WASHINGTON — The Air Force Research Laboratory is planning a 2023 launch of the NTS-3 experimental satellite the U.S. military will use for positioning, navigation and timing.

AFRL previously announced the launch would be in 2022 but the mission will slip into 2023, AFRL Commander Brig.

WASHINGTON — Space industry startup Ursa Major Technologies has named former Air Force procurement official Will Roper to its the board of directors, the company’s CEO said April 28.

Ursa Major is a venture-funded maker of rocket engines for small and medium launch vehicles.

The E in ESG is getting another boost as the United States rejoins the climate change fight, and space promises to play a central role.

A rising number of companies have already added ESG scorecards to their annual reports, detailing the progress they are making toward environmental, social and corporate governance goals.

SAN FRANCISCO – The 36^th annual Space Symposium will follow a hybrid model, streaming keynote remarks, presentations, panel discussions from the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs Aug. 23-26 to virtual attendees around the world.

Currently, the Space Foundation is preparing for 50% occupancy in meeting rooms with total attendance of nearly 6,000 people including attendees, exhibitors, media and support staff.

On April 23, SpaceX launched a crew of international astronauts to the Space Station. This marks the third human spaceflight success for the firm’s Crew Dragon Capsule, developed under NASA’s Commercial Crew program. The amazing accomplishments of this program and of its predecessor, Comercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS), which funded development of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and the cargo version of Dragon, depended not only on great engineering by SpaceX and other NASA vendors, but also upon the power of system redundancy and market competition.

WASHINGTON — Bill Nelson is one step closer to being NASA’s next administrator after his former colleagues on the Senate Commerce Committee voted to advance his nomination.

The committee, meeting in executive session April 28, favorably reported his nomination on a voice vote and without debate.

TAMPA, Fla. — Serial entrepreneur Max Polyakov has made the next step in his vertically integrated space strategy, acquiring South African small satellite specialist Dragonfly Aerospace for an undisclosed sum.

Dragonfly mainly builds high-resolution cameras for spacecraft but plans to produce small satellites that could be launched by Firefly Aerospace, which Polyakov owns through his Silicon Valley-based investment vehicle Noosphere Ventures Partners.