RocketStar has secured a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research contract from the U.S. Space Force, allowing for the continued development of electric deep space propulsion technology that uses proton-boron fusion. The company uses its aneutronic fusion technology to create a combined reaction of a boron nucleus with a proton that produces alpha particles. The […]
An independent inquiry into the causes of the Psyche mission’s launch delay in June has pointed to fundamental staffing and communication issues at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in addition to developmental and testing problems with the project itself. According to a report released Friday, investigators found that JPL faced a lack of qualified personnel […]
Space systems provider Rocket Lab has delivered the last solar panels that would be used for NASA’s Gateway lunar space program to Maxar Technologies. The solar panels incorporate Rocket Lab’s Z4J solar cells, components that exhibit a 30 percent minimum average conversion efficiency at beginning-of-life. Z4J can also operate better in high-radiation and high-temperature environments […]
NASA has posted a draft request for proposals for the Lunar Terrain Vehicle Services contract, which is meant to procure an unpressurized, human-class rover capable of withstanding cold temperatures, maneuvering in low-light conditions and being controlled remotely. The vehicle is planned for use in future crewed Artemis missions to the moon’s south pole. Feedback regarding the […]
Gen. B. Chance Saltzman is now officially the chief of space operations, succeeding Gen. John Raymond, who has retired. A change of command ceremony was held at Joint Base Andrews Maryland on Wednesday led by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and attended by Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Air Force […]
Reston, Virginia-based telecommunications provider Inmarsat Government has selected Rocket Lab, a Long Beach, California-based provider of vehicle launch and space systems, to develop and manufacture an L-Band radio that would support NASA’s Communications Services Project. Under the partnership, Rocket Lab will help enable InCommand, Inmarsat’s real-time, near-Earth telemetry, command and control service for CSP satellites […]
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has tapped Spire Global to draw up a prototype for a very low Earth orbit satellite equipped with ionosphere-measuring sensors. DARPA issued the contract award as part of its Ouija program, which is intended to raise scientific understanding of high-frequency radio wave propagation in that region of the atmosphere. […]
NASA is setting up the Acquisition Innovation Lab, an organization tasked with testing faster and less expensive ways to obtain equipment and supplies. According to Karla Smith Jackson, the agency’s senior procurement executive and deputy chief acquisition officer, NAIL is based on the Department of Homeland Security’s Procurement Innovation Lab, Federal News Network reported Monday. […]
NASA expects aerospace company SpaceX to be ready for a Starship test in December. Mark Kirasich, deputy associate administrator for Artemis Campaign Development at NASA, said the agency understood that SpaceX’s current testing schedule for Starship and the Super Heavy rocket supports an orbital launch attempt in late 2022. The schedule would depend on several […]
NASA has announced that it will move forward with the Psyche asteroid mission after missing its initial 2022 planned launch due to mission development issues. The space agency had an internal review, commissioned by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, that investigated the cause of the delay and sought to determine if the issues identified would affect […]
