Industry News
Headlines from space publications, linked back to the original articles
Industry / News
- €167 million Space Rider contract funds construction of Europe’s first orbital spaceplane SpaceNews · 11 Dec 2020 The European Space Agency has signed a €167 million ($200 million) contract with Thales Alenia Space Italy and Avio to deliver Space Rider — Europe's first robotic orbital spaceplane — in time for a mid-to-late 2023 laun...
- Next Starliner test flight scheduled for late March SpaceNews · 11 Dec 2020 A second uncrewed test flight of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner commercial crew spacecraft is now scheduled for no earlier than the end of March, 15 months after its first, flawed mission.
- With SXM-7, SpaceX ready for company’s 25th Falcon 9 launch of the year NASASpaceflight · 11 Dec 2020 Just five days after the CRS-21 mission, SpaceX is gearing up for the launch of a Falcon 9 rocket with the SiriusXM-7 (SXM-7) high power broadcasting satellite. The Falcon 9 will loft SXM-7 to a geostationary transfer or...
- Rocket Report: SN8 meets its fate, SLS Green Run tests to resume next week Ars Technica · 11 Dec 2020 "We're not going to have big issues that cause us to stand down."
- SpaceX plans to cap busy week with launch of satellite for SiriusXM Spaceflight Now · 11 Dec 2020 A massive radio broadcasting satellite for SiriusXM is set for liftoff Friday on top of a Falcon 9 rocket, punctuating a busy week for SpaceX that included the debut of a new-generation cargo ship for the International S...
- Delta 4-Heavy launches U.S. spy satellite after months of delays Spaceflight Now · 11 Dec 2020 Running more than three months late, a United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket took off Thursday and carried a U.S. government spy satellite into an orbit thousands of miles above Earth in the first mission from the...
- SpaceX set to roll next Starship to the launch pad days after SN8 crash landing Teslarati · 11 Dec 2020 In a rock-solid sign of SpaceX’s confidence in Starship, the company has filed plans to roll the second fully assembled prototype –...
- Aerospace Corp. raises questions about pollutants produced during satellite and rocket reentry SpaceNews · 11 Dec 2020 As the combined mass of satellites in orbit climbs, research is needed to better understand the environmental impact of the portions of satellites and their launch vehicles that eventually reenter Earth’s atmosphere.
- Survey: Despite interest in commercial satcom, U.S. military favors legacy systems SpaceNews · 10 Dec 2020 A survey of military organizations funded by ViaSat reveals that many don’t have access to modern communications technology despite growing availability of commercial satellite services.
- Hydrosat to fly thermal infrared mission with Loft Orbital SpaceNews · 10 Dec 2020 Hydrosat, a company planning to create a thermal infrared map of Earth, announced an agreement Dec. 9 with Loft Orbital to launch its first satellite mission in early 2022.
- China launches two small satellites for gravitational wave research Spaceflight Now · 10 Dec 2020 Two small Chinese satellites designed to detect gamma-ray bursts associated with gravitational waves launched Wednesday on a Long March 11 rocket, beginning an astrophysics research mission to study black holes and neutr...
- NASA to Provide Spanish-Language Coverage, Livestream of Solar Eclipse NASA · 10 Dec 2020 NASA will provide live coverage Monday, Dec. 14, of a solar eclipse that will pass over South America, treating parts of Chile and Argentina to views of a total eclipse of the Sun.
- ULA Delta IV Heavy successfully launches NROL-44 NASASpaceflight · 10 Dec 2020 United Launch Alliance’s Delta IV Heavy rocket successfully launched a classified National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) payload, codenamed NROL-44 at 20:09 EST on Thursday, 10 December (01:09 UTC on Friday, 12 December).
- Solar Orbiter: turning pictures into physics ESA · 10 Dec 2020 Solar Orbiter's latest results show that the mission is making the first direct connections between events at the solar surface and what's happening in interplanetary space around the spacecraft. It is also giving us new...
- Orbex raises $24 million in new funding, can now scale up for orbital launch Ars Technica · 10 Dec 2020 "We're very focused on being capital efficient, which is another word for cheap."
- Hubble identifies strange exoplanet that behaves like the long-sought "Planet Nine" [heic2021] ESA · 10 Dec 2020 The 11-Jupiter-mass exoplanet called HD106906 b occupies an unlikely orbit around a double star 336 light-years away and it may be offering clues to something that might be much closer to home: a hypothesized distant mem...
- TriSept purchases Relativity launch for rideshare mission SpaceNews · 10 Dec 2020 Launch integration company TriSept has purchased a launch from Relativity Space that it plans to use for a smallsat rideshare mission as soon as 2022.
- NASA, US, European Partner Satellite Returns First Sea Level Measurements NASA · 10 Dec 2020 Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, a joint U.S.-European satellite built to measure global sea surface height, has sent back its first measurements of sea level.
- Isar Aerospace, Orbex raise funding for small launch vehicles SpaceNews · 10 Dec 2020 Two European companies have raised a combined $115 million to continue work on small launch vehicles scheduled to make their first flights in 2022.
