SpacePAC's | SpaceNews

NASA Space News

Commercial Space

Spacecraft News

SpaceNews

  • Amazon activates ground station business with first two of 12 stations
    Ground stations in Ohio and Oregon mark the first two of a planned 12 stations spread out globally to enable communication with satellites, allowing operators to downlink data such as imagery and weather. The stations also enable operators to contr…
    - 2 days ago 23 May 19, 10:23pm -
  • NASA selects Maxar to build first Gateway element
    NASA has selected Maxar Technologies to develop the first element of its lunar Gateway, the Power and Propulsion Element, for launch in late 2022.SpaceNews.com
    - 2 days ago 23 May 19, 6:47pm -
  • China suffers Long March 4 failure
    A Long March 4C rocket carrying the Yaogan-33 reconnaissance satellite failed following its May 23 liftoff, Chinese state-run media confirmed. SpaceNews.com
    - 2 days ago 23 May 19, 12:39pm -
  • Op-Ed | Preserving NewSpace innovation while championing M&A in our ecosystem
    The NewSpace sector is expected to grow from a $350 billion global industry in 2018 to a trillion dollar one by 2040, according to a Morgan Stanley report. Given these forecasts it is not clear how the market will expand, will there be more mergers…
    - 2 days ago 23 May 19, 12:13pm -
  • NOAA seeks funding for innovative technologies, novel partnerships
    NOAA’s Satellite and Information Service is requesting nearly $17.3 million in 2020 funding for a series of initiatives to explore the potential contributions of new data partnerships, small satellites and advanced technologies.SpaceNews.com
    - 2 days ago 23 May 19, 5:54am -
  • Olis Robotics sees many space applications for autonomy software
    Olis Robotics is working to demonstrate the application of its autonomy software for NASA, the Air Force and others space customers to support internal and external space servicing, assembly, manufacturing and operational concepts,” said Blaine L…
    - 3 days ago 22 May 19, 10:43pm -
  • SpaceX launches new legal battle against U.S. Air Force
    Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman and United Launch Alliance have filed 'motions to intervene' in the lawsuit filed by SpaceX against the U.S. governmentSpaceNews.com
    - 3 days ago 22 May 19, 10:03pm -
  • Momentum grows for nuclear thermal propulsion
    With congressional funding and industry support, nuclear thermal propulsion technology is making progress for potential use on future NASA deep space missions, although how it fits into the agency’s exploration architectures remains uncertain.Sp…
    - 3 days ago 22 May 19, 9:40pm -
  • Hawkeye 360 and Windward to offer new maritime product
    Hawkeye 360, a company flying a constellation of small satellites to map radio frequency signals, announced a partnership May 22 with Windward, a company focused on maritime risks, to offer customers insights on the maritime environment.SpaceNews.…
    - 3 days ago 22 May 19, 9:04pm -
  • Are laser links ready for prime time?
    Although NASA’s Mars Laser Communications Demonstration never flew, the project proceeded far enough to establish a price for terminals to relay data for the Mars Telecommunications Orbiter: $90 million.SpaceNews.com
    - 3 days ago 22 May 19, 8:30pm -
  • Canada mulls accelerated schedule to keep pace with NASA’s 2024 moon goal
    The Canadian Space Agency — NASA’s first international partner to commit to the lunar Gateway — is considering a faster schedule for its contributions to keep pace with NASA’s accelerated plans.SpaceNews.com
    - 3 days ago 22 May 19, 8:18pm -
  • Companies encourage NASA to press ahead with LEO commercialization efforts
    Companies interested in developing commercial space stations and related facilities in low Earth orbit are wondering if NASA’s support for such efforts havsbeen overshadowed by the agency’s rush back to the moon.SpaceNews.com
    - 3 days ago 22 May 19, 7:02pm -
  • Bangladesh’s satellite starts service • Starlink autopilot sparks concern • SAS Global secures loan
    SpaceX says Starlink satellites will directly receive Air Force tracking data and use that to tweak their orbits when presented with the risk of a collision. Space debris experts say the probability of a collision varies on a case-by-case basis, ma…
    - 3 days ago 22 May 19, 6:00pm -
  • An embarrassment of rockets?
    Launch vehicle startups remain focused on unique engine designs. At last count, there were 129 rocket startups, Rich Pournelle, NanoRacks senior vice president for business development, said at a recent conference. How many will survive?SpaceNews.…
    - 3 days ago 22 May 19, 3:40pm -

Human Spaceflight (Google News)

Space Business (Google)

