Kelvin Coleman, the Federal Aviation Administration’s associate administrator for commercial space transportation, said safety reviews to modify SpaceX’s Starship launch license could conclude by the end of October. The company’s original clearance was valid only for the operation that occurred in late April. Regardless of the outcome, the FAA is requiring SpaceX to seek a […]
The U.S. Space Force has awarded ABL Space Systems a $15 million task order to undertake a responsive launch mission. According to its website, ABL is a California-based startup that develops launch vehicles and launch systems technology. It is responsible for RS1, a small two-stage rocket designed to lift up to 1,350 kilograms into low-Earth […]
The U.S. Space Systems Command and Firefly Aerospace have launched the Victus Nox mission in just over a day, marking a new record for space launch responsiveness. Victus Nox is an effort to advance the SSC’s Tactically Responsive Space capabilities. Within 27 hours of receiving launch orders, SSC and Firefly mated a Millennium Space Systems-built […]
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has concluded the environmental testing for the final satellite in the agency’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R series. The testing process, which started in November 2022, included checking to see how well GOES-U can withstand conditions in space, vibrations during launch, shocks during transit and electromagnetic interference and electromagnetic compatibility. […]
An imaging spectrometer designed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to measure carbon dioxide and methane has arrived at a Planet Labs facility in San Francisco to await its integration onto a satellite. Planet Labs is part of a public-private coalition led by nonprofit organization Carbon Mapper seeking to gather greenhouse gas point-source emissions data. The […]
Ball Aerospace and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center have assembled the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope‘s camera system, which will serve as the observatory’s primary instrument. The Wide Field Instrument will work to capture images with a field of view that is at least 100 times greater than the Hubble Space Telescope, providing astronomers with […]
The U.S. Space Force is developing a strategy to strengthen its partnership with commercial space industry players, with plans to release it in the coming weeks. At the Global Aerospace Summit, Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman, a 2023 Wash100 awardee, explained that the strategy will provide guidance to effectively integrate commercial space services […]
NASA has named Mark McInerney as its director of unidentified anomalous phenomena research. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson explained that McInerney will lead the execution of the agency’s vision for UAP research, including collaborating on analysis activities with other agencies and using artificial intelligence to scan for such phenomena. Nelson emphasized that the work will be […]
Iridium Communications has secured an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract from the Defense Information Systems Agency to provide its Iridium Certus satellite communication services to the U.S. Space Force. Iridium’s deliverables under the contract include weather-resilient global broadband and mid-band mobile voice and data services and terminals. The IDIQ contract, which features a five-year base with one five-year […]
Ball Aerospace has secured a potential 15-year, $486.9 million NASA contract to develop the sounder instruments for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Geostationary Extended Observations program. The GeoXO Sounder is a hyperspectral infrared instrument that will provide real-time information about the atmosphere over the western hemisphere. The sounder will be used to improve weather […]
