NASA is recruiting its first crew members for their one-year analog mission based at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. The analog, planned to launch in autumn 2022 will simulate life on a distant planet. NASA is planning to conduct research to prevent and resolve potential problems that could arise during future manned missions to the Moon and Mars.

0-G Launch is providing “ground-breaking airborne platforms” to allow the space industry to “test and accelerate its technological developments,” said Robert Feierbach, CEO & COO of 0-G Launch. With Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic recently validating commercial space travel and with the space industry growing into a forecasted 1 trillion USD business in the next decade, cheaper platforms

South Australian company, Southern Launch has been granted launch facility licences by the Australian Space Agency, said Lloyd Damp, the CEO of Southern Launch. The company reached a milestone with the release of its Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Whalers Way Orbital Launch Complex on the Eyre Peninsula.

The two spacecraft will fly by Venus just 33 hours apart with Solar Orbiter arriving first on 9th August at 4:42 UTC followed by BepiColombo on 10th August at 13:48 UTC. The missions create a unique opportunity to study the planet’s environment at multiple places at the same time.

Edinburgh, 4 August 2021. - The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) selected SpaceLink for a demonstration of its 10 Gbps optical end-to-end relay service, SpaceLink said. CASIS is the manager of the International Space Station (ISS)´s in-orbit U.S. National Laboratory. The demo will allow the use of a 10 Gbps optical terminal.

Russia plans to create a manned space complex in LEO, Roscosmos reported. The news comes after learning that the Russian segment of the ISS is to be retired after 2024 due to ageing. This, in turn opens up the way for national space infrastructures to take over the exploration of outer space.

UARX Space has selected Dawn Aerospace to be its satellite propulsion supplier for the first OSSIE Mission of the company. OSSIE (Orbit Solutions to Simplify Injection and Exploration) is a space tug able to transport up to 400 kg of small satellites to custom orbits. The orbital transport vehicle has the capacity to carry a series of mission injector (RAMI) deployers for CubeSats.

Eutelsat Quantum, the first sophisticated telecommunication satellite was launched on board of an Ariane 5 on 30th July at 23:00 CEST from French Guiana Space Centre. The launch marks Arianespace’s 6th successful mission of the year. The commercial, fully flexible satellite can be repurposed completely during its time in space thanks to its configurable software-defined design.

On 29th July, Inmarsat announced its plans for ORCHESTRA, a communications network bringing together the benefits of multiple technologies for an integrated, high-performance solution. The plan is to draw together geosynchronous (GEO) satellites, low earth orbit satellites (LEO) and terrestrial 5G.

Rocket Lab has successfully launched the U.S. Space Force’s (USSF) research and development satellite into Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The mission was one of Rocket Lab’s over 100 satellite launches, its fourth launch for the year and its 21st Electron mission, the company said.