Civil
Stories about US and international civil space missions, including those led by NASA and ESA.
Axiom Space’s Suit Set to Fly in 2027
“From a production standpoint, we’re putting together the first qualification suit,” Michael López-Alegría, the company’s chief astronaut, told Payload. “That continues regardless of what they say.”
Voyager Technologies Wins Its First Private ISS Mission
Axiom Space was the only provider for the first five PAMs awarded by NASA, but new players have entered the competition in 2026.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman On Artemis, Budget, And Establishing a Lasting Space Vision
“There’s a lot of passionate people out here. They can do incredible things from a scientific perspective,” Isaacman told Payload. “I don’t know how many of them have ever pulled together a financial model, and driven execution on some of these things, to say what should or shouldn’t be the right budget.”
CLD Companies Say NASA Is Wrong. NASA Says Prove It.
“I’m not surprised that CLD providers didn’t like what we had to say,” Isaacman told Payload on the sidelines of the Space Symposium. “So, prove we got it wrong.”
White House Requests $18.8B FY27 Budget for NASA
The budget proposal includes the same top line as the administration’s fiscal 2026 request, and would make similar cuts to NASA’s science and STEM missions.
CLPS Companies Excited For NASA’s ‘Opportunity Bomb’ Lunar Plan
Last week, NASA laid out a vision for a lunar base that’s built and supplied through monthly uncrewed lunar landings, with launches beginning as soon as next year.It’s no surprise that CLPS companies are raring to go.
Q&A With Lunar Base Manager Carlos Garcia-Galan
At the start of last week, Carlos Garcia-Galan was working on NASA’s program for a lunar-orbiting habitat. Last Tuesday, however, he became the person overseeing the space agency’s ambitious plan to build a lunar surface base at record speed. During last week’s Ignition event at NASA HQ, Payload sat down with Garcia-Galan, the program executive…
Jared Isaacman Hits 100 Days In Office With a Bang
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman has one message: Get in, we’re going to the Moon.
NASA Priorities Get a Major Makeover
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman had a vision for a robust, commercially driven lunar economy, supported by surface infrastructure. Now, he also has a plan.
Isaacman Plans Monthly Uncrewed Lunar Landings In 2027
“We are going to plus up for Moon base construction in a huge way,” said during an interview with Spaceflight Now that was released late Friday night.
NASA Pushes Crewed Moon Landing to Artemis IV
The US path to the Moon shifted significantly on Friday, in what NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman called the “only way forward” for the American lunar program. Hit the gas: Isaacman announced multiple changes to the program, including: Timeline: In light of these structural changes, Isaacman announced a new timeline for the American return to the…
NASA: Agency ‘Failed’ Starliner Astronauts
“The most troubling failure…is not hardware. It is decision-making and leadership that, if left unchecked, could create a culture incompatible with human spaceflight,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said during a livestreamed press conference.
Vast Wins Its First Private Astronaut Mission to ISS
The previous five missions have all gone to competitor Axiom, which (like Vast) is building its own private station vying to replace the ISS.