NASA stands to gain plenty for itself by helping SpaceX get to Mars. An amended Space Act Agreement makes clear the agency can use whatever it learns to land its own vehicles on Mars, it just can’t share it with any of SpaceX’s competitors.

Governments are looking for ways to work around disruptions in service, increasingly caused by proliferating equipment that can jam and spoof GPS signals.

As the International Space Station approaches the end of its service life, NASA is supporting Boeing and SpaceX efforts to build commercial crew vehicles that can take crew to the ISS and later commercial space stations. Listen is as our editors discuss those efforts.

What technologies lie ahead for aerospace? Reusable spacecraft and additive manufacturing for sure, but what about flying cars, jetpacks or another attempt at nuclear-powered aircraft? Only the future will tell.​

NASA on Red Dragon Mars mission: “This is a technology demonstration of what we consider to be one of the most critical technologies for us to get humans to Mars.”

A challenging timetable has SpaceX running at top speed on preparations for upcoming flights to the International Space Station with the Crew Dragon, the human-rated version of the company’s cargo-carrying Dragon spacecraft.

The company must complete a rigorous series of tests this year and next to begin collecting fares in 2018 under its five-year, $4.2 billion NASA Commercial Crew Transportation Capability deal.

The initial group of astronauts selected to fly on commercial missions to the International Space Station are providing input about human-factors engineering to Boeing and SpaceX.