News
Daily coverage of the global space industry with an emphasis on business and political news.
NASA signs agreement with Italy to cooperate on Artemis
Italy is the latest country to sign an agreement to cooperate with NASA on the Artemis human lunar exploration program, although the details of Italy’s participation have yet to be worked out.
HyImpulse hybrid rocket motor roars to life for the first time
HyImpulse completed the first hot-fire test of the company’s 16,800-pounds-force hybrid rocket motor on Sept. 15. Credit: HyImpulse
NASA delays Dragonfly launch by a year
NASA has delayed the launch of a mission to Saturn’s moon Titan by a year, citing budget challenges created by the coronavirus pandemic.
SpaceX’s GPS contract modified to allow reuse of Falcon 9 boosters
Gwynne Shotwell: "We are pleased that they see the benefits of the technology.”
U.K. to revise strategy for satellite navigation system
The British government, seeking a replacement for the Galileo satellite navigation system, said it will consider alternatives to an original plan to develop its own satellite constellation.
NASA working with cosmetics company on space station commercialization
NASA is taking the next small step in its efforts to promote commercialization of low Earth orbit by flying a cosmetics company’s product to the International Space Station, a project that has prompted questions from one senator.
U.S. Space Command announces improvements in space debris tracking
The 18th Space Control Squadron at Vandenberg Air Force Base is now providing “more meaningful” data on approximately 25,000 space objects.
SAR Renaissance: Pandemic slows but doesn’t stop constellation progress
Startups around the world continue building synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites even as the COVID-19 pandemic delays some launches.
Hemeria seeks niche in microsat manufacturing
French space and defense company Hemeria is taking steps to quickly scale beyond cubesats and find a niche building slightly larger classes of small satellites.
Pandemic may delay several NASA astrophysics missions
Several NASA astrophysics missions in various stages of development are likely facing delays because of the coronavirus pandemic, an agency official said.
BlackSky to add high-resolution satellites in 2022, signs deal with U.S. Army
BlackSky's Gen-3 satellites will provide imagery with 50-centimeter resolution
U.S. military to test Isotropic Systems antennas with SES satellites
The U.S. Army plans to evaluate the performance of Isotropic Systems optical beam-forming antenna technology for sending communications through the SES satellites in geostationary and medium Earth orbit, under a contract of undisclosed value announced Sept. 24.
Bridenstine asks Senate appropriators for full funding for Artemis
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine urged Senate appropriators to provide full funding of Artemis as some members questioned the agency’s emphasis on its lunar exploration program.
Roper: Space Force could save money and time with digitally-designed satellites
The goal would be to produce Toyota-like satellites, said Roper, "easy to build but reliable and hard working."
Spire adding cross links to cubesat constellation
Spire Global will launch its first cubesats with cross links over the next few months, beginning a refresh that will eventually replace its full constellation.
Airbus signs $350 million contract to build CRISTAL ice-monitoring satellite for EU
The European Space Agency signed a 300-million-euro ($352 million) contract with Airbus Defence and Space on Sept. 21 to develop an ice-monitoring satellite for European Union’s Earth-observing Copernicus program.
