Behind the classified architecture is a struggle over affordability, industrial scale and whether commercial space economics can work for national defense

A House appropriations bill would reverse plans by the administration to stop development of a civil space traffic management system.

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 18, 2026 — The Commercial Space Federation (CSF), in partnership with Rational Futures (RF), announced the release of SCRUBBED: America’s Launch Capacity Challenge, a data-driven assessment of potential […]

A large boulder, a treacherous crater or a gust of wind could jeopardise a smooth landing on Mars. Before the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover mission launches for the Red Planet in 2028, a replica of the landing platform went through worst-case touchdown conditions – and survived.    

Thinking of every possible landing scenario, European engineers dropped a full-scale model onto a sled to test its stability in case the spacecraft touched down at an angle. A magnetic sledge released the lander at varying speeds – up to four metres per second –on a platform tilted at 20 degrees.  

In every test, the four legs of the descent module absorbed the impact.  

These sled-based tests were the final series of the landing platform drop test campaign conducted at the ALTEC facilities in Turin, Italy.   

“This campaign proves how robust the ExoMars landing system is. The tests delivered critical

NASA has released the final request for proposals for a Mars telecommunications system, confirming requirements that limit the companies that can bid on it.

Company executives acknowledge ‘investor confusion’ as Space Force reorganizes York’s primary customer, the Space Development Agency

A Falcon 9 launched a Dragon cargo spacecraft May 15 carrying nearly 3,000 kilograms of cargo to the International Space Station.

A planned direct-to-device joint venture between AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon has divided operators behind the satellites needed to connect ordinary smartphones from space.