It has been through some tough times, but now the James Webb Space Telescope project has pulled up its socks and is slogging through one of the most complex space engineering efforts ever attempted.

India's long struggle for strategic parity with China passed a milestone last week, with ramifications for India's self-confidence and China's rise, after India's indigenously developed Agni-V missile hit a pre-designated target in the Indian Ocean with a high degree of accuracy during its first test-flight.

The space industry usually takes a crawl, walk, run approach when pursuing new challenges. But flush with cash and hungry to propel itself to the forefront of the global aerospace market, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has no time for baby steps. The UAE is one of a number of Middle Eastern countries that is gradually building a portfolio of space initiatives in response to growing instability in the region, a perceived threat from Iran and a desire to spur local industry.

New French space strategy urges the EU to play a stronger role.

An article in the April 16 issue (p. 44) incorrectly stated NASA's plans for launching cargo to the International Space Station. The agency plans to use commercial rockets for the missions.

Scientists preparing to use International Space Station facilities for research will have better online access to their experiments after U.S. astronauts finish revamping communications links. The work, intended to support a substantial increase in simultaneous science research, includes a doubling of the downlink data rate, solid-state recording and additional voice loops.

Scientists using NASA's Kepler spacecraft (see photo) to look for planets around other stars have been “surprised by the universe,” and the value of those surprises has earned the mission a four-year funding extension. Kepler was one of nine astrophysics programs granted peer-reviewed extensions on the recommendation of a NASA Senior Review Committee (SRC). Most of them—including the Hubble Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory—also will continue operating through 2016.

A hosted payload agreement between Space Systems/Loral and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center offers the U.S. the chance to catch up with Europe's leadership in the use of optical systems, which hold the promise of faster data transmission for space communications and lower power demands.