NASA and Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) across the United States have joined forces to bring “historically underrepresented and underserved communities onboard,” said Mike Kincaid, NASA’s associate administrator of STEM Engagement. The news comes after NASA introduced Mission Equity in June to assess the agency's programs, grants, and procurements

The launch of Orbital Flight Test-2 to the International Space Station had to be postponed as the CST-100 Starliner’s propulsion system failed. Several valves did not open as designed during the launch countdown on 3rd August. The valves connect to thrusters that enable abort and in-orbit manoeuvring, NASA said.

Rocket Lab will supply three Photon spacecraft to Varda Space Industries to integrate them into Varda´s zero-gravity manufacturing platform and return high-end products produced in space to Earth. Varda’s space-manufactured products target markets such as fibre optic cables, semiconductors, and pharmaceuticals.

A Northrop Grumman-built Cygnus resupply spacecraft has made a more than 3700 kg delivery to the International Space Station. The cargo ship was named after the first Asian American astronaut, Ellison Onizuka. Ship S.S. Ellison Onizuka delivered science investigations and cargo on behalf of NASA.

Rocket Lab’s next Electron rocket launch is the first of three dedicated missions for global monitoring provider BlackSky. Mission ‘Love At First Insight’ represents the company’s fastest launch turnarounds to date, along with the two other missions to come. The mission is part of a multi-launch agreement signed earlier this year between Rocket Lab and Spaceflight Inc.

NASA, conjoined with the U.S. Army and Navy, continues backing university research into future technologies for helicopters and other vertical lift aircraft. NASA has designated academic teams as Vertical Lift Research Centers of Excellence (VLRCOE). The teams are led by colleges in Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Maryland.

The private equity firm AE Industrial Partners (AEI) partners with Boeing to manage and increase its HorizonX venture capital fund. The partnership will focus on early-stage minority equity investments in "businesses that will transform the future of space, mobility, industrial tech, connectivity and digital solutions with an emphasis on sustainability", AEI said.

UK companies and research organisations can apply for up to a £200,000 funding to develop technologies and data processing capabilities to help reduce space debris. Orbital congestion and space debris have become infrastructure and potentially life-threatening problems. About 95% of the objects tracked orbiting our planet is space junk.

The start-up company Astrolight has performed its first long-range ground test of its mobile optical ground station for LEO satellites. The news comes after KSAT and Astelco Systems announced building an industrialized optical ground station in Greece last year.

Planet announced having signed a multi-year, multi-launch agreement with SpaceX. This means that SpaceX’s Falcon 9 will be launching Planet’s satellites through the end of 2025. The news comes after Planet entered into a definitive merger agreement with dMY Technology Group, Inc. IV last month to become a publicly-traded company.