Already running years behind, Boeing's first astronaut flight is now off until at least next March.

Problems with the parachute lines and flammable tape surfaced during final reviews in late spring, ahead of what should have been a July launch for the Starliner capsule.

Set to launch this fall, NASA's Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) project will test how lasers could speed up data transmission far beyond the capacity of current radio frequency systems used in space. Known as a technology demonstration, DSOC may pave the way for broadband communications that will help support humanity's next giant leap: when NASA sends astronauts to Mars.

Additive manufacturing is slowly becoming more and more useful as the technology improves. One of the places it continues its development is in the realm of space exploration. It has long been mooted as an integral part of any in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) efforts and is especially important for ensuring early explorers on the moon have the right tools and materials they need to survive.

The European Space Agency is supporting that research effort, as their Technology Development Element fund supported work by an Austrian company called Incus to develop a 3D printing solution that could reprint metal parts on the moon.

The moon undoubtedly has plenty of metallic ore ready to be mined by either robots or explorers. However, making metal from that ore is expensive in energy and time, both of which are limited in any early lunar exploration scenario.

Russia said Monday it plans to launch a lunar lander this week after multiple delays, hoping to return to the moon for the first time in nearly fifty years.

The launch, which is scheduled for the early hours of Friday, comes as Russia's Ukraine offensive stretches into a second year, sparking huge tensions with the West.

With the Luna-25 lander, Russia's first since 1976, Moscow is keen to restart and build upon a pioneering Soviet-era lunar program.

The Russian space agency said that a Soyuz rocket had been assembled at the Vostochny cosmodrome in the Russian Far East for the launch of the Luna-25.

"The launch is on August 11," Roscosmos said in a statement.

"The Luna-25 will have to practice soft landing, take and analyze soil samples and conduct long-term scientific research," the statement added.

The four-legged lander, which weighs around 800 kilograms, is expected to touch down in the region of the lunar south pole. By contrast, most moon landings occur near the lunar equator.

The launch is the first mission of Moscow's new lunar program and comes as Russia looks to strengthen cooperation in space with China amid ruptured ties with the West.