Our roundup of the top stories in aerospace and defense from the last two weeks.

Blue Origin plans to begin autonomous flight tests later this year with the reusable New Shepard suborbital human spacecraft it will power.

The space shuttle was a magnificent machine, the most capable spaceship ever built. It was also a fragile monster that required an expensive standing army to fly, and punished the slightest inattention to detail in its preparation and operation with fatal results.

A new concept puts Mars in reach with today’s NASA budget. The trick is a stop in Martian orbit, and a flight-test landing on Earth’s Moon.

Just because parts can be produced faster with 3-D printing does not mean engineers can cut corners validating their properties, an additive manufacturing expert warns.

The Rise and Fall of a Launch Monopoly?

U.S. Air Force Secretary discusses creating an apples-to-apples comparison of ULA and SpaceX launch cost, embracing public-private partnerships for a new rocket engine and developing trust with new market entrants.

With the goal of sending a manned mission to Mars in the 2030s growing near, Expedition 43 sends two men to the ISS for a year to test the physical and psychological impact of deep-space travel.