LOGAN, Utah — Canadian launch startup SpaceRyde said Aug. 8 it has added a second member to its advisory board with the appointment of Mina Mitry, the CEO of small satellite operator Kepler Communications. Mitry joins Jeff Thornburg, SpaceRyde’s inaugural advisory board member and a former vice president of propulsion engineering at SpaceX. Kepler, also
Space
LOGAN, Utah — Northrop Grumman and Firefly Aerospace announced Aug. 8 that they will work together to develop a new first stage for Northrop’s Antares launch vehicle as well as a future medium-lift rocket. The new version of the Antares, called the Antares 330, will feature a first stage using seven Miranda engines under development
LOGAN, Utah — Benchmark Space Systems announced plans Aug. 8 to acquire Alameda Applied Science Corp.’s electric propulsion technologies, and to begin offering customers hybrid chemical-electric propulsion systems. Hybrid propulsion eliminates “the need for satellite operators and end users to compromise between speed and endurance,” Chris Carella, Benchmark executive vice president of business development and
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s first lunar orbiter has begun its voyage toward the moon on a mission critical to the country’s future space projects. The 678-kilogram spacecraft, named Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO) or Danuri in Korean, launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Launch Complex 40
SEOUL, South Korea — The Aug. 6 maiden flight of India’s newly developed Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) went awry with “some data loss” that occurred in the terminal stage of the mission. India’s space agency ISRO is analyzing data to know what happened and also checking the status of the two satellites deployed from
TAMPA, Fla. — The Federal Communications Commission is considering opening up more Ku-band spectrum to Starlink and other non-geostationary satellite (NGSO) operators to improve broadband speeds. The U.S. regulator said Aug. 3 it will invite comments on a proposal to free up 17 GHz frequencies as it approved a similar move for satellites in higher
HOUSTON — NASA is in talks with the Italian Space Agency to fly an Earth science instrument originally planned to go on a commercial smallsat. At a meeting of the Earth Science Advisory Committee Aug. 2, Greg Stover, program manager for NASA’s Earth System Pathfinder Program, said NASA was in talks with the Italian Space
HOUSTON — As NASA prepares to select the crew of the second Artemis mission, the agency’s chief astronaut says the entire astronaut corps, and not a previously announced subset, is eligible for that flight and future missions to the moon. At an Aug. 5 briefing at the Johnson Space Center about the upcoming uncrewed Artemis
TAMPA, Fla. — Canada’s Telesat is bracing for a revenue hit in 2023 after being forced to retire its Anik F2 satellite from full service three years earlier than planned. The aging Boeing-built satellite has been operating under a workaround mode for the past year after two of its four station-keeping thrusters suffered an anomaly.
SDA is seeking proposals for a demonstration of laser communications between orbiting satellites and aircraft in flight WASHINGTON — As it prepares to start deploying a mesh network in low Earth orbit, the Space Development Agency is seeking proposals for a demonstration of laser communications between orbiting satellites and aircraft in flight. The agency on
Since Vladimir Putin launched his war of conquest and genocide against Ukraine on Feb. 24, there has been a sea change in the West’s dealings with Russia. Businesses and governments have abandoned partnerships and trade at the cost of billions of dollars. NATO countries have sent billions of dollars’ worth of military equipment and assistance
WASHINGTON — Virgin Galactic has once again pushed back the start of commercial flights of its SpaceShipTwo suborbital spaceplane, saying upgrades of its carrier aircraft are taking longer than expected. In its release of its second quarter earnings Aug. 4, the company said it is now expecting to start commercial flights of its single SpaceShipTwo
WASHINGTON — Astra Space announced Aug. 4 it is canceling its existing small launch vehicle after its most recent failure and will focus instead on a much larger vehicle that may not be ready to fly customers until 2024. In its release of its second quarter earnings, Astra said it would stop flying its Rocket
TAMPA, Fla. — An insurance claim for a Malaysian satellite that ran out of fuel prematurely remains unsettled more than a year after the incident. Some underwriters are disputing Malaysian satellite operator Measat’s $45 million claim to recover losses from Measat-3, an insurance source said, while others have agreed to pay out. Although many space
NROL-199 was the second of two missions the NRO developed in partnership with the Australian Department of Defence WASHINGTON — A Rocket Lab Electron rocket launched a National Reconnaissance Office mission Aug. 4 at 1:00 a.m. Eastern. The NROL-199 mission lifted off from the company’s Launch Complex-1 at Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand. Rocket Lab said
WASHINGTON — Preparations for the first flight of the Space Launch System remain on track for a liftoff as soon as Aug. 29, NASA officials said Aug. 3. SLS managers and agency leaders said the work to prepare the SLS and the Orion spacecraft for the Artemis 1 mission inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB)
WASHINGTON — The European Space Agency is ending efforts to restore operations of the Sentinel-1B radar imaging satellite that malfunctioned more than half a year ago and will instead move up the launch of a replacement. ESA said in an Aug. 3 statement that the agency and the European Commission, partners on the Copernicus series
WASHINGTON — Delays in starting production of RS-25 engines for NASA affected Aerojet Rocketdyne’s earnings in the second quarter, but the company expects to catch up on the program later this year. The company reported Aug. 1 net sales of $528.5 million in the quarter ending June 30, with net income of $16.4 million. Both
TAMPA, Fla. — A bill that would give $52 billion in subsidies to U.S. chip makers promises to galvanize domestic production, although it will take time to alleviate a semiconductor shortage that has been delaying satellite projects. U.S. President Biden is set to sign the bill, dubbed the Chips and Science Act, after it passed
SEOUL, South Korea — Hyundai Motor is moving to develop a vehicle for lunar surface exploration. The Korean carmaker and its sister company Kia Motors formed a consortium July 27 with six state-funded research institutes here to explore the concept of lunar exploration mobility and core technologies required. They will also layout strategies fo sending
Former DRS executive David Fields succeeds Pete Hoene as president and CEO of SES Government Solutions WASHINGTON — Communications satellite operator SES announced Aug. 1 it completed the acquisition of DRS Global Enterprise Solutions, a business acquired from Leonardo DRS for $450 million. DRS GES will be part of SES Government Solutions, based in Reston,
WASHINGTON — The privately funded Polaris Program is planning its first crewed launch on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft in December, a mission that will include the first spacewalk on a private mission. Jared Isaacman, the billionaire who organized the Inspiration4 private astronaut mission that spent three days in orbit in September 2021, announced the
The Pentagon assigned the Space Force responsibilities as “integrator for joint space requirements” WASHINGTON – The Space Force, the military branch responsible for providing satellite-based services to the U.S. armed forces, was also recently assigned the role of “integrator for joint space requirements,” which means the Space Force will have to coordinate the wish lists
SAN FRANCISCO – Isotropic Systems is changing its name to All.Space, as the British antenna manufacturer unveil its “fifth-generation smart terminal” to link cellular and satellite networks. All.Space announced plans Aug. 1 to begin production in late 2022 of the new terminal, which is designed to connect networks “via multiple, simultaneous links,” according to the
WASHINGTON — The new head of Russia’s space agency backed away from comments suggesting Russia would withdraw from the International Space Station as soon as 2024 but expressed doubts Russia would be involved through 2030. Yuri Borisov raised alarms among the other ISS partners July 26 when he told Russian president Vladimir Putin that Russia
WASHINGTON — A key House member outlined his priorities for NASA and civil space activities that he says are necessary to compete in a new “space race” with China. Speaking at the International Space Station Research and Development Conference July 27, Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.) outlined how he believes NASA, working with other agencies and
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