Quantum technologies' journey to space seen in patent survey
Tipped to change the world, quantum technologies – employing special properties of matter that manifest at the very tiniest of scales – are heading to space too. To highlight the space applications of this emerging sector, ESA has supported the European Patent Office and the European Space Policy Institute in a survey of the past two decades of related patent filings.
Federal court rules against Blue Origin in HLS lawsuit
The Court of Federal Claims has ruled against Blue Origin in its suit about the agency’s selection of SpaceX for a single Human Landing System award.
Astrophysics decadal survey recommends a program of flagship space telescopes
A long-awaited report on the future of astrophysics research recommended NASA pursue a series of flagship observatories, starting with a large space telescope estimated to cost $11 billion but which would not fly until the early 2040s.
China is planning a complex Mars sample return mission
China is working on a complex mission to collect Mars rock samples and deliver them to Earth by building on the successes of recent moon and Mars missions.
Launch and landing dates under review
NASA and SpaceX continue to review launch and return opportunities for the upcoming flights to and from the International Space Station.
Debris removal a key goal in Space Force’s ‘Orbital Prime’ project
SpaceWERX plans to select at least one team to conduct an on-orbit demonstration of active debris removal within the next two years
US judge rules against Blue Origin in lunar lander suit
A US federal judge on Thursday ruled against Blue Origin brought by Jeff Bezos' company in a bid to overturn a NASA contract awarded to rival SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, to build the next craft for Moon landings.
The ruling put an end to a months-long legal battle that had prevented the US space agency from working with SpaceX on the lunar lander called Starship, which will allow Americans to return to the Moon as part of the Artemis program.
"NASA will resume work with SpaceX under the Option A contract as soon as possible," the agency said in a statement after the ruling.
In April, NASA announced it had awarded the contract to Musk's company—a deal worth $2.9 billion.
But Blue Origin filed a complaint about the decision to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), saying the bidding process had been unfair and that NASA should have offered more than one contract.
SpaceX crew launch bumped to next week; astronaut on mend
![SpaceX crew launch bumped to next week; astronaut on mend](https://scx1.b-cdn.net/csz/news/800a/2021/spacex-crew-launch-bum.jpg "The official portraits of astronauts, from left, Raja Chari, Kayla Barron, Matthias Maurer, of Germany, and Tom Marshburn, are displayed as a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the crew dragon capsule attached sits on Launch Pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Friday, Oct. 29, 2021. On Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021, officials announced SpaceX's next astronaut flight is off until at least next week as more bad weather looms, and as flight surgeons continue to monitor the "minor medical issue" affecting one of the four astronauts. Credit: AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File")
From space, astronaut sounds the alarm about climate crisis
NASA could bring astronauts home from space station before replacements arrive
Four astronauts could leave the International Space Station on Sunday without their replacement team having arrived to take over, NASA announced Thursday, but the timing remains uncertain due to weather conditions.
The four members of the Crew-2 mission, including a French and a Japanese astronaut, are due to return to Earth this month after spending about six months on board the ISS.
Normally they would have to wait for four other astronauts—three Americans and a German from the Crew-3 mission—to arrive aboard the space station to take their place.
But the takeoff of the next mission's rocket, which had already been postponed several times and had been rescheduled for this weekend, was once again canceled because of unfavorable weather conditions, NASA said in a statement.
As a result, the space agency is now considering returning Crew-2 to Earth before Crew-3 launches.
"The earliest possible opportunity for undocking" the capsule to bring Crew-2 back to Earth would be at 1:05 pm Sunday Florida time (1705 GMT), NASA said.