NASA Watch Headlines

  • newInsane SpaceX Starlink Satellite Train Flyover Video
    SpaceX Starlink objects train 24 May 2019 from Marco Langbroek on Vimeo. Keith's note: I am wondering if the satellite spacing is some sort of binary message to Richard Branson or Jeff Bezos ......
    - 9 hours ago 25 May 19, 2:34am -
  • newFor Some Of Us It Is Deja Vu All Over Again In Outer Space
    Let's Stop Going in Circles - And Go Somewhere (2002). "Between the time I was 2 and when I turned 14 humanity went from zero spaceflight capability to putting humans on the Moon. To me, my first vision of spaceflight...
    - 14 hours ago 24 May 19, 9:42pm -
  • newMark Sirangelo's Short Tenure At NASA
    Resignation Letter From Mark Sirangelo To NASA Administrator Bridenstine "My notice today is for an end to my NASA employment on May 31, 2019. Due to complex nature of the efforts NASA is engaged in, I am open to discussing...
    - 16 hours ago 24 May 19, 7:33pm -
  • Expeditionary Astronauts Wanted
    Expeditionary Astronauts Wanted, SpaceRef "As NASA returns humans to the Moon and then heads out to Mars, a new type of astronaut will be required to explore these worlds. Let's called them "expeditionary astronauts". Just as expeditions fanned out a…
    - 1 day ago 24 May 19, 2:49am -
  • Mark Sirangelo is leaving NASA
    Mark Sirangelo is leaving NASA.— NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) May 24, 2019 NASA Statement from @JimBridenstine on Mark Sirangelo's departure from @NASA pic.twitter.com/Rj25xTYgoL— NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) May 24, 2019...
    - 1 day ago 24 May 19, 1:00am -
  • GAO Says FAA AST Needs To Improve How It Operates
    Commercial Space Transportation: Improvements to FAA's Workforce Planning Needed to Prepare for the Industry's Anticipated Growth, GAO "Since 2016, AST has taken steps to improve how it determines its current workforce needs to carry out its mission…
    - 2 days ago 23 May 19, 7:49pm -
  • Maxar Gets The First Big Gateway Contract
    NASA Awards Artemis Contract for Lunar Gateway Power, Propulsion "This firm-fixed price award includes an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity portion and carries a maximum total value of $375 million. The contract begins with a 12-month base peri…
    - 2 days ago 23 May 19, 7:46pm -
  • How Will NASA Build "The Artemis Generation"?
    Keith's note: Jim Bridenstine made repeated mention of the "Artemis Generation" today. In the press briefing after today's presentation by Bridenstine I asked HEOMD AA Bill Gerstenmaier what this means. There are just under 80 million K-12 and colleg…
    - 2 days ago 23 May 19, 7:42pm -
  • Big NASA Gateway Announcement On Thursday
    NASA Administrator to Make Artemis Moon Program Announcement, Media Teleconference Set "NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine will make a significant announcement about the Artemis program's lunar exploration plans at 1 p.m. EDT Thursday, May 23, at the…
    - 3 days ago 22 May 19, 10:49pm -
  • Congressional Support for Space Force and Moon 2024 Is Hard To Find
    The current status of support for #Moon2024 and #SpaceForce as far as Congress is concerned @SciGuySpace @lorengrush @kchangnyt Just sayin' pic.twitter.com/QGdTcIIyND— NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) May 22, 2019 Can Trump Put NASA Astronauts on th…
    - 3 days ago 22 May 19, 10:03pm -
  • NASA's Predecisional Notional Plan For The #Moon2024 Thing
    Larger view NASA's full Artemis plan revealed: 37 launches and a lunar outpost, Ars Technica "Last week, an updated plan that demonstrated a human landing in 2024, annual sorties to the lunar surface thereafter, and the beginning of a...
    - 3 days ago 22 May 19, 9:28pm -
  • NASA Wants Your Ideas On How To Be More Inspirational
    Don't target audiences of Boomers with tired old @NASA talking points. Target the next generation. Get @ArianaGrande to do something. #Artemis #Moon2024— NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) May 22, 2019 Here is something @NASA did 16 years ago. The fin…
    - 3 days ago 22 May 19, 5:01am -
  • Wayne Hale Now Chairs The NAC Human Operations and Exploration Committee
    Advising NASA, Wayne Hale "My goals for the HEO committee and for the NAC itself will be to listen thoroughly, research broadly, think clearly and give the best advice possible. I would also like to work with the agency to...
    - 5 days ago 20 May 19, 4:58pm -
  • Everest +10
    Keith's note: On 19 May 2009 at 6:15 pm EDT (20 May 4:00 am Nepal time) Astronaut Scott Parazynski stood on top of the world with piece of the Moon. My old, voided, damaged NASA badge (and a picture...
    - 6 days ago 19 May 19, 5:35pm -
  • NASA Life Science and Artemis: It Is Time To Get Serious
    Is @NASA really doing genomics research as part of #Artemis #Moon2024 @NASAGeneLab? A visit and search of your website at https://t.co/dqdn6YyP64 shows no mention of research into human genomics - or other omics in a 0.16G or lunar environment....
    - 7 days ago 18 May 19, 12:19am -

