Loft Orbital wins Space Force contract for edge computing in space
WASHINGTON — Loft Orbital announced May 5 it won a small business innovation research (SBIR) contract from the U.S. Space Force to support the development of an edge computer that can analyze data in space.
60 years since 1st American in space: Tourists lining up
Sixty years after Alan Shepard became the first American in space, everyday people are on the verge of following in his cosmic footsteps.
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin company is finally opening ticket sales for short hops from Texas launched by a rocket named New Shepard. Details are coming Wednesday, the 60th anniversary of Shepard's Mercury flight.
Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic aims to kick off tourist flights next year, just as soon as he straps into his space-skimming, plane-launched rocketship for a test run from the New Mexico base.
3D printing could be used in search for black holes
An X-ray telescope designed to search for supermassive black holes could be built using a novel 3D-printing technique called plasma metal deposition.
Space Force to clear refurbished Falcon 9 booster for upcoming GPS launch
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force this month will complete a design review of a previously flown SpaceX Falcon 9 booster that flew a military GPS satellite to orbit last fall. The booster is expected to fly another GPS satellite sometime in June.
Main stage of Chinese rocket likely to plunge to Earth soon
Blue Origin to fly first people on New Shepard in July
WASHINGTON — Blue Origin announced May 5 that it will fly people on its New Shepard suborbital vehicle for the first time July 20, and will auction off one of the seats on that launch.
The company said that, after years of test flights without anyone on board, it will start flying people on New Shepard.
KSAT rapidly expands KSATlite small satellite network
SAN FRANCISCO — KSAT is rapidly installing antennas around the world to keep pace with the dramatic rise in small satellite activity.
In 2021 alone, Norway-based KSAT is on track to add 42 antennas to KSATlite, its network that supports small satellite constellations.
Hughes and OneWeb get U.S. Air Force contract for Arctic broadband
TAMPA, Fla. — The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has contracted low Earth orbit broadband venture OneWeb to demo managed satcom services in strategic Arctic locations.
Project prime contractor Hughes Network Systems, a OneWeb investor supplying parts of its ground segment, will test the services between certain U.S.
U.S. Air Force to investigate aborted ICBM test flight
WASHINGTON — An unarmed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile test launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, experienced a ground abort during the terminal countdown, the Air Force Global Strike Command said May 5.
Blue Origin will fly first crew to space in July
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin will send its first crew to space on July 20 and is offering one of the seats to the winner of an online auction, the company said Wednesday.
The trip will last a total of ten minutes, four of which passengers will spend above the Karman line that marks the recognized boundary between Earth's atmosphere and space.
"We've been perfecting our ability to launch, land and repeat," a video accompanying the announcement said.
"Our next launch will be the first time astronauts will fly aboard New Shepard."
The reusable suborbital rocket system was named after Alan Shepard, who sixty years ago on Wednesday became the first American in space.
New Shepard has successfully carried out 15 uncrewed test runs launching from its facility in the Guadalupe Mountains of West Texas.
