The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Space Commerce has signed a no-exchange-of-funds cooperative research and development agreement with SpaceX to advance safe and automated satellite operations. Under the CRADA, the OSC will perform an astrodynamic evaluation of SpaceX’s software, particularly those used for satellite management. According to OSC Director Richard DalBello, NOAA wants […]
The Space Development Agency has awarded Momentus a contract modification to continue work on tailoring the company’s Vigoride Orbital Service Vehicle to Department of Defense payloads and missions. According to John Rood, Momentus CEO, Vigoride offers flexibility, payload capacity and power suited for various national security missions, such as space situational awareness, surveillance and reconnaissance. […]
Diane Howard, the National Space Council’s head of commercial space policy, has called on the federal government to allocate funds for on-orbit satellite refueling and servicing capabilities. Speaking at the recent Space Mobility Conference, she explained that signaling demand to the private sector and international partners will require a clear strategy and “real funding” from […]
NASA said testers from the agency and Axiom Space are putting a next-generation lunar spacesuit through its paces in preparation for the Artemis III mission. According to NASA, the team performed maneuverability tasks that will be done during moonwalks, including bending down to pick up lunar samples. The tests will continue at various facilities, with […]
Defense and aerospace company Northrop Grumman has announced the launch of its 20th International Space Station resupply mission as part of a NASA contract. The space agency ordered the Cygnus cargo spacecraft mission, codenamed NG-20, under the potential $14 billion Commercial Resupply Service-2 contract, Northrop said. Cygnus entered into orbit from onboard a SpaceX Falcon […]
The Space Force’s Orbital Prime program for research studies on In-Space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing is moving on to its next phase of possible commercialization of the technologies presented. The program had initially granted study contracts to more than 100 companies, which were shortlisted to 41 companies currently working under the program’s Phase 2 Small […]
The U.S. Space Systems Command has awarded Kratos Space & Missile Defense Systems, Aerojet Rocketdyne Coleman Aerospace and Corvid Technologies positions on the Sounding Rocket Program-4 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. The new contractors will have the chance to compete for suborbital launch and launch support service task orders at their facilities or government-operated locations. The three companies […]
The European Space Agency has added the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna to its mission lineup, with a launch expected in the mid-2030s. NASA will play a vital role in developing LISA, supplying several key components and engineering support. The U.S. space agency will provide devices that help reduce disturbances from electromagnetic charges. Three spacecraft will […]
The U.S. Space Force has awarded Lockheed Martin and Boeing a $66 million contract each to design satellite prototypes for the Mobile User Objective System program. MUOS satellites operate in the narrowband frequency to minimize negative effects brought about by weather and ensure that information is transmitted to receivers securely. The satellites were built to […]
The Space Development Agency has awarded General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems a contract to demonstrate its optical communication terminals for the agency. GA-EMS is working on two OCTs for space-to-space communications in degraded environments. The terminals, designed to meet SDA standards and requirements, support satellite networks, data and information sharing and collective on-orbit computing for various […]
