NASA is accelerating its Commercial Low-Earth Orbit Development program with added funding reallocated to two of its partners developing LEO destinations for commercial space activities in anticipation of the International Space Station’s 2030 retirement. According to Phil McAlister, the agency’s commercial space director, the program’s partners were also assigned new technical milestones to help ensure […]
NASA has announced that the United Arab Emirates’ Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre will provide the Crew and Science Airlock Module for the Gateway space station, the first such spacecraft in lunar orbit. The Gateway will serve as a staging point for moon missions under the Artemis program, NASA said. The space station is also […]
The U.S. Space Force’s deputy chief of space operations said the agency is finalizing a strategy document describing how the organization would work with the commercial space industry. Speaking at an event hosted by the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, Lt. Gen. DeAnna Burt said the Space Force is “days away from signing off on […]
Thirteen research projects have been selected for the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts’ 2024 Phase I program, with the awardees’ focus ranging from planetary exploration to a star-bound journey of a swarm of communication spacecraft. The 2024 NIAC fellows are companies and institutions from across the United States, with each awardee receiving a $175,000 grant to […]
The Space Systems Command has conducted the Parallax Rising 2.2 tabletop exercise to identify space refueling models. During the three-day exercise, participants across the SSC and other organizations across the space enterprise looked at space refueling from a tactical command-and-control perspective to understand how to integrate commercial refuelers with the Department of Defense’s systems. They […]
SpaceWERX, the Space Force’s technology unit, is seeking proposals from small businesses on American space launch sites’ information systems modernization. The project, dubbed Digital Spaceport of the Future Challenge, is open to U.S.-based companies with 500 employees or less, with proposals submitted through the Department of Defense’s Small Business Innovation Research website. SpaceWERX is collaborating […]
Several NASA projects scheduled in 2024, led by the Artemis II lunar fly-by mission, are geared to create new space exploration milestones, according to a CNN report. Programmed for a November mission, Artemis II’s four astronauts will include the first woman on a lunar voyage. They will circumnavigate the moon preparatory to Artemis III’s planned […]
The U.S. Space Force’s two Integration Mission Delta prototypes are showing benefits early on, two service officials said. According to Col. Carl Bottolfson, director of futures and integration at the Space Force, the IMD concept allowed the Space Force to better understand how things work. Col. Marc Brock, director of combat power at the Space […]
Intuitive Machines has reserved a multi-day window in mid-February to attempt its first moon landing under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. The IM-1 mission‘s Nova-C lunar lander will travel to the moon’s south pole from onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, Satnews reported Monday. The mid-February launch window is the earliest scheduling opportunity for […]
U.S. Space Forces Korea recently hosted Galaxy X Cohort from Space Systems Command to promote collaboration and cultural exchange. Six fellows from the Galaxy Program flew to South Korea, spending four days engaging in several group sessions and touring various locations, including the Korean War Memorial and the Republic of Korea Space Organization unit, the […]
