News
Daily coverage of the global space industry with an emphasis on business and political news.
President Trump issues order to create U.S. Space Command
Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said U.S. Space Command should not be confused with Space Force.
Dream Chaser cleared to begin full-scale production
Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) has won NASA approval to begin full-scale production of its Dream Chaser cargo spacecraft scheduled to make its first flight in about two years.
Air Force launch commander ‘not confident’ GPS 3 will lift off Wednesday
45th Space Wing Commander: “We are now working with General Thompson’s folks and SpaceX to see whether we can launch tomorrow."
Planet to acquire software specialist Boundless Spatial
Earth observation company Planet plans to acquire Boundless Spatial Inc., a geospatial software specialist “to accelerate the adoption by government and enterprise customers of commercial geospatial information services,” said Robbie Schingler, Planet co-founder and chief strategy officer.
SpaceIL completes lunar lander for February launch
A privately funded Israeli lunar lander originally built for a prize competition is now complete and ready for launch in early 2019.
Pentagon procurement chief Ellen Lord: DoD needs launch vehicles for small satellites
Lord said Virgin Orbit is "an example of the type of companies I think we need to cultivate.”
Blue Origin gearing up for next New Shepard test flight
Blue Origin plans to conduct the next test flight of its New Shepard suborbital vehicle Dec. 18 as the company moves closer to flying people into space.
Falcon Heavy customer Ovzon orders GEO satellite from SSL
Swedish startup Ovzon, which in October bought a Falcon Heavy launch from SpaceX, has now purchased a satellite for that mission from Maxar Technologies’ Space Systems Loral division.
U.S. Air Force releasing more data on orbits of military satellites
As the Commerce Department works on plans to take over civilian space traffic management responsibilities, the U.S. Air Force is making more data available on the positions of military satellites.
Rocket Lab launches cubesats for NASA
A Rocket Lab Electron rocket successfully launched a group of cubesats Dec. 16 on a mission funded by NASA as the company looks ahead to more frequent launches in the next year.
Committee recommends review of planetary protection policies
The NASA Advisory Council has recommended that NASA review its existing planetary protection guidelines to balance the needs of science and exploration, an effort that could set the stage for a similar revision at the international level.
Virgin Galactic flight wins praise from government and industry
While some question whether Virgin Galactic’s latest SpaceShipTwo test flight actually went into space, a number of government officials and industry organizations have few doubts that it did.
Business Finland gives ICEYE 10 million Euros
Business Finland, a Finnish trade and economic development agency, awarded a 10 million Euro ($11.36 million) grant to radar satellite operator ICEYE.
Branson looks ahead to beginning commercial SpaceShipTwo flights
With a first flight to the edge of space under the company’s belt, Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson believes commercial flights of SpaceShipTwo could begin some time next year.
DARPA’s next project: Design a Space Development Agency
A DARPA team will “inventory the DoD space-based command-and-control capabilities, identify critical gaps, deficiencies and inefficiencies in our existing architectures."
