Stories about opportunities and missions on the Moon.
Blue Origin will provide the second lunar lander for the Artemis program, NASA announced on Friday, giving Jeff Bezos’ company a major victory after losing out to SpaceX on the first lander award in 2021. “An additional, different lander will help ensure that we have the hardware necessary for a series of landings,” said NASA […]
China has set out a roadmap to compete with the Artemis program in a race to the Moon, grabbing the attention of NASA and lawmakers. As NASA pursues increased funding to ensure the US lands first, questions remain regarding China’s ability to finance the endeavor. “China’s funding is a bit of a black box,” said […]
Lawmakers quizzed NASA Administrator Bill Nelson on Thursday about what the space agency needs to keep the first crewed mission to the Moon’s surface on track for a 2025 launch date. In addition to Artemis, members of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee asked the former FL Democrat how the US could stay competitive […]
Government officials, industry employees, and researchers working toward a mining economy in space gathered last week in Luxembourg to discuss what lessons space miners could learn from their Earth-bound counterparts—and who should oversee the nascent industry in orbit. The annual Luxembourg Space Resources Week is organized by the European Space Resources Innovation Centre (ESRIC), which […]
L3Harris Technologies announced Tuesday that it will provide the communications system Artemis astronauts use to communicate with each other and with Earth from the lunar surface. While much attention has been paid to the rocket, spacecraft, and people that will part of the first crewed Moon mission in more than 50 years, communications are critical […]
Leidos ($LDOS) announced Tuesday that it is partnering with NASCAR on its lunar rover, which it dramatically unveiled by removing a giant purple sheet at the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs. Rover 101: Even though NASCAR is collaborating on the rover, astronauts won’t be whipping around the Moon at breakneck speed under checkered flags. The […]
Shares of Japanese startup ispace closed at 1201 yen a pop on Thursday, up 373% on the day. The surge comes just one day after ispace made its Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market debut. Ispace IPO: Shares were listed at 254 yen each during the IPO, originally valuing the company at 20B yen ($150M), according […]
Agile Space Industries, a Colorado-based in-space propulsion company, announced Wednesday that it has qualified its A110 bipropellant thruster for lunar landers. Back in the game: The A110 is the first US-built thruster qualified for lunar landers since the Apollo program more than six decades ago, according to the company. “These are challenges the US space […]
Beijing is working to shore up international support for its joint lunar program with Russia, and has asked Venezuela to become the first partner on its planned Moon base. The head of Venezuela’s space agency met with Chinese officials last week and voiced support for signing an MoU promoting the construction of the International Lunar […]
Humanity has picked its team for the first step in its grand return to the Moon. Yesterday, NASA revealed the crew of four that will circle the moon on the 10-day Artemis II mission. Without further ado…Here’s the lineup: Now that they’ve received their assignments, the astronauts have time to consider what the mission means. […]
For All Moonkind, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting the moon landing sites, has launched the Institute on Space Law and Ethics to develop guidelines for responsible behavior in space. The nitty-gritty: The institute will include a leadership board that will meet monthly as well as a group of fellows who will work on the project […]
NASA opened the doors to its Moon to Mars Program Office last week and tapped Amit Kshatriya to take the helm. The office will oversee and coordinate NASA’s crewed lunar and Mars missions. “The Moon to Mars Program Office will help prepare NASA to carry out our bold missions to the Moon and land the […]
