Greenbelt MD (SPX) Mar 02, 2021
February marked significant progress for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, which completed its final functional performance tests at Northrop Grumman in Redondo Beach, California. Testing teams successfully completed two important milestones that confirmed the observatory's internal electronics are all functioning as intended, and that the spacecraft and its four scientific instruments can send

WASHINGTON — SpaceX launched a prototype of its Starship next-generation vehicle March 3, landing it safely only to have the vehicle explode minutes later.

The Starship SN10 vehicle lifted off from the company’s Boca Chica, Texas, test site at about 6:15 p.m.

WASHINGTON — A NASA rover mission to look for ice at the south pole of the moon has passed a key review, but now costs significantly more than previously advertised.

NASA’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) mission passed its confirmation review Feb.

TAMPA, Fla. — Indonesia’s government has secured financing to continue manufacturing the SATRIA broadband satellite, although its intended orbital slot remains up in the air.

Thales Alenia Space started developing the Ka-band spacecraft in September after receiving partial financing, which spokesperson Sandrine Bielecki told SpaceNews covered work up until this point.

Back in the 1990s, space advocates had visions of reusable launch vehicles that would lower the cost of getting to orbit, opening the door to everything from space hotels to space solar power satellites. The problem, they argued at conferences as they showed viewgraphs of their designs, was not technical but financial: few were willing to invest in these ventures.

Video: 00:01:50

Why does ESA send missions beyond our Earth? To explore unknown worlds, and better understand our place in the Universe. But that answer only gives part of the picture. The first thing people do when they first reach space is to turn back to see our homeworld. Looking down on our planet from above allows ESA with its global partners to monitor climate, disasters and environmental changes – to work together to protect our home.

And danger comes from above as well as below: a close eye on our stormy Sun is vital to gather early warning of

HELSINKI — China will work on development of two types of super-heavy launch vehicles for future lunar projects, a senior official said Wednesday.

Jiang Jie, chief designer of the Long March 3A series of hypergolic launchers, told press (Chinese) in Beijing March 3 that the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) would continue development of both a heavy launch vehicle and a new generation crew launch vehicle over the next five years.

WASHINGTON — As launch activity grows on the Eastern Range in Florida, companies and government agencies are looking at ways to add capacity, largely through incremental improvements.

In a panel discussion at the 47th Spaceport Summit Feb.

Video: 01:17:00

Watch the replay of the briefing to media representatives to learn more about the next spaceflight of ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti.

During the event, Samantha was joined by ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher,  ESA Director of Human and Robotic Exploration David Parker, and Italian space agency president Giorgio Saccoccia.

Samantha is a member of ESA’s astronaut class of 2009. During her firsission ‘Futura’ in 2014t m–15, she spent 200 days in space, carrying out science and operations on the International Space Station as a flight engineer for Expeditions 42 and 43. She now looks forward to returning to the