- Full video of Starship’s seven-minute high-altitude test flight Spaceflight Now · 10 Dec 2020 Video credit: Stephen Clark / Spaceflight Now This video replay shot from South Padre Island shows SpaceX’s Starship SN8 prototype rocket taking off from Boca Chica, Texas, climbing high into the atmosphere, then gliding...
- Spectators watch the final fiery moments of the Starship test flight Spaceflight Now · 10 Dec 2020 Spectators on South Padre Island watch the Starship prototype end its test flight in a fiery crash landing.
- Chinese Long March 11 lofts GECAM mission NASASpaceflight · 10 Dec 2020 On Wednesday, China launched a double satellite mission intended for research in electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational waves. The launch took place from the Xichang Satellite Center, Sichuan province, at 20:15 UT...
- ULA launches long-delayed NRO mission aboard Delta 4 Heavy rocket SpaceNews · 10 Dec 2020 A United Launch Alliance Delta 4 Heavy rocket on Dec. 10 at 8:09 p.m. Eastern launched NROL-44 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
- Lockheed Martin gets $511 million contract for two GPS satellites SpaceNews · 10 Dec 2020 SMC on Oct. 7 exercised an option under a 2018 contract to purchase two more GPS 3F satellites from Lockheed Martin for $511 million.
- Latest SLS core stage test issues leave little margin in schedule for first launch SpaceNews · 10 Dec 2020 The latest in a series of delays in a test campaign for the core stage of the Space Launch System now leaves “very little margin” in the schedule for its launch next November, NASA managers said Dec. 10.
- Beyond batteries: Inside the latest innovation poised to power our smart wearables Teslarati · 10 Dec 2020 By The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) - Keeping your smart wearables charged can be a drain, but the latest innovation out of CHUK’s...
- So, it turns out SpaceX is pretty good at rocketing Ars Technica · 10 Dec 2020 "Congrats SpaceX team hell yeah!!"
- Starship prototype makes first high-altitude flight, explodes upon landing SpaceNews · 9 Dec 2020 SpaceX performed the first high-altitude test flight of a prototype of its Starship launch vehicle Dec. 9, with the vehicle successfully lifting off the pad but exploding when attempting a landing several minutes later.
- Cape Canaveral, Patrick Air Force Base renamed as Space Force bases SpaceNews · 9 Dec 2020 Vice President Mike Pence announced Dec. 9 that Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and Patrick Air Force Base are being renamed as Space Force installations.
- Ratcliffe: Space Force to become 18th member of the U.S. intelligence community SpaceNews · 9 Dec 2020 The U.S. Space Force soon will become the 18th member of the U.S. intelligence community, Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said Dec. 9.
- NASA Exploration Mission Integral to 2020 National Space Policy NASA · 9 Dec 2020 Today, President Donald J. Trump issued the National Space Policy.
- NASA Names Artemis Team of Astronauts Eligible for Early Moon Missions NASA · 9 Dec 2020 NASA has selected 18 astronauts from its corps to form the Artemis Team and help pave the way for the next astronaut missions on and around the Moon as part of the Artemis program.
- Arianespace to launch four-satellite Airbus CO3D constellation aboard Vega C SpaceNews · 9 Dec 2020 Airbus signed a contract with Arianespace on Dec. 7 to launch a four-satellite optical Earth observation constellation aboard a Vega C rocket in 2023.
- Watch live: SpaceX is fueling its Starship for a high-altitude flight [Updated] Ars Technica · 9 Dec 2020 The weather in South Texas is again rather nice.
- Dawn Aerospace wins license for suborbital flights SpaceNews · 9 Dec 2020 Dawn Aerospace announced Dec. 9 that it received approval from the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to begin flying the Mk-II Aurora, a 4.8-meter-long test vehicle the company developed as part of a long-term c...
- SpaceX docks two Dragons to the space station for the first time Teslarati · 9 Dec 2020 For the first time, SpaceX has successfully docked two Dragons to the International Space Station (ISS) at the same time. Carrying roughly...
- ULA’s Delta 4-Heavy ready for another launch attempt after pad repairs Spaceflight Now · 9 Dec 2020 United Launch Alliance is set to try again to launch a Delta 4-Heavy rocket and a classified U.S. government spy satellite Thursday after delays of more than three months caused by persistent issues with the mission’s la...
- SpaceX Starship nails ‘flip’ maneuver in explosive landing video Teslarati · 9 Dec 2020 Update: SpaceX has published a video taken near the launch pad of Starship nailing an exotic ‘flip’ maneuver shortly before a hard...
- NASA names 18 astronauts for Artemis moon missions Spaceflight Now · 9 Dec 2020 Eighteen astronauts have been selected — nine men and nine women — to begin training for upcoming Artemis missions to the moon, NASA announced Wednesday. The list includes the as-yet-unnamed next man and first woman who...
- SpaceX’s Starship achieves most objectives in mesmerizing test flight Spaceflight Now · 9 Dec 2020 A full-size prototype of SpaceX’s heavy-lift Starship launch vehicle soared high into the atmosphere Wednesday in a spectacular test flight over South Texas, and successfully guided itself to a beachside landing site bef...