FAA: Georgia spaceport decision near, but more study needed
A federal agency expects to announce its decision Monday on whether to allow a launchpad that would send commercial rockets into space from coastal Georgia.
However, the Federal Aviation Administration is emphasizing that a license authorizing Camden County to operate a spaceport would not yet permit the launch of any rockets.
In a letter released Friday by the FAA, the agency said a more comprehensive review would be needed before any rockets can be launched from Georgia.
Even if the license for Spaceport Camden is approved, "it would not authorize a single launch," an FAA executive wrote to the U.S. Department of the Interior.
"Simply put: to obtain a Vehicle Operator License, many more reviews remain, and no outcome is guaranteed," the letter stated.
Any company seeking to launch from the site would need to obtain a Vehicle Operator License and undergo a separate environmental and safety evaluation, according to the FAA.
Camden County, in the southeastern corner of the state, has spent nearly 10 years and $10 million pursuing the goal of having what would be the nation's newest commercial spaceport.
JWST launch rescheduled for Dec. 24
With a communications glitch resolved, NASA and the European Space Agency have rescheduled the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope on an Ariane 5 for Dec. 24.
Webb launch confirmed for 24 December
The James Webb Space Telescope is confirmed for the target launch date of 24 December, at 12:20 GMT / 13:20 CET.
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SpaceX vs. the world
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Falcon 9 sets reuse milestone with Starlink launch
A SpaceX Falcon 9 launched a new set of Starlink satellites Dec. 18, setting a new reusability mark for the vehicle in the process.
SpaceX launches 52 Starlink satellites from California base
New space telescope to uncover secrets of Universe's origins
The NASA-led James Webb Space Telescope, which includes hardware designed and built at UCL and which will image the very first stars to shine in the Universe, is scheduled to be launched into space later this month.
The telescope, one of the great space observatories following Hubble, will be launched on-board the Ariane rocket from Europe's spaceport in French Guiana on or after Friday 24 December. It will take 30 days for the telescope to reach the Lagrange point 2, about a million miles from Earth, where it will begin operating. UCL astronomers will be among the first to analyse its observations of the Universe.
The mission—a partnership between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) – is expected to make breakthrough discoveries in all fields of astronomy by investigating the light of the Universe at (invisible) infrared wavelengths.
A team at the UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory designed and built a key piece of hardware for one of the telescope's four instruments, a near-infrared spectrometer called the NIRSpec. About the size of a double bed, the NIRSpec measures light split into different wavelengths.
SpaceX launches Turksat-5b
SpaceX launched a communications satellite from Florida overnight Saturday for the Turkish company Turksat. Elon Musk's rocket firm launched the Turksat 5B satellite aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station during a two-hour window that opened at 10:58 pm. 
