The Space Systems Command has completed the critical design review of the Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared Polar Space Vehicle, testing whether its design could deliver the northern hemisphere’s strategic missile warning requirements and counter evolving threats. The spacecraft is a resilient space-based global missile warning system that will replace the Space Based Infrared Systems […]
Agile Space Industries and True Anomaly are partnering to develop a cutting-edge propulsion system for True Anomaly’s Jackal autonomous orbital vehicle. Under the agreement, Agile Space will manufacture critical propulsion components, including main engines, attitude control thrusters and propellant tanks. The advanced system will empower True Anomaly’s Jackal to perform multi-orbit maneuvers, achieve high acceleration […]
The U.S. Space Force is looking to modernize space launch operations through a recent Department of Defense National Security Innovation Network bootcamp. At the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, members of the Space Launch Delta 30 participated in a program that saw them undergo hands-on exercises and develop innovative solutions to address several limitations […]
The Federal Aviation Administration’s Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee is seeking approval for the return of the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation, or AST, as a standalone unit under the Secretary of Transportation, just like when it was created in 1984. COMSTAC unanimously recommended the office’s removal from FAA jurisdiction during its meeting Tuesday. […]
NASA announced that its Deep Space Optical Communications project has showcased the possibility of using optical communications to accelerate the sending of complex scientific information from space, including high-definition images and video. On April 8, the optical communication solution aboard the Psyche spacecraft achieved a maximum data transmission speed of 25 Mbps, surpassing the original goal […]
NASA has approved Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Pandora small satellite mission in its critical design review. The green light allows Pandora to progress toward launch and its mission to study exoplanets and their stars. Scheduled for launch in early 2025, Pandora is a 325 kilogram smallsat designed to enhance data collected by the James Webb […]
Blue Origin is scheduled to launch its New Glenn rocket to Mars with two NASA small satellites as payload on Sept. 29, according to Nick Benardini, the agency’s planetary protection officer. Benardini disclosed the inaugural flight’s date in his presentation of NASA’s Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers mission to the planetary protection committee […]
Space access, mobility and logistics comprise the areas wherein the U.S. Space Force would fully rely on commercial solutions, according to Lt. Gen. Shawn Bratton, the U.S. Space Force’s deputy chief of space operations, strategy, plans, programs and requirements. Discussing at an Atlantic Council online event the eight priority mission areas of the recently released […]
Rocket Lab USA’s Electron rocket has deployed two satellites to distinct orbits on its 47th mission. The mission, which marks Rocket Lab’s fifth launch of 2024, launched from New Zealand on Wednesday, carrying payloads for the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and NASA, Rocket Lab said. The primary satellite, KAIST’s NEONSAT-1, is an […]
The Space Systems Command’s Innovation and Prototyping Acquisition Delta has completed its mission of providing scientists with data on Earth’s atmospheric conditions from space. The CloudSat mission executed its final command on March 20, ending its operations after nearly 18 years of being the country’s first effort to better understand the impact of cloud profiles […]
