Stories about US and international civil space missions, including those led by NASA and ESA.
Happy Fiscal New Year, Payload readers. On Oct. 1, fiscal year 2023 (FY23) officially began. As is tradition in recent years, Congress has yet to pass any of the 12 appropriations bills necessary to keep the government running for the next fiscal year. President Biden signed a continuing resolution (CR) into law on Friday, avoiding […]
Time just flies by in the space industry, and we’ve already arrived at the end of the third quarter of 2022. It was a busy quarter, full of major partnership announcements, strides in science, and a jam-packed conference season. Here are the highlights from the last three months in commercial, military, and civil space. July […]
Hubble needs a boost, and SpaceX has stepped up to provide it. Yesterday, NASA and SpaceX announced that they’ve teamed up through an unfunded Space Act agreement to conduct a feasibility study into whether a crewed commercial mission could boost Hubble’s orbit and extend its lifetime. Hubble: an abridged history When the Hubble space telescope […]
The UK has decided it’s ready to kickstart space junk removal missions. On Monday, the UK Space Agency announced that it had awarded two active debris removal (ADR) Phase B demo contracts to ClearSpace and Astroscale. The contracts awarded are worth £2.25M ($2.4M) and £1.7M ($1.8M), respectively. Beware that the dollar conversion may rapidly sink […]
At last, justice for the dinosaurs. Last night, NASA’s first planetary defense mission ended with a bang. Years in the making, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission smashed into the asteroid Dimorphos. With DART, NASA hopes to test whether it would be possible to protect our pale blue dot from potential oncoming planet-killing asteroids […]
NASA is prepping for the day it may have to defend the Earth against an oncoming threat. Today, it’s taking a sci-fi approach: smashing a spacecraft into an asteroid hurtling through space to try and knock it off its course. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) has been on the long journey to its target […]
This week, Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Roger Wicker (R-MS) introduced the Orbital Sustainability (ORBITS) Act on the Congress floor. The bipartisan bill is aimed at developing active debris removal (ADR) technology, with the eventual goal of removing dangerous debris objects from orbit. The debris problem: 100M+ individual pieces […]
On Friday, US Vice President Kamala Harris spoke about US off-Earth policy as she convened the second meeting of the US National Space Council (NSpC). Broadly speaking, the Harris-led NsPC’s priorities are three-fold: Expanding America’s STEM workforce Using on-orbit assets to fight climate change Promoting international space-faring rules and norms Then and now…Speaking from Johnson […]
The FCC is cracking down on spent satellites left in LEO. In a draft report and order released yesterday, the commission revealed plans to cut the post-mission disposal time from the currently recommended 25 years to five years. The growing debris problem: The DoD’s Space Surveillance Network currently tracks ~27,000 pieces of debris larger than […]
Scotland’s space program is making moves to encourage a more sustainable approach to spaceflight. Space Scotland has published a roadmap to grow its space sector in a sustainable way through strategically funding greener space technologies. The ultimate goal: reaching net zero emissions and space debris neutrality by 2045. Scotland in space: The country’s space initiatives […]
Last week, the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), the Space Force, and the Air Force Research Laboratory released their fourth annual joint report on the state of the space industrial base. The verdict: The US has a lot of work to do if it wants to compete with China over the long run. Penned by four […]
We’ll be waiting a few more days for NASA’s return to the moon. This morning, SLS’ debut flight was scrubbed at T-40 minutes after a handful of weather- and engine-related delays. Artemis I: The first mission in NASA’s Moon-to-Mars program will be an uncrewed test flight, sending the Orion crew capsule on a 42-day trip […]
