HELSINKI — The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is moving ahead with testing of its new H3 rocket as it seeks to replace its aging flagship H-IIA launch vehicle.

The omnibus spending bill the U.S. Congress enacted in December will provide $10 million in 2021 for the Commerce Department’s Office of Space Commerce to conduct a space traffic management (STM) “pilot program” with other agencies and industries.

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Lights, camera, action for NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins and Victor Glover. The duo will install European payloads outside the International Space Station during a spacewalk on 27 January, guided by the know-how of their colleagues.

ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen is seen in this image installing the Columbus Ka-band or ColKa terminal that will enable faster communication with Europe during a ‘dress rehearsal’ in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas in 2018. 

Andrea will serve as ground IV, directing Mike and Victor through the installation of the small fridge-sized device by radio from NASA’s mission

WASHINGTON — The founding chief executive of in-space transportation company Momentus is resigning in an effort to overcome U.S. government concerns about foreign control of the company.

Momentus announced Jan. 25 that Mikhail Kokorich was resigning as chief executive and a member of the company’s board, effective immediately.

Toronto, Canada (SPX) Jan 26, 2021
Kepler Communications welcomed eight new satellites into their constellation today, further expanding the active constellation to 13 satellites in total. These eight satellites, KEPLER-8 through KEPLER-15, were successfully launched via SpaceX's first dedicated SmallSat Rideshare Program mission at approximately 10:00 AM EDT this morning. Once fully operational within the constellation these wil

Cape Canaveral FL (SPX) Jan 25, 2021
Spaceflight Inc., the global launch services provider, successfully launched and deployed 16 payloads, including 15 from its next-generation orbital transfer vehicle (OTV), Sherpa-FX1, aboard the SpaceX Transporter-1 mission. Dubbed SXRS-3 by Spaceflight, the mission launched January 24 from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. It delivered Spaceflight's Sherpa-FX1 to S

Fino Mornasco, Italy (SPX) Jan 26, 2021
On January 24th, 2021, at 4:00 pm CET, D-Orbit, the first space logistics company on the market, launched another ION Satellite Carrier atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS), Florida. On the same day, 1 hour 16 minutes and 28 seconds the vehicle was successfully deployed into a polar orbit. The spacecraft, name

Quebec City, Canada (SPX) Jan 26, 2021
An optical sensor manufactured by ABB was deployed last night with the successful launch of satellite Hugo from GHGSat, the emerging leader in greenhouse gas sensing services in space. The ABB supplied optical sensor can map methane emissions from space at a resolution that is 100 times higher than any other sensors. Whilst previously only larger regions could be surveyed, for the first ti

Washington DC (AFNS) Jan 25, 2021
The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is pleased to announce award of Other Transaction Agreements (OTA) with L3Harris Technologies, Inc and Northrop Grumman Systems Cooporation for the Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) program's Phase IIb On-orbit Prototype Demonstration. Phase IIb will continue developing the capability to support Warfighter fire-control quality data requiremen

Washington DC (UPI) Jan 22, 2021
Scientists have set a new record for stable laser transmission, successfully sending laser signals from one point to another without interference from the atmosphere. The record transmission was made possible by a new "phase-stabilization" technology, which utilizes free-space, self-guiding optical terminals featuring mirrors to combat interference issues like phase noise and beam wande