Dulles VA (SPX) Jan 07, 2021
Northrop Grumman reports that the company has completed the first phase of its 14th cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station under NASA's Commercial Resupply Mission (CRS-2) contract. Cygnus was released by the station's robotic arm at 10:11 a.m. ET, carrying more than 4,000 pounds of disposable cargo and will remain in orbit for approximately two weeks for the secondary phase o

Washington DC (SPX) Jan 06, 2021
The Artemis generation of lunar explorers will establish a sustained human presence on the Moon, prospecting for resources, making revolutionary discoveries, and proving technologies key to future deep space exploration. To support these ambitions, NASA navigation engineers from the Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program are developing a navigation architecture that will provid

Beijing (XNA) Jan 06, 2021
The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the leading force of the country's space industry, has released a plan for more than 40 space launches for 2021, a new high following the already busy and fruitful 2020. The construction of China's space station, the key space mission in the year, will enter a crucial stage, according to the CASC. The country plans to lau

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jan 06, 2021
A Northrop Grumman Cygnus supply craft carried a load of new scientific experiments to the International Space Station in early October. That is only one of the jobs the craft has, though. Once it undocks from the station Cygnus will continue operations by hosting a two-week test of emerging technologies known as SharkSat. Developed internally at Northrop Grumman, SharkSat is just one exam

Salt Lake City UT (SPX) Jan 07, 2021
Utah State University's Space Dynamics Laboratory announced that it has successfully completed the Key Decision Point (KDP) C for NASA's Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE). KDP-C provides NASA approval for the project to begin final design and fabrication, known as Phase C, and establishes baselines for its official schedule and budget. Planned to be ready for launch to the International S

Nashville TN (SPX) Jan 07, 2021
The fifth generation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey is collecting data about our universe for Vanderbilt University astronomers and other project members to use to explore the formation of distant galaxies and supermassive black holes, and to map the Milky Way. The SDSS-V will make full use of existing satellites, including NASA's?Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite?mission, to lead to

WASHINGTON — China is developing satellites with robotic arms that could be deployed as space weapons. To prepare for the possibility that U.S. satellites might be targeted, the Space Force needs tools to identify whether a satellite is hostile or benign, a senior official said Jan.

WASHINGTON — Two satellites from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency that were part of an upcoming SpaceX rideshare mission have been damaged at the payload processing facility, the agency confirmed Jan. 6.

Washington DC (UPI) Jan 4, 2021
SpaceX has won a $150 million contract to launch the U.S. Department of Defense's first batch of hypersonic missile defense satellites, the second contract - for roughly the same amount - that has been awarded for their development. SpaceX and Florida-based defense firm L3Harris Technologies are competing and collaborating on the project, which is designed for the rapid development of

Paris, France (SPX) Jan 06, 2021
In its latest research product "The Space Economy Report 2020", Euroconsult estimates that the consolidated space economy, including both government space investments, as well as commercial space, totaled $385 billion in 2020, a record amount. Commercial revenues of $315 billion in 2020 were down 2% from 2019's $319 billion evaluation, due partially to the Covid-19 pandemic affecting certa