NASA announced that it has awarded $105 million in Phase II awards under its Small Business Innovation Research program. A total of 140 awards were handed to 127 small businesses to help transition their experimental technologies from the laboratory to the market, NASA said Friday. “These small businesses received Phase I awards towards the onset […]
NASA has announced that Robert Cabana, the director of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and a former astronaut, will begin serving as associate administrator on May 17. He will succeed Steve Jurczyk, who has announced his retirement. Cabana is currently responsible for managing all of the spaceport’s programs, including the Commercial Crew Program and […]
Momentus failed to secure a payload review for its Vigoride-1 tug from the Federal Aviation Administration, further delaying the launch of the spacecraft, which is now months behind schedule. According to Momentus’ May 11 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the FAA rejected the company’s application for a payload review due to concerns that […]
The Space Force has released three requests for prototype proposals for technologies that can help the military reach space and operate orbital spacecraft. The Space and Missile Systems Center’s Launch Enterprise and the Space Development Corps’ Space Enterprise Consortium, or SpEC, plan to invest in next-generation rocket engine testing, upper stage resiliency enhancements and orbital […]
House defense appropriators have told Space Force leaders that the service is not making enough progress in acquisition programs. Rep. Betty McCollum, chair of the House Appropriations Committee’s defense subcommittee, said the Space Force’s acquisition direction has not changed much since it inherited its major programs from the Air Force Space Command in December 2019, […]
The Space Force said in a recently published vision document that it wants to promote digital capabilities among its military and civilian workforce. According to the “Vision for a Digital Service” document, the nascent service branch seeks to establish a digital culture and employ digitally minded and technology savvy personnel. The Space Force’s aspirational vision […]
Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket is set to take off in June to launch various defense and commercial cubesats. The launch vehicle will lift off from the Mojave Air and Space Port in California, carrying six of the tiny satellites, three of which are part of the Department of Defense Space Test Program’s Rapid Agile Launch […]
The Federal Aviation Administration has added more space launch activity areas on pilot navigation charts. All FAA-licensed spaceports and launch and reentry sites on the charts are labeled with a rocket symbol. Marking additional space launch activity areas on the navigation charts promotes increased pilot safety and airspace awareness, the FAA said. These areas are […]
Susie Perez Quinn has been appointed the new NASA chief of staff. In her new role, Quinn will be in charge of the day-to-day operations of the NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C. She will also help NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and senior NASA staff set the strategic direction of the space agency. She succeeds Bhavya […]
The Air Force Research Laboratory has selected OneWeb, a low earth orbit satellite communications company, to demonstrate managed satellite communications services in the Arctic region. Under the terms of the contract, prime contractor Hughes Network Systems will test and implement end-to-end services on OneWeb’s system between U.S. Northern Command sites. Hughes, a satellite internet service […]
