SpaceX Falcon 9 SES-12

Foust Forward | As the launch industry grows, it finds it needs to share

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The commercial spaceflight industry has been enjoying success both on and off the launch pad this year.

From the Magazine Blue OriginCommercial spaceSpaceXVirgin Galactic
The French space agency CNES is funding construction of the Ariane 6 launch pad at the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Credit: ESA

Ariane 6 is nearing completion, but Europe’s work is far from over

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ESA is pushing European industry to continue innovating and finding efficiencies even after Vega C’s introduction in 2019 and Ariane 6’s debut in 2020.

From the Magazine Ariane 5Ariane 6European Space AgencyVega C

Vega’s long-awaited (small) successes

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Although the mostly Italian Vega rocket was added to the Arianespace family in 2012, it’s only recently achieved tangible success in wooing the smallest spacecraft operators.

From the Magazine European Space AgencyVega
Sunrise On Planet Earth - Europe View

Op-ed | SmallSat Alliance is on a path toward a new space horizon

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The early returns of this economic revolution are already on our doorstep: space data capabilities are exponentially growing elements of the 21st century world economy.

From the Magazine Commercial spaceSmallsat
After years of efforts within the British government, and lobbying by the country’s space industry, the U.K. is taking steps to get back in the launch business.

Five decades after Black Arrow, a reawakening UK launch industry aims for bullseye

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After years of efforts within the British government, and lobbying by the country’s space industry, the U.K. is taking steps to get back in the launch business.

From the Magazine Farnborough AirshowU.K. Space Agency
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine recently compared the commercial satellite remote-sensing sector to the market for cheeseburgers. Credit: SpaceNews illustration

Op-ed | Satellite Data and Cheeseburgers

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The U.S. government is evaluating how it can engage with a series of new commercial remote-sensing companies, but one of the biggest challenges in these partnerships is determining how widely the data can be shared after it is purchased from the government.

From the Magazine Jim Bridenstineremote sensing
Rocket Lab's Electron small-satellite launcher didn’t make orbit in its May 2017 debut but a second launch in January orbited cubesats for Planet and Spire. Credit: Rocket Lab

Government agencies welcome small rockets with contracts, awards and reduced red tape

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To prepare for a new generation of small rockets promising dedicated rides to orbit for small satellites, NASA, the U.S. Air Force, the National Reconnaissance Office and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency are setting aside money and trimming oversight.

From the Magazine NASASmall Satellites
Building on the Firefly Alpha, the Firefly Beta will rely on 12 Reaver first-stage engines and a Lightning upper stage to carry 4,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit. Credit: Firefly

Firefly ‘back in full force’ following last year’s near-death experience

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Two years ago, Firefly Space Systems appeared to be flying high. Then the bottom fell out of the company.

From the Magazine Firefly Space Systems
Neil deGrasse Tyson

On National Security | Bring sanity to the Space Force debate? That would be boring

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Since Trump ordered the Pentagon to create a Space Force, the topic has captured the public’s imagination while Washington policy wonks and defense insiders struggle to explain exactly what a space force is or what it will do.

From the Magazine President TrumpSpace Force
Credit: SpaceNews illustration

More startups are pursuing cubesats with electric thrusters

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As concerns grow about orbital debris and the need for space traffic management, cubesats without propulsion have no means to maneuver to avoid collisions or deorbit at the end of their operational lives.

From the Magazine cubesatEnpulsionPhase Four
Sir Arthur C. Clarke’s 1945 prediction of the geostationary satellite was dismissed by some Wireless World readers. Twenty years later, on April 6, 1965, the launch of Intelsat 1 proved the famed science-fiction novelist got it largely right. Credit: Wireless World via Lakdiva.org

Op-ed | Networking the space-terrestrial frontier

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The planned deployment of thousands of LEO satellites by OneWeb and SpaceX’s Starlink are proof that the crusade for high throughput, low latency and wide coverage has only started.

From the Magazine GlobalstarInternet of ThingsLEO constellation
Additive Rocket Corp. combines additive manufacturing with a tool called generative design, where computer algorithms develop thousands of different designs that meet a set of constraints and then iterate on them to find the optimal solution. Credit: ARC

Printing the next generation of rocket engines

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For the last several years, aerospace companies have been examining ways to use additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, to aid the production of rocket engines.

From the Magazine 3D PrintingAerojet Rocketdyne
Launched in June 2001, Intelsat-901 is healthy but running low on fuel. MEV 1 aims to fix that. Credit: Intelsat

Why Intelsat’s going with life extension over refueling

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Intelsat-901, a 17-year-old communications satellite running low on propellant, is awaiting a first-of-its-kind service call from a robotic spacecraft carrying a fresh tank of fuel.

From the Magazine IntelsatMEVsatellite servicing
Blue Origin's New Shepard suborbital vehicle on the pad prior to an April 29 launch. Credit: Blue Origin

Blue Origin plans to start selling tickets in 2019 for suborbital spaceflights

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Blue Origin expects to start flying people on its New Shepard suborbital vehicle “soon” and start selling tickets for commercial flights next year, a company executive said June 19.

From the Magazine Blue OriginNew ShepardsuborbitalVirgin Galactic
U.S. commercial remote sensing regulations will be put to the test by new ventures, such as EarthNow, a Bill Gates-and-SoftBank-backed venture that aims to distribute live video of the Earth. Credit: NASA’s Epic camera aboard DSCOVR Satellite

Op-ed | We’ll need more than Trump’s Space Policy Directive to fix commercial remote-sensing regulations

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At the rate the commercial sector is innovating, regulatory practices will need to be agile, evolving quickly while still providing needed order and protections.

From the Magazine Commercial spaceSpace Policy Directive 2
An image accompanying a Chinese Academy of Space Technology announcement of a successful airdrop parachute test in April. Credit: CAST

China claims progress in new landing technology for crewed spacecraft, Mars landings

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China is claiming progress on a number of reentry and landing technologies for human spaceflight and Mars missions, underlining apparently significant plans for deep space exploration.

From the Magazine ChinaMars

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