The U.S. Space Force’s Rocket Systems Launch Program Office has added ABL Space Systems, Astra Space and Relativity Space to work toward a quick-launch effort under the Orbital Services Program-4.

NASA and Russian federal space agency Roscosmos are assembling teams of experts to assess the unanticipated thruster firings of Russia’s Nauka module following its docking with the International Space Station.

SpaceX apparently has acquired Silicon Valley small-satellite maker Swarm Technologies, according to a U.S. Federal Communications Commission filing in which SpaceX seeks to obtain the startup’s mobile satellite-service licenses.

NASA is seeking a quartet of applicants for the first in a series of three planned year-long simulations of life on Mars intended to evaluate how human explorers might respond to limited resources, equipment failures, communications delays and environmental stresses.

Startup space vehicle maker Firefly Aerospace continues to roll out offerings, announcing a new line of business dedicated to supplying rocket engines and components to the emerging new-space industry.

The UK Ministry of Defense plans to explore the use of free-space optical communications in low-Earth orbit through the use of a satellite demonstrator.

The Martian surface delivered a bit of a surprise late last week as NASA’s Perseverance rover tried to acquire its first sample of rock from the floor of Jezero Crater for caching and eventual return to Earth.

A NASA-backed Moon mission targeted to launch from Wallops Island, Virginia, will instead fly from Rocket