Pentagon deputy nominee Hicks says DoD space acquisitions deserve scrutiny
Monday, 01 February 2021 23:05
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WASHINGTON — President Biden’s nominee for deputy defense secretary Kathleen Hicks said in congressional testimony that space acquisition programs should leverage commercial innovation and ensure the United States can counter China’s technological advances.
Hicks sat in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee Feb.
SpaceX Starship crashes after suborbital flight
Monday, 01 February 2021 21:22 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — A second prototype of SpaceX’s Starship reusable launch vehicle performed a suborbital flight Feb. 2, only to crash while landing.
The Starship SN9 vehicle lifted off at about 3:25 p.m. Eastern from SpaceX’s Boca Chica, Texas, test site.
SpaceX Starship prototype rocket crashes in fireball ... again
Monday, 01 February 2021 21:14 Write a comment
A prototype of a SpaceX rocket the company hopes will one day journey to Mars crashed in a fiery explosion as it tried to land upright after a test flight Tuesday.
It was the second such explosion after the last prototype of Starship met a similar fate in December.
"We had again another great flight," said a SpaceX announcer on live footage that was broadcast online.
"We've just got to work on that landing a little bit," he added.
The company's founder Elon Musk was uncharacteristically quiet on social media, having announced the night before he was "Off Twitter for a while.
'Got to work on that landing': SpaceX rocket in fiery crash, again
Monday, 01 February 2021 21:14 Write a comment
A prototype of a SpaceX rocket the company hopes will one day journey to Mars crashed in a fiery explosion as it tried to land upright after a test flight Tuesday.
It was the second such explosion after the last prototype of Starship met a similar fate in December.
"We had again another great flight," said a SpaceX announcer on live footage that was broadcast online.
"We've just got to work on that landing a little bit," he added.
The company's founder Elon Musk was uncharacteristically quiet on social media, having announced the night before he was "Off Twitter for a while.
White House has nothing to say on Space Force
Monday, 01 February 2021 20:55 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki seemed surprised when a reporter during her daily briefing Tuesday asked if President Biden has made any decisions regarding the U.S. Space Force.
“Wow, Space Force,” Psaki said, visibly taken by surprise by the question.
Omnispace raises $60 million to fund hybrid network
Monday, 01 February 2021 20:21 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — Omnispace, a company developing a hybrid space and ground network to provide 5G and internet of things services, announced Feb. 2 it raised $60 million to fund the rollout of its system.
Laser communications company Mynaric opens Washington office
Monday, 01 February 2021 18:56 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — Mynaric, a Germany-based manufacturer of optical satellite terminals, announced Feb. 2 it is expanding its footprint in the United States and opening an office in Washington D.C.
The company currently operates in the United States from Los Angeles but wants “to be closer to U.S.
NASA's Psyche mission moves forward, passing key milestone
Monday, 01 February 2021 18:17 Write a comment
Now just a year and a half from launch, the mission to explore a metal-rich asteroid will soon begin assembling and testing the spacecraft.
NASA's Psyche mission has passed a critical milestone that moves it a step closer to launch. After an intense review of the mission's progress in building its science instruments and engineering systems, Psyche won clearance to progress into what NASA calls Phase D of its life cycle—the final phase of operations prior to its scheduled launch in August 2022.
Until now, the mission has focused on planning, designing, and building the body of the spacecraft, its solar-electric propulsion system, the three science instruments, electronics, the power subsystem, and the like. The successful review of those elements means the mission can now begin delivering components to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which manages the mission and will test, assemble, and integrate each piece.
SpaceX violated launch license in Starship SN8 launch
Monday, 01 February 2021 17:39 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — The Federal Aviation Administration said that SpaceX violated the conditions of a launch license for its Starship vehicle during a launch in December, prompting an investigation that delayed tests of another vehicle.
In a Feb.
Astra to go public through merger with SPAC
Monday, 01 February 2021 16:59 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — Small launch vehicle developer Astra will go public by merging with a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC), providing the company with nearly $500 million in cash and valuing it at more than $2 billion.
Satellite observations prove crucial in new climate science report
Monday, 01 February 2021 14:15 Write a comment
With impacts from climate change threatening major disruption to society in the coming years, leading scientists have released a compilation of the 10 most important insights on climate to help inform collective action on the ongoing climate crisis, in which satellites have played a crucial role in aiding scientific understanding.
MDA Announces Radarsat-2 Continuity Mission
Monday, 01 February 2021 14:00 Write a comment
SAN FRANCISCO – MDA is designing the follow-on to Radarsat-2, the C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite the Canadian firm built through a public-private partnership with the Canadian government.
“We are announcing today that we are well into our project to design and develop our next generation of radar-based Earth observation capabilities to ensure that our Radarsat-2 customers have data and information product continuity moving forward,” MDA CEO Mike Greenley told SpaceNews.
NASA to delay decision on Artemis lunar landers
Monday, 01 February 2021 12:27 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — NASA is delaying a decision on which companies will proceed in its effort to develop human lunar landers for the Artemis program as it grapples with a funding shortfall and a change in administrations.
Three more service modules for Artemis to be built in Europe
Monday, 01 February 2021 10:46 Write a comment
ESA signed a further contract with Airbus for the construction of three more European Service Modules for Orion, NASA’s spacecraft that will fly astronauts to the Moon and lunar Gateway as part of the Artemis programme.
SpaceX aims to launch 'all-civilian' trip into orbit
Monday, 01 February 2021 09:10 Write a comment
SpaceX announced Monday it's aiming to launch this year the first all-civilian mission into Earth's orbit, led by a tech billionaire who plans to raffle off one of the spots aboard the craft.
Entrepreneur Jared Isaacman is to be joined by three other novice astronauts for a multi-day journey into space, including one lucky winner of a drawing.
"It's a once-in-a-lifetime adventure: a journey into outer space on the first all-civilian space flight," according to a website dedicated to the mission.
SpaceX, the company started by Elon Musk, said Isaacman is "donating the three seats alongside him.