News
Daily coverage of the global space industry with an emphasis on business and political news.
GHGSat Unveils Free Global Methane Map
GHGSat unveiled a free map Oct. 21 showing average weekly methane concentrations around the world at a resolution of approximately two kilometers per pixel.
NASA and Energy Department sign cooperative agreement
NASA and the Department of Energy announced a memorandum of understanding (MOU) Oct. 20 that is the latest in a series of measures by the two agencies to expand cooperation.
TriSept signs deal to integrate Army cubesat with Electron
TriSept Corp, a launch integration and mission management company, announced a launch services agreement Oct. 21 with U.S. Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command.
Space Force stands up operations command in Colorado Springs
The U.S. Space Force on Oct. 21 is standing up its first field command at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado.
OSIRIS-REx touches down on asteroid
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft briefly touched down on the surface of the asteroid Bennu Oct. 20, but it may be several days before project scientists know how much material the probe collected for return to Earth.
Lockheed Martin executives commend ULA for fighting back against SpaceX
Lockheed CFO Ken Possenriede: “We now have a price point that will allow ULA to get its fair share of awards over SpaceX"
Bipartisan group of lawmakers launches House Space Force Caucus
A bipartisan group of House members have formed a Space Force Caucus to advocate on behalf of the military’s newest service.
Momentus and Kepler announce service agreement
Momentus Space announced an agreement Oct. 20 with Canada’s Kepler Communications to arrange the 2021 launch of two satellites on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rideshare flight and delivery to their desired orbital altitude in the Vigoride in-space transportation vehicle.
SpaceX teams with Microsoft for Space Development Agency contract
SpaceX revealed Oct. 20 that Microsoft is its subcontractor for the Space Development Agency program.
SpaceX, SES to provide broadband for Microsoft’s Azure Space mobile data centers
Microsoft will offer mobile cloud computing data centers that can be deployed anywhere in the world and connect to SpaceX’s Starlink and SES’ O3B internet satellites.
Kratos unveils OpenSpace platform to make ground systems more adaptable
Kratos Defense & Security Solutions announced the release Oct. 20 of OpenSpace, a software platform and family of virtual products designed to help satellite ground systems adapt rapidly to changing conditions.
JWST remains on track for October 2021 launch
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope remains on schedule for a launch in a little more than a year, but the program is still dealing with some technical issues that could eat into its schedule reserve.
Blue Origin trying to convince the Air Force to continue to invest in New Glenn
Blue Origin says the Air Force should continue to fund New Glenn so it can be certified for national security missions.
China’s CASIC reveals five-year plan for reusable spaceplane, commercial space projects
Chinese large state-owned enterprise CASIC laid out a new set of commercial space plans for the next five years at a conference Monday.
Falcon 9 investigation ongoing as SpaceX continues Starlink launches
A SpaceX Falcon 9 launched another set of Starlink satellites Oct. 18 as the investigation into another Falcon 9 launch abort more than two weeks ago continues.
NASA awards contracts for lunar technologies and ice prospecting payload
NASA has awarded more than $400 million in contracts to both demonstrate technologies needed for future lunar exploration and to send an ice-drilling payload to the south pole of the moon.
