2021 This is all experimental, so it's quite possible that Ingenuity will fail.
- SpaceX fires up sooty Falcon booster ahead of historic astronaut launch Teslarati · 19 Apr 2021 SpaceX says it has successfully completed the last major test standing between a flight-proven Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft and...
- U.S. Army approves plans for a future ‘tactical space layer’ SpaceNews · 19 Apr 2021 The U.S. Army has approved plans to explore the use of satellites in low Earth orbit to give soldiers dedicated communications, navigation and imaging capabilities.
- Starship SN15 prepares for flight following major NASA vindication NASASpaceflight · 18 Apr 2021 Starship SN15 is expected to undergo a Static Fire test as early as Monday to clear the path for a test flight no earlier than Tuesday as SpaceX’s rapidly reusable interplanetary launch and landing system gained a massiv...
- Three years on, TESS delivers on discoveries as extended mission continues NASASpaceflight · 18 Apr 2021 Three years ago, on April 18, 2018, NASA’s and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, launched successfully into a very high Earth orbit aboard the last new Block 4 Fa...
- NASA schedules first Mars helicopter test flight for Monday Spaceflight Now · 18 Apr 2021 After some long-distance troubleshooting, NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter will attempt the first flight of its kind on another world Monday in a demonstration that could open the door to a new era of interplanetary aeri...
- NASA reschedules Ingenuity first flight SpaceNews · 18 Apr 2021 NASA now plans to attempt a first flight of the Mars helicopter Ingenuity early April 19 after finding a workaround to a software problem that delayed the flight earlier this month.
- Next Starliner test flights slips to late summer SpaceNews · 18 Apr 2021 Boeing said April 17 that the next test flight of its CST-100 Starliner commercial crew vehicle won’t take place until at least August, confirming a lengthy delay widely expected because of the schedule of other launches...
- NASA to Attempt First Controlled Flight on Mars As Soon As Monday NASA · 17 Apr 2021 NASA is targeting no earlier than Monday, April 19, for the first flight of its Ingenuity Mars Helicopter at approximately 3:30 a.m. EDT (12:30 a.m. PDT).
- NASA chooses SpaceX to land next astronauts on the Moon Spaceflight Now · 17 Apr 2021 NASA has selected SpaceX to build a spacecraft to land the first astronauts on the moon since 1972, choosing Elon Musk’s space company over competing proposals from Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin and the aerospace firm Dynetic...
- SpaceX test-fires rocket for crew launch Spaceflight Now · 17 Apr 2021 SpaceX test-fired the Falcon 9 rocket early Saturday ahead of launch with the next four astronauts heading to the International Space Station. The static fire test before sunrise Saturday in Florida was a major step towa...
- Russian capsule brings home three space fliers Spaceflight Now · 17 Apr 2021 Two cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut undocked from the International Space Station and plunged back to Earth early Saturday, landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan amid preparations in Florida for launch of another station-b...
- NASA Astronaut Kate Rubins, Crewmates Return Safely to Earth NASA · 17 Apr 2021 NASA astronaut Kate Rubins, along with Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, returned to Earth on Saturday, following six months living and working aboard the International Space Station.
- Soyuz MS-17 safely returns three Station crewmembers to Kazakhstan NASASpaceflight · 17 Apr 2021 After more than six months in orbit, the Soyuz MS-17 mission has drawn to a close. The craft departed the International Space Station with undocking right on time at 21:34 EDT on Friday, 16 April (01:34 UTC on Saturday,...
- NASA selects SpaceX to develop crewed lunar lander SpaceNews · 16 Apr 2021 NASA has selected SpaceX as the sole company to win a contract to develop and demonstrate a crewed lunar lander, while keeping the door open for others to compete for future missions.
- Larger late-stage deals dominating space investment landscape SpaceNews · 16 Apr 2021 Private investors deployed another $1.9 billion in SpaceX, OneWeb and other space infrastructure companies in the first three months of 2021, according to data from New York-based Space Capital.
- NASA selects SpaceX as its sole provider for a lunar lander Ars Technica · 16 Apr 2021 "We looked at what’s the best value to the government."
- As Artemis Moves Forward, NASA Picks SpaceX to Land Next Americans on Moon NASA · 16 Apr 2021 NASA is getting ready to send astronauts to explore more of the Moon as part of the Artemis program, and the agency has selected SpaceX to continue development of the first commercial human lander that will safely carry...
- As Artemis Moves Forward, NASA Picks SpaceX Human Lunar Lander NASA · 16 Apr 2021 NASA is getting ready to send astronauts to explore more of the Moon as part of the Artemis program, and the agency has selected SpaceX to continue development of the first commercial human lander that will safely carry...
- SpaceX’s Starship to return humanity to the Moon in stunning NASA decision Teslarati · 16 Apr 2021 In one of the biggest NASA contracting surprises in years, the space agency has chosen SpaceX – and only SpaceX – to...
- NASA Statement on Nomination of Pam Melroy for Agency Deputy Administrator NASA · 16 Apr 2021 The following is a statement from Acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk on Friday’s announcement of the intended nomination by President Joe Biden of former NASA astronaut Pam Melroy to serve as the agency’s deputy adm...
- Analysts: China’s space programs are a security concern to the U.S. but not all are nefarious SpaceNews · 16 Apr 2021 Analysts said a U.S. intelligence report painted China’s space program with a broad brush and failed to draw distinctions between civilian and military pursuits.
- Space station crew set for landing in Kazakhstan Spaceflight Now · 16 Apr 2021 Two cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut wrapping up a six-month stay aboard the International Space Station readied their Soyuz ferry ship for a fiery plunge back to Earth early Saturday amid preparations in Florida for laun...
- White House nominates Melroy to be NASA deputy administrator SpaceNews · 16 Apr 2021 The White House announced April 16 it will nominate former astronaut Pam Melroy to be NASA’s deputy administrator.
- Endeavour moved to 39A as astronauts arrive and Crew-2 mission is cleared for launch NASASpaceflight · 16 Apr 2021 Shane Kimbrough, Megan McArthur, Thomas Pesquet, and Akihiko Hoshide have arrived at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for their upcoming launch to the International Space Station on the same day their spaceship, the C...
- NASA Celebrates Earth Day by Showing How We Are #ConnectedByEarth NASA · 16 Apr 2021 NASA’s investment in space – both the unique Earth science conducted in orbit and the technology developed by living in space and exploring the solar system and universe – returns benefits every day, particularly when it...
- NASA to Announce Selection of Human Lander for Artemis Moon Mission NASA · 16 Apr 2021 NASA will host a media teleconference at 4 p.m. EDT today, Friday, April 16, to announce the company or companies selected to move forward in developing a modern human landing system (HLS) that will carry the next two Am...
- China to launch a pair of spacecraft towards the edge of the solar system SpaceNews · 16 Apr 2021 China is developing a mission to send a pair of spacecraft to study the far reaches of the solar system and reach interstellar space by mid-century.