NASA and SpaceX have reached a significant milestone in the Artemis program with the third integrated flight test of SpaceX’s Starship human landing system. The test flight took place on March 14 at SpaceX’s Starbase orbital launch pad in Texas, NASA said. Powered by 33 Raptor engines, the Super Heavy booster propelled Starship into orbit. […]
NASA and other organizations with payloads on Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander announced that they have still managed to gather useful information from the mission despite it not reaching the moon. The Peregrine Ion-Trap Mass Spectrometer, a NASA instrument, is among the payloads aboard the lunar lander. During the flight, it detected traces of nitric oxide […]
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency will integrate for testing in its Martian moons mission spacecraft a spectrometer that NASA delivered on Thursday. According to the agency, the instrument’s review board has evaluated and certified the Mars-moon Exploration with Gamma Ray and Neutrons instrument and approved its delivery to JAXA in the fall of 2023 after a […]
A test version of the Space Launch System universal stage adapter has arrived at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center for validation procedures. The adapter is a critical component that will connect the upgraded exploration upper stage to the Orion spacecraft for the SLS rocket’s advanced Block 1B configuration, NASA said. The Block 1B variant will make its […]
Five individuals have received NASA’s Development and Advancement of Lunar Instrumentation grants, a program under the Lunar Discovery and Exploration Program that aims to develop technologies useful in future flight opportunities. Hao Cao of the University of California, Los Angeles, is among the awardees. Cao and his team are developing a miniaturized, low-power, ultra-scalable fluxgate […]
A more powerful version of the Space Launch System rocket for future Artemis missions is in store for NASA. The SLS Block 1B uses the same core stage and solid rocket as the original SLS but features a more powerful second stage called the exploration upper stage. The EUS, which replaces the interim cryogenic propulsion […]
The Biden-Harris administration is requesting over $25 billion for NASA in the fiscal year 2025 budget to continue its work on better understanding the planet and space. Bill Nelson, administrator of the U.S. space agency, said the White House’s budget proposal will help ensure that the United States remains a leader in space exploration, scientific […]
Science Applications International Corp. announced that it has secured a $444 million contract for the U.S. Space Force’s Digital Transformation, Acquisition, Modernization and Modification initiative. The contract targets upgrades within Space Systems Command and Space Launch Deltas 30 and 45, SAIC said. The contract tasks SAIC to modernize space launch range instrumentation to boost launch […]
The Department of the Air Force’s AFWERX and the U.S. Space Force’s SpaceWERX have selected eligible applicants for their Strategic Funding Increase program for 2024. STRATFI is designed to help small businesses overcome challenges between development and full production. A small business benefits from the program as it receives support from a partner government organization, […]
L3Harris Technologies has selected Maxar Space Systems to design and produce Maxar 300 spacecraft platforms for the Space Development Agency’s Tranche 2 Tracking Layer program. The Maxar 300 spacecraft features flexible and scalable electrical and data interfaces for various payloads; configurable telemetry, tracking and command; inter-satellite link support; solar arrays and batteries; and chemical or […]
