Civil
SpaceX surges Starship work despite FAA environmental review uncertainty
The unstoppable force of SpaceX’s recent surge in development of its Starship vehicle for its first orbital flight is in danger of colliding with an immovable object: an ongoing environment review that has no clear end date.
Modern civilization would be lost without GPS
Aircraft, cars, trucks, trains and ships rely on GPS for location data, while GPS timing signals underpin cellular communications and financial transactions.
Starliner resets for next launch attempt after ISS problems
NASA and Boeing say they’re ready to make a second attempt to launch the company’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft on an uncrewed test flight after an incident at the International Space Station called off the first attempt last week.
Senate confirms NASA CFO
The Senate confirmed the White House’s nominee to be chief financial officer of NASA July 30, rounding out the senior leadership positions at the agency.
GAO denies Blue Origin and Dynetics protests of NASA lunar lander contract
The U.S. Government Accountability Office denied protests July 30 that Blue Origin and Dynetics filed of NASA’s award of a single lunar lander contract to SpaceX.
Nelson remains hopeful Congress will provide additional lunar lander funding
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson says he remains confident that Congress will provide NASA with additional funding so it can select a second lunar lander developer but declined to comment on Blue Origin’s proposal to lower its costs to enable a contract.
Station loses attitude control after Nauka docking, Starliner launch delayed
A Russian module that docked to the International Space Station July 29 started firing its thrusters hours later, briefly knocking the station out of its normal attitude and forcing NASA to delay a commercial crew test flight that was scheduled to launch July 30.
Op-ed | The costs of extreme weather and climate are soaring. Commercial space data should be a bigger part of the solution
There is no one magic bullet to improving forecasts and reining in the costs of extreme weather and climate. To truly tap into the powerful innovation of the private sector, we must think beyond a few targeted, yet piecemeal commercial data buys.
Space Force sees ‘advantages and opportunities’ in nuclear-powered space missions
Space vehicles powered by small nuclear reactors could be used for military missions in deep space, the vice chief of the U.S. Space Force said July 28.
Weather key issue for Starliner launch
NASA and Boeing say a second test flight of the company’s CST-100 Starliner commercial crew vehicle remains on track for launch July 30, with weather the biggest concern.
Astroscale and rocket maker MHI team up to develop debris removal technology
Astroscale announced July 27 that it will be working with rocket maker Mitsubishi Heavy Industries on technologies to help clean up space junk.
Astronomers back technical efforts to reduce impacts of satellite megaconstellations while seeking regulatory solutions
With slow progress on regulation and policy, astronomers are making progress on other approaches to mitigate the effects that satellite megaconstellations will have on their observations.
Op-ed | It’s time to seriously consider space-based solar power
Hefty technological obstacles remain, but space-based solar power’s potential to provide clean, inexhaustible energy warrants a concerted public research and development effort.
Bezos offers billions in incentives for NASA lunar lander contract
Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos says his company will cover more than $2 billion in costs if NASA will award it a second Human Landing System (HLS) contract.
Report calls on government agencies to better coordinate spectrum
An interagency dispute about the use of a spectrum band for weather forecasting versus terrestrial wireless services illustrates the need for the federal government to reform its spectrum management processes, a report concluded.
