The cost of avoiding collision
Tuesday, 23 February 2021 08:00White House not making near-term plans to nominate a NASA administrator
Tuesday, 23 February 2021 03:19WASHINGTON — The White House said Feb. 23 has no schedule for nominating a NASA administrator as a new round of rumors swirl about who might be selected to lead the agency.
The topic arose at a press conference when a reporter asked press secretary Jen Psaki about rumors that the Biden administration was considering Bill Nelson, a former senator from Florida, for the post.
EchoStar reports Jupiter-3 delay and nanosatellite failures
Tuesday, 23 February 2021 00:24SAN FRANCISCO – EchoStar Corp. announced another delay in the launch of its Jupiter-3 communications satellite and the failure of two nanosatellites to reach their intended orbits, during a Feb. 23 quarterly earnings call.
Lawmakers call for open dialogue on Chinese, Russian advances in space and nuclear weapons
Monday, 22 February 2021 22:02WASHINGTON — The leaders of the House Armed Services Committee’s subcommittee on strategic forces during a hearing Feb. 23 called on the Defense Department and other agencies to more openly discuss the threats posed by China and Russia as these nations advance their space and nuclear weapons technologies.
Youngest American to go into space is also a cancer survivor
Monday, 22 February 2021 18:34By the end of the year, Hayley Arceneaux will be the youngest American in space and one of the first tourists to enter orbit unaccompanied by professional astronauts.
It is a feat made all the more remarkable by her battle to overcome a childhood cancer that robbed the 29 year old of her dream of becoming an astronaut herself.
Due to the bone cancer she overcame, Arceneaux has steel rods in her left leg—which until recently were enough to shatter her hopes of going into space.
SpaceX blames failed Falcon 9 booster landing on heat damage
Monday, 22 February 2021 17:50WASHINGTON — A Falcon 9 booster failed to land after its most recent launch Feb. 15 because of “heat damage” it sustained, but a SpaceX official said he was confident that the boosters can be reused 10 or more times.
Op-ed | Why the National Space Council matters
Monday, 22 February 2021 16:38NASA marked another milestone last week with the successful landing of the Perseverance rover on Mars. Perseverance is now the fifth and most technologically advanced rover to reach the surface of the red planet.
Space Force awards engineering contract for certification of ULA’s Vulcan rocket
Monday, 22 February 2021 16:01WASHINGTON — Millennium Engineering and Integration received a $13.2 million award from the U.S. Space Force on Feb. 19 for services in support of the certification of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket.
ESA moves forward with Harmony
Monday, 22 February 2021 15:40Following the selection of three Earth Explorer candidate missions to enter a first feasibility study in September 2018, ESA has chosen one of the candidates, Harmony, to move to the next phase of development. Harmony is envisaged as a mission with two satellites that orbit in formation with one of the Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellites to address key scientific questions related to ocean, ice and land dynamics.
Former Capella Space and Planet executive joins Hydrosat
Monday, 22 February 2021 13:00WASHINGTON – Scott Soenen, who held key engineering jobs at Capella Space and Planet, is the new chief technology officer of Hydrosat, a data analytics company building a satellite constellation to produce a global thermal infrared map.
“If you are looking for the one person that has engineered successful remote sensing data platforms across three high-growth commercial satellite operators, Scott is that person,” Hydrosat CEO Pieter Fossel said in a statement.
Orbit Fab and Benchmark Space Systems to partner on in-space refueling technologies
Monday, 22 February 2021 12:06WASHINGTON — Two startups are partnering on technology that they hope can jump-start the market for in-space refueling of satellites.
Orbit Fab and Benchmark Space Systems announced Feb. 23 that they are teaming up to provide the capability to refuel Benchmark’s thrusters with hydrogen peroxide propellant provided by an Orbit Fab tanker in low Earth orbit.
Redwire acquires Deployable Space Systems
Monday, 22 February 2021 12:00SAN FRANCISCO – Redwire has acquired Deployable Space Systems (DSS) Inc., the rapidly growing Goleta, California, company that manufactures various structures and mechanisms including the Roll-Out Solar Array (ROSA). Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The DSS acquisition announced Feb.
L3Harris gets $136 million contract for GPS digital payloads
Monday, 22 February 2021 12:00WASHINGTON — L3Harris Technologies announced Feb. 23 it has received a $136 million contract from Lockheed Martin for four digital payloads for GPS navigation satellites.
The navigation payload mission data units are for the next-generation GPS satellites known as GPS 3 Follow-on or GPS 3F, made by Lockheed Martin.
L3Harris gets $137 million contract for GPS digital payloads
Monday, 22 February 2021 12:00WASHINGTON — L3Harris Technologies announced Feb. 23 it has received a $137 million contract from Lockheed Martin for four digital payloads for GPS navigation satellites.
The navigation payload mission data units are for the next-generation GPS satellites known as GPS 3 Follow-on or GPS 3F, made by Lockheed Martin.
India revises Gaganyaan human spaceflight plan, delays Chandrayaan-3
Monday, 22 February 2021 11:02HELSINKI — India has revised target dates for launches of its human spaceflight missions and the Chandrayaan-3 lunar landing following COVID-19-related delays.