Moscow (Sputnik) Aug 24, 2021
Russia and China have fervently opposed US plans for the deployment of offensive weapons systems in space for over a decade, jointly proposing a treaty to prevent such arms from being deployed by any nation. Earlier this year, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that there was "still a chance" to reach an agreement on the issue. The Congressional Research Service (CRS), an agency r

Kennedy Space Center FL (SPX) Aug 25, 2021
When astronauts embark on long-duration missions in the future, crews will grow food to supplement what they can bring with them. More than 20 years of continuously living and working in space aboard the International Space Station has provided many opportunities for crews and researchers to observe the challenges of growing plants in the stressful conditions of microgravity. One experimen

Moscow (Sputnik) Aug 25, 2021
Two space tourists could head to the International Space Station (ISS) on board the Russian Soyuz spacecraft after 2023, Deputy Director General for International Cooperation of Russian space agency Roscosmos Sergey Saveliev told Sputnik. "We have commercial customers, I think we will announce them this fall," Saveliev said, adding that the tourists, who are non-Russian citizens, will like

Denver CO (SPX) Aug 25, 2021
Voyager Space report that its subsidiary, Altius Space Machines, Inc. (Altius) was recently selected by Eta Space to provide a cryogenic coupler for liquid oxygen (LOX) transfer in support of its planned nine-month LOXSAT cryogenic fluid management mission. Eta Space was selected by NASA to execute a flight demonstration of a complete cryogenic oxygen fluid management system. The system wi

Washington DC (SPX) Aug 25, 2021
With NASA's Psyche mission now less than a year from launch, anticipation is building. By next spring, the fully assembled spacecraft will ship from the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a launch period that opens Aug. 1, 2022. In early 2026, the Psyche spacecraft will arrive at its target, an asteroid of the same name i

Toronto, Canada (SPX) Aug 25, 2021
MDA Ltd has signed an agreement with Intuitive Machines, LLC to provide Lunar landing sensors to support its upcoming IM-1 and IM-2 missions. As a result, MDA landing sensors will support the first soft landing US mission to the Moon since 1972, scheduled for early 2022. MDA landing sensors will also support the first ever mining mission to the South pole of the Moon in late 2022. Intuitiv

Moscow (Sputnik) Aug 24, 2021
A new arms race has boosted the dispute over space weapons, with talks periodically raised about a need to extend control over weapons in orbit. Despite numerous calls to demilitarize space, leading countries continue to accuse each other of developing potentially offensive technology. The US department of Defense is, in the near future, expected to announce and demonstrate secret space we

Washington DC (UPI) Aug 23, 2021
The U.S. Army has successfully executed live-fire test of its first Iron Dome Defense System (IDDS-A) Battery, the branch announced Monday. The execution of the live-fire test of the first of two IDDS-A batteries, which the U.S. Army acquired from Israel, at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico was "a critical step" forward, the U.S. Army said in a statement. Soldiers from

Efforts to digitize spacecraft manufacturing processes to support remote workers during the pandemic are also creating operational advantages for deep space missions, according to a Lockheed Martin executive.

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SDA Director Derek Tournear said initially he did not want to use NSSL because it’s significantly more expensive than commercial launches but worked out an agreement with the Space Force to get the cost reduced