INGENUITY’S SUCCESS BLAZES TRAIL FOR FUTURE HELICOPTER USE IN SPACE
Astra Reaches Orbit
Astra Space successfully completed its first commercial orbital launch for the United States Space Force late Friday night, November 19, 2021, PST. The launch, STP-27AD2, was conducted from Astra’s Kodiak Spaceport, located at the Pacific Spaceport Complex in Kodiak, Alaska. Astra’s launch system successfully demonstrated the orbital placement of a test payload to an inclination…
Viasat and Inmarsat to Combine
Viasat and Inmarsat announced they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Viasat will acquire Inmarsat in a transaction valued at $7.3 billion, comprised of $850.0 million in cash, approximately 46.36 million shares of Viasat common stock valued at $3.1 billion based on the closing price on Friday November 5, 2021, and the assumption…
New Roles, Combined Offices for NASA Administrator Leadership Team
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson is announcing new leadership roles, as well as the merging of two offices into the Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy (OTPS), in support of Biden-Harris Administration priorities and the focus on space strategy. Dr. Bhavya Lal will serve as the associate administrator for OTPSMelanie Saunders will serve as the agency’s…
Successful Deployment of Giant Reflector for Forest Monitoring Satellite Biomass
Biomass, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) forest measuring satellite has passed a key milestone with the successful deployment of the Large Deployable Reflector (LDR) which will receive P-band data reflected back from the world’s forests. The test, which took place at L3Harris Technologies in Florida who manufactured the 12m wide reflector, was witnessed by representatives…
Blue Origin Successfully Completes Second Human Flight to Space and Back
Blue Origin successfully completed its second human spaceflight on board New Shepard on Wednesday, October 13, 2021. The flight included four astronauts, Dr. Chris Boshuizen, Glen de Vries, Audrey Powers, and William Shatner, as well as thousands of postcards from Blue Origin’s foundation, Club for the Future. Now official astronauts, the crew returned from space…
NASA Chief Scientist Jim Green to Retire in 2022
NASA’s Chief Scientist Jim Green will retire in early 2022 after more than 40 years. “I feel tremendously proud about the activities I’ve done at NASA,” said Green. “In many ways, NASA is not a job. It’s a way of life. We’re always looking for ways to do the impossible.” From starting up NASA’s first…
Honeywell Expands Product Offerings For Rapidly Growing Small-Satellite Market
Honeywell has added three new products to its lineup of space offerings in the growing small satellite market segment. The newest additions include Honeywell’s X Band Downlink Transmitter and Optical Communication Terminal (OCT), which enable high-bandwidth data to be transmitted both down to Earth and between satellites. Additionally, Honeywell is debuting a new line of…
TTTech Aerospace and RUAG Space Join Forces to Deliver TTEthernet Network and Computing Platform for NASA’s Gateway
Two years ago, TTTech Aerospace and RUAG Space announced they were working together to develop TTEthernet equipment for deep space. After being successful on the market and closing the first contracts within the NASA Artemis program, TTTech Aerospace and RUAG Space strengthened their commitment to jointly develop space products with a formal teaming agreement closed…
Lockheed Martin Again Taps MakerBot 3D Printers for Its Next Big Space Project – An AI-Assisted Lunar Rover for NASA
Lockheed Martin has extended its use of MakerBot® 3D printers to produce parts and designs for its upcoming space projects. MakerBot 3D printers have been in use for about five years and have provided easily accessible 3D printing for a host of projects for Lockheed Martin’s team of engineers. Lockheed Martin is a global aerospace…
Arianespace Set a New Record of Putting More Than 1,000 Satellites in Orbit Since its Foundation
On Tuesday, September 14, at 11:07 p.m. local time at Russia’s Baikonur Cosmodrome, Soyuz Flight ST35 lifted-off with 34 OneWeb satellites onboard, bringing, after the successful deployment, the size of the fleet in orbit to 322. Flight ST35 was the 60th Soyuz mission carried out by Arianespace and its Starsem affiliate, and the tenth mission…
First FLight to Orbit Eartch Fully Crewed by Tourists Launches
The first orbital flight solely crewed by space tourists has launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The launch took place Wednesday, September 15, 2021. There are four passengers aboard the SpaceX flight and the four will have a three day stay on the Crew Dragon capsule Inspiration4. They will orbit at a 350-mile altitude —…
Lockheed Martin Outlines SaxaVord Satellite Launch Plans
Lockheed Martin has outlined its plans for conducting northern Europe’s first vertical satellite launch from SaxaVord Spaceport next year. Representatives from the company’s UK and US based space business have been meeting local community representatives and Shetland Islands council to share latest developments in the program, known as UK Pathfinder Launch, and solicit local opinions…