Commercial Space Watch

    SpaceRef

    • newHubble Spies Curious Galaxy moving A Little Closer
      This Hubble image stars Messier 90, a beautiful spiral galaxy located roughly 60 million light-years from the Milky Way in the constellation of Virgo (the Virgin). The galaxy is part of the Virgo Cluster, a gathering of galaxies that is...
      - 9 hours ago 25 May 19, 2:07am -
    • newStrange Martian Mineral Deposit Likely Sourced From Volcanic Explosions
      Ashfall from ancient volcanic explosions is the likely source of a strange mineral deposit near the landing site for NASA's next Mars rover, a new study finds....
      - 9 hours ago 25 May 19, 2:04am -
    • newMars 2020 Mission Drops In on Death Valley
      On a test flight in Death Valley, California, an Airbus helicopter carried an engineering model of the Lander Vision System (LVS) that will help guide NASA's next Mars mission to a safe touchdown on the Red Planet....
      - 10 hours ago 25 May 19, 1:27am -
    • Expeditionary Astronauts Wanted
      As NASA returns humans to the Moon and then heads out to Mars, a new type of astronaut will be required to explore these worlds. Let's called them "expeditionary astronauts"....
      - 1 day ago 24 May 19, 2:40am -
    • On Mars, Sands Shift To A Different Drum
      Wind has shaped the face of Mars for millennia, but its exact role in piling up sand dunes, carving out rocky escarpments or filling impact craters has eluded scientists until now....
      - 1 day ago 24 May 19, 2:21am -
    • Oldest Meteorite Collection On Earth Found In One of the Driest Places
      Earth is bombarded every year by rocky debris, but the rate of incoming meteorites can change over time....
      - 1 day ago 24 May 19, 2:16am -
    • New Studies Increase Confidence in NASA's Measure of Earth's Temperature
      A new assessment of NASA's record of global temperatures revealed that the agency's estimate of Earth's long-term temperature rise in recent decades is accurate to within less than a tenth of a degree Fahrenheit, providing confidence that past and fu…
      - 1 day ago 24 May 19, 2:11am -
    • New insights about carbon and ice could clarify inner workings of Earth, other planets
      Most people behave differently when under extreme pressure. Carbon and ice are no different....
      - 2 days ago 23 May 19, 4:12am -
    • 18 Earth-sized Exoplanets Discovered
      Somewhat more than 4000 planets orbiting stars outside our solar system are known so far....
      - 2 days ago 23 May 19, 3:54am -
    • Galaxies As Cosmic Cauldrons
      Star formation within interstellar clouds of gas and dust, so-called molecular clouds, proceeds very rapidly yet highly "inefficiently"....
      - 2 days ago 23 May 19, 3:51am -
    • NASA Invites Public to Help Asteroid Mission Choose Sample Site
      Citizen scientists assemble! NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission to the asteroid Bennu needs extra pairs of eyes to help choose its sample collection site on the asteroid - and to look for anything else that might be scientifically interesting....
      - 2 days ago 23 May 19, 3:44am -
    • An Orbital Sunrise Over Indonesia
      The sun's first rays peek above Earth's limb highlighting the thin blue atmosphere during an orbital sunrise as the International Space Station orbited 255 miles above Indonesia....
      - 3 days ago 22 May 19, 4:38am -
    • Orbital View Of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and the Bay of Fundy
      Portions of the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick separated by the Bay of Fundy are pictured as the International Space Station orbited 257 miles above the North American continent....
      - 3 days ago 22 May 19, 4:36am -
    • Stellar Waltz With Dramatic Ending
      Astronomers at the University of Bonn and their colleagues from Moscow have identified an unusual celestial object....
      - 3 days ago 22 May 19, 4:29am -
    • Space Travel And Your Joints
      A novel Henry Ford Hospital study of mice aboard a Russian spaceflight may raise an intriguing question for the astronauts of tomorrow: Could traveling in space be bad for your joints?...
      - 3 days ago 22 May 19, 4:16am -

    NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Planet of the TajinastesPlanet of the Tajinastes
    Planet of the Tajinastes
    Planet of the Tajinastes
    - -
    Boulders on BennuBoulders on Bennu
    Boulders on Bennu
    Boulders on Bennu
    - -
    Moons Near JupiterMoons Near Jupiter
    Moons Near Jupiter
    Moons Near Jupiter
    - -
    Primordial Contact Binary 2014 MU69Primordial Contact Binary 2014 MU69
    Primordial Contact Binary 2014 MU69
    Primordial Contact Binary 2014 MU69
    - -
    Deep Field: Nebulae of SagittariusDeep Field: Nebulae of Sagittarius
    Deep Field: Nebulae of Sagittarius
    Deep Field: Nebulae of Sagittarius
    - -
    Planets of the Solar System: Tilts and SpinsPlanets of the Solar System: Tilts and Spins
    Planets of the Solar System: Tilts and Spins
    Planets of the Solar System: Tilts and Spins
    - -