NASA selects Intuitive Machines for lunar communications and navigation services
ESA seeks better coordination of European space spending
Hera asteroid mission launch kit
Hera asteroid mission launch kit
Everything you'd ever want to know about ESA's first planetary defence mission
Webb’s new view of Arp 107
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Webb’s new view of Arp 107 SpaceNews Celebrates 35th Anniversary as a Global Media Brand
India approves moon sample return, Venus orbiter, space station module and reusable launcher
Eutelsat signs multi-launch agreement for MHI’s H3 rocket
Eutelsat said Sept. 18 it has signed a contract to use multiple H3 rockets from 2027 in the French fleet operator’s first launch agreement with Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
The expanding opportunity for American and Indian space cooperation
There could be a way to fix spacecraft at L2, like Webb and Gaia
Billions of dollars of observatory spacecraft orbit around Earth or in the same orbit as our planet. When something wears out or goes wrong, it would be good to be able to fix those missions "in situ." So far, only the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has enjoyed regular visits for servicing.
What if we could work on other telescopes "on orbit?" Such "fixit" missions to other facilities are the subject of a new NASA paper investigating optimal orbits and trajectories for making service calls on telescopes far beyond Earth.
FAA wants to fine SpaceX more than $600,000 for Space Coast launch site violations
The Federal Aviation Administration announced Tuesday it is seeking more than $600,000 in fines against SpaceX for violating licenses from its Space Coast launch sites.
In a press release, the FAA detailed its proposed civil penalties for a June 18, 2023 launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's Space Launch Complex 40 and a July 28, 2023 launch from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39-A.
The combined fine of $633,009 is for what the FAA alleges to be SpaceX's failure to follow its license requirements for those two launches, according to the release. The fines follow civil penalty guidelines that are set in federal statutes, the FAA stated.
"Safety drives everything we do at the FAA, including a legal responsibility for the safety oversight of companies with commercial space transportation licenses," FAA Chief Counsel Marc Nichols said in the release. "Failure of a company to comply with the safety requirements will result in consequences."
For the Canaveral launch, the FAA said that in May 2023, SpaceX had submitted a request to revise its communication plan to its existing license that wanted to add a new launch control room at Hangar X and remove a T-2 hour readiness poll from its procedures.
