Launch vehicle company Astra has signed an agreement with the Defense Innovation Unit to execute two launches using the Rocket 3 vehicle. Under the agreement, Astra’s Rocket 3 will carry a U.S. Space Force test payload during its next attempt to reach orbit. The first launch will take place from the Pacific Spaceport Complex on […]
The Air Force Materiel Command said it has been designated the servicing major command for the U.S. Space Force. AFMC is a major command tasked with managing installation and mission support, test and evaluation and life cycle management services and sustainment for major Air Force weapon systems. The first-of-its-kind servicing structure is aimed at providing […]
The White House has appointed Chirag Parikh as executive secretary of the National Space Council, an organization chaired by Vice President Kamala Harris. In the role, Parikh is responsible for leading the daily activities of the council, which is expected to hold its first meeting in the fall. The Trump administration reestablished the council in […]
A sophisticated X-ray solar imager was successfully launched on a brief but potentially illuminating suborbital flight via sounding rocket to gather new insights about how and why the sun’s corona grows so much hotter than the actual solar surface, NASA said Monday. The rocket carrying the Marshall Grazing Incidence X-ray Spectrometer was launched from the […]
The Space and Missile Systems Center wants concepts for hosting communication payloads on the GPS 3F satellites being developed by Lockheed Martin. According to a request for information posted on SAM .gov, GPS 3F satellites are suitable for hosting additional payloads owing to their excess spacecraft weight and power margin. SMC is considering integrating SATCOM […]
The Senate confirmed Margaret Vo Schaus as the chief financial officer of NASA in a voice vote held on July 30. She assumes her new role at the space agency after serving as director of business operations within the Department of Defense’s Office of the Undersecretary for Research and Engineering. Vo Schaus is the third […]
Ball Aerospace said its Space Weather Follow On-Lagrange 1 spacecraft has completed the preliminary design review phase and will enter the critical design phase. The spacecraft was designed under the terms of a contract awarded by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center on behalf of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, Ball Aerospace said. Makenzie Lystrup, vice […]
The Government Accountability Office has denied a series of protests filed over NASA’s decision to issue a single award for the Human Landing System contract instead of two. Blue Origin and Dynetics contested the award in April, citing issues with several aspects of the acquisition process and the elements of NASA’s technical evaluation. GAO maintained […]
Robert Gibbs, associate administrator for NASA’s Mission Support Directorate, told lawmakers that aging infrastructure represents the single, greatest threat to the space agency’s mission success. Speaking before members of the House Science Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, Gibbs said that 82 percent of NASA facilities have exceeded their original designed life. While a concrete plan […]
Aerospace company Rocket Lab has launched an experimental satellite for the U.S. Space Force as part of an effort to demonstrate various space-based capabilities. Sponsored by the Air Force Research Laboratory, the Monolith satellite mission is aimed at testing whether large deployable sensors can be used with 6U or 12U-sized satellite buses, C4ISRNET reported Friday. […]
