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NASA looks for ways to keep Artemis on track regardless of budget outcome
As the fiscal year 2020 appropriations process approaches its endgame, NASA leadership says it will find ways to keep efforts to return humans to the moon by 2024 on track even if the agency doesn’t get all the funding it’s requested.
Energy Department emphasizing roles in supporting space industry
The Department of Energy, whose interaction with the space industry has largely been in nuclear power systems, is working to broaden its role by emphasizing its overall research capabilities.
NASA selects OSIRIS-REx asteroid sampling site
NASA announced Dec. 12 that it has selected the site on a near Earth asteroid where a spacecraft will touch down and collect samples, a task that has become more difficult than mission planners originally expected.
House preparing to introduce new NASA authorization bill
A House committee is finalizing its version of a NASA authorization bill that will cover many of the same topics as a Senate bill, but do so in different ways.
NASA to buy more commercial Earth observation data
NASA will seek continued access to Earth observation data gathered by commercial satellite constellations after a pilot program proved the value of those observations.
U.S. Group on Earth Observations calls for coordination, private sector engagement
SAN FRANCISCO – The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy released an updated plan for U.S. Earth observation Dec. 9 calling for improved coordination, greater engagement with the private sector and efforts to assess the value of t…
NASA and Boeing look ahead to long-term SLS production
As NASA marked the completion of the core stage of the first Space Launch System rocket, the agency and the rocket’s prime contractor are in the midst of negotiations for a long-term production contract for additional vehicles.
NASA Earth Science leaders anticipate low-cost launch options
NASA Earth Science leaders are enthusiastic about the potential for principal investigators to take advantage of new low-cost launch options.
TriSept forges pact with U.K. Space Applications Catapult
TriSept Corp. announced plans Dec. 10 to open an office at the United Kingdom’s Harwell Space Cluster as part of a comprehensive teaming agreement with the Satellite Applications Catapult.
SLS core stage declared ready for launch in 2021
NASA declared the long-delayed core stage for the first Space Launch System rocket complete Dec. 9, although the rocket’s launch is still more than a year away.
U.S. government updates orbital debris mitigation guidelines
The federal government issued updated guidelines Dec. 9 to mitigate the creation of orbital debris, but many in the space safety community were disappointed with the limited scope of the changes.
Swiss startup ClearSpace wins ESA contract to deorbit Vega rocket debris
The mission, dubbed ClearSpace-1, is slated to launch in 2025 to capture and deorbit a 100-kilogram Vespa payload adapter an Arianespace Vega left in orbit after deploying ESA’s Proba-V remote-sensing satellite.
Near Space Labs releases high-resolution imagery API
Near Space Labs unveiled an application programming interface Dec. 9 offering access to high-resolution imagery captured by cameras on weather balloons.
Made In Space Europe wins LSA contract to develop inexpensive robotic arm
Made In Space Europe and Luxembourg Space Agency won a European Space Agency contract to develop an inexpensive robotic arm for space applications.
Bridenstine asks Congress to fully fund lunar lander program quickly
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine used a Dec. 5 speech on Capitol Hill to implore Congress to finish a fiscal year 2020 appropriations bill for NASA as soon as possible to give the agency funding to proceed on a lunar lander program.
Op-ed | Envisioning the next 50 years in space
New technologies, decreasing costs, foreign interests and the emergence of the private sector have heralded the forthcoming of the second space race and with it a hopeful future on the horizon.
