The National Aeronautics and Space Administration announced that it has launched the second phase of its Break the Ice Lunar Challenge, a competition for advancing technology in excavating the moon’s surface. The contest is in line with efforts to make astronauts less dependent on supply deliveries from Earth by giving the technologies to mine the […]
Space engineering services provider a.i. solutions has secured the U.S. Space Force‘s potential seven-year, $217 million Prototype Operations I contract to support the Space Systems Command‘s Innovation and Prototyping Directorate. Under the POPS-I indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract, a.i. solutions will lead a team that will provide support for concept development, readiness, launch, on-orbit testing and evaluation, operations […]
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration announced that the third satellite in the Joint Polar Satellite System series is scheduled for launch on Nov. 1. The JPSS-2 climate satellite, which was developed for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is set to lift off from the Vandenberg Space Force Base aboard a United Launch Alliance […]
The U.S. Space Force has implemented its new cybersecurity standards for commercial satellite service providers. Jared Reece, an official in the Space Force’s Commercial Satellite Communications Office, explained that the new Infrastructure Asset Pre-Assessment program is designed to give satellite companies an incentive to bolster their security, Air Force Magazine reported Tuesday. The Space Force […]
NASA has awarded nearly $50 million in first-round funding to 257 small businesses and 41 research institutions to fund projects that would support future space explorations. The projects that will be supported by the funding include the development of sensors, software, materials, a solar panel coating and the manufacturing component of Ad Astra Rocket Company’s […]
Virginia-headquartered Iridium Communications announced that, together with General Dynamics Mission Systems, it has been awarded a $324.5 million contract by the Space Development Agency to establish the ground operations component of an upcoming satellite constellation. The deal primarily calls for building the ground entry points and operations centers for the National Defense Space Architecture, Iridium […]
NASA announced that its Advanced Air Mobility National Campaign has entered into information exchange agreements with four organizations. The agency’s advanced air mobility mission is focused on ensuring safety and equitability in emerging aviation markets, according to the NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate’s website. Electra Aero, OverAir, Supernal and Ellis & Associates are now part […]
Virginia-headquartered BlueHalo announced that it has been awarded a $1.4 billion contract by the Space Force’s Space Rapid Capabilities Office to enable the modernization of satellite operations. The award seeks to realize the objectives set by the new U.S. military service under the Satellite Communication Augmentation Resource program, BlueHalo said Tuesday. In a statement, the […]
NASA announced that David McBride, director of the Armstrong Flight Research Center, plans to retire by the end of June. As director, he leads a field center that conducts carries out high-risk atmospheric flight research and test projects. McBride was appointed to his role in January 2010, according to his profile on the NASA website. […]
Satellite solutions provider Terran Orbital has delivered its Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator 3 satellite to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station ahead of the SpaceX Transporter-5 mission. PTD-3 is a 12-kilogram 6U cube satellite that hosts and supports on-orbit operations of the TeraByte InfraRed Delivery payload, which was developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory […]
