Month: February 2020

WASHINGTON — The head of the European Space Agency formally announced Feb. 28 he will leave ESA when his current term ends next year, confirming months of speculation about his future with the agency. In a blog post, ESA Director General Jan Woerner said he had “finally decided” to step down from that position when

WASHINGTON — NASA awarded a contract to SpaceX Feb. 28 for the launch of a mission to a large metallic asteroid on the company’s Falcon Heavy rocket. NASA said that it will use a Falcon Heavy to launch its Psyche mission in July 2022 from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. The contract

Elon Musk insisted reusable launch vehicles are “absolutely fundamental” to achieving whatever space ambitions the military might have, including staying ahead of China. ORLANDO, Fla. — In his first appearance at a military conference since the establishment of the U.S. Space Force, SpaceX founder Elon Musk gave his usual pitch on the virtues of reusable

WASHINGTON — As the independent review of last December’s test flight of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner commercial crew vehicle nears completion, the company said it will perform more rigorous testing to catch errors that slipped through on that flight. In a Feb. 28 briefing at Boeing offices here, John Mulholland, vice president and program manager of

From a graduating class of about 1,000, as many as 62 or 63 second lieutenants will go to the Space Force. ORLANDO, Fla. — More than 60 newly minted officers scheduled to graduate from the U.S. Air Force Academy in May will join the U.S. Space Force. These graduates will be the first U.S. military

Northrop Grumman said the test moves OmegA a step closer to becoming certified to fly national security missions. ORLANDO, Fla. — Northrop Grumman announced Feb. 27 it completed a static fire test of the second stage of its OmegA rocket. The test, conducted at the company’s facilities in Promontory, Utah, moves OmegA a step closer

WASHINGTON — SpaceX is proposing a significant increase in launch activity in Florida over the next few years, including missions to polar orbits and those that will require the use of a new vertical payload integration tower. The Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation published a draft environmental assessment Feb. 27 regarding SpaceX

WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee’s space subcommittee expressed doubts any space-related legislation, or even spending bills, can make it through Congress this year. At a Space Transportation Association event here Feb. 26, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) suggested differences between the House and Senate versions of a NASA authorization bill might be

Also under consideration is what to call the space wings. ORLANDO, Fla. — Preparations are underway to officially transition Florida’s Patrick Air Force Base and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station to the U.S. Space Force. There is still no firm date for the actual name change but it could happen sometime in March, said Brig.

WASHINGTON — Northrop Grumman’s satellite servicing spacecraft successfully docked with an Intelsat communications satellite Feb. 25 in a bid to keep the nearly 19-year-old satellite in service an additional five years, Northrop Grumman and Intelsat executives said Feb. 26.  Northrop Grumman’s Mission Extension Vehicle-1, which launched in October, underwent months of in-orbit testing before finally

WASHINGTON — NASA is asking companies in its commercial lunar landing services program to bid on delivering a NASA rover whose launch has been slightly delayed. NASA announced Feb. 25 it was asking the 14 companies that are part of the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program to bid on a task order for sending

WASHINGTON — Virgin Galactic executives suggested Feb. 25 that the beginning of commercial flights of its SpaceShipTwo suborbital vehicle might slip again, even as the company starts planning to resume ticket sales. The company, which became publicly traded in October after closing a merger with special-purpose acquisition company Social Capital Hedosophia, released its fourth quarter

Northrop Grumman is the only bidder for GBSD after Boeing dropped out of the competition. WASHINGTON — Defense and space contractor Kratos and the engineering firm Bechtel have joined Northrop Grumman’s Ground Based Strategic Deterrent team to develop a new intercontinental ballistic missile for the U.S. Air Force. Bechtel will provide launch system design, construction

The guidelines do not recommend curtailing the use of AI but call on DoD personnel and contractors to “exercise appropriate levels of judgment and care.” WASHINGTON — The Department of Defense will follow a new set of ethical principles for the use of artificial intelligence, officials announced Feb. 24. The rollout of a code of

WASHINGTON — Lockheed Martin will acquire the satellite technology assets of Vector by default after a bankruptcy court received no qualified bids by a deadline last week. In a Feb. 24 filing in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, lawyers overseeing the bankruptcy proceedings for Vector said that they received no