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Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), an aerospace and national security solutions provider owned by Eren and Fatih Ozmen, was awarded a contract to repurpose SNC’s Shooting Star transport vehicle as a proposed commercial solution for an Unmanned Orbital Outpost – essentially a scalable, autonomous space station for experiments and logistics demonstrations …

Virgin Galactic Holdings, a vertically-integrated aerospace and space travel company, announced the appointments of Michael Colglazier as Virgin Galactic’s new Chief Executive Officer and George Whitesides as Chief Space Officer, effective July 20, 2020. Michael assumes the CEO role at an exciting time for Virgin Galactic as the Company progresses through …

NASA now is targeting Oct. 31, 2021, for the launch of the agency’s James Webb Space Telescope from French Guiana, due to impacts from the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, as well as technical challenges. This decision is based on a recently completed schedule risk assessment of the remaining integration and test …

by Jose Salgado Orbiting 400 km above us lies the most expensive man-made object ever built, the International Space Station (ISS). At a cost of more than $160 billion, its first module was launched into space in 1998, and the station’s first version was completed in 2011.  NASA is the …

by Angelica Gould As orbital traffic continues to expand and flourish, on-orbit sustainability efforts must also evolve. On-Orbit Servicing (OOS) can renovate degrading space assets and advance space sustainability through in-space manufacturing, orbit modification, refurbishment, and resource replenishment. However, the very nature of and intricacy in conducting OOS operations can …

by Nick Barracca 2020 is a pivotal year for sustainable development and the start of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Decade of Action. This month, UN representatives hope to accelerate the SDG’s stunted progress during a high-level political forum, which is desperately needed so the world builds back better from …

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and the Government of Japan Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) Koichi Hagiuda signed a Joint Exploration Declaration of Intent (JEDI) during a virtual meeting on July 9 (July 10 Japan time). The JEDI describes the plans for cooperation regarding the International Space …

Specialists of Roscosmos will take all measures to ensure a safe spacewalk for tourists and the Russian state space corporation is ready to provide these services, its head Dmitry Rogozin said in an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda radio station. The Roscosmos chief noted that during the spacewalk a tourist will be accompanied …

NASA’s next giant leap may be aided by tiny lunar robots. These miniature robots would help scout the lunar surface, collecting key information about the Moon, its resources, and the environment. Such data would be helpful for the agency’s future lunar endeavors and NASA’s Artemis program. In April, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory …

Gogo will lower the altitude at which passengers can begin using its connectivity services, from 10,000 feet above ground level (AGL) to 3,000 feet AGL, for a significant portion of its air-to-ground (ATG) fleet beginning July 20, 2020. Enabling connectivity from 3,000 feet gives passengers up to an additional 15 to …