Stories about US and international civil space missions, including those led by NASA and ESA.
ESA successfully tested a new tool to safely deorbit defunct satellites that were designed before the development of current guidelines on reducing debris. On Friday, the agency performed an assisted reentry of its Aeolus wind-monitoring mission, which was not originally designed for a manual deorbit. “These manoeuvres were complex, and Aeolus was not designed to […]
It’s that time again—the Space Foundation has released its report on the state of the space economy through Q2 2023, and it’s reporting big numbers for the past year. According to the authors, the space economy reached $546B in 2022 despite turbulent global markets, and they’re only predicting more growth in the coming years. The […]
NASA is a *star* student of the Biden administration’s efforts to send more federal dollars to small businesses, earning an “A” for the sixth year in a row in a Small Business Administration scorecard released Tuesday. The gradebook: SBA releases a small business procurement scorecard each year that measures how close federal agencies are able […]
The Senate has unveiled its initial ~$25B FY24 NASA budget, roughly maintaining YoY funding levels, but coming in significantly below the White House’s $27.2B ask. The budget plateau results from an eleventh-hour debt limit deal struck at the end of May that keeps non-defense spending flat YoY. The most notable casualty is Mars Sample Return […]
NASA astronauts are going to be riding in *ahem* style. A brand new fleet of vans destined to carry Artemis crews to the launch pad ahead of their journeys to the Moon arrived at KSC on Tuesday. The vans, built by CA-based Canoo Technologies Inc., are fully electric, zero-emission vehicles designed to fit four fully […]
The countdown has started on ispace’s NASA-backed date with the Moon in June 2025, and the US team has locked itself in a room this week to game out the details. The company began a four-day exercise on Monday akin to a military-style wargame that will help the company zero in on when the spacecraft […]
An Iranian EO satellite launched last year is switching its focus to land mapping. A spokesperson for the Iranian Space Agency (ISA) said Saturday that the Information Technology Organization of Iran (ITO) has teamed up to explore using the satellite’s images as evidence in court cases on land misuse. Iran’s eye in space: When Iran […]
The world’s newest potential space agency is running into roadblocks when it comes to notching the right approvals to get going. This morning, South Korea’s president, Yoon Suk Yeol, called for some pep in the step of lawmakers who have been sitting on the establishment bill for several months now. Korea passed a law to […]
Each year on this day, the UN honors a little-known event called Asteroid Day. On Asteroid Day, we remember the 1908 Tunguska asteroid, which entered the atmosphere over Siberia and leveled more than 2000 sq km of forest. The event is dedicated to raising public awareness of the risk of asteroid impacts and the importance […]
The Biden administration hosted a pair of events last week showcasing two of its top priorities for space: fighting climate change and promoting diversity in the industry. A warming climate: On Wednesday morning, NASA hosted a ribbon cutting for its Earth Information Center, an interactive exhibit at the space agency’s HQ in DC that’s been […]
NASA is pulling the plug on its experimental all-electric X-57 Maxwell aircraft before it ever hit the air, the agency announced on Friday. Officials cited safety concerns as the reason for the cancellation, but the decision comes at a time of overall belt-tightening at NASA, with budget pressures coming down the pike. Electric plane: The […]
Space security startup True Anomaly debuted its on-orbit and digital range services today, offering customers new options for testing and training. These applications are designed to provide DoD with a controlled training environment for detecting threats, practicing new tactics in orbit, and test space security missions. “Each military service needs a dedicated test and training […]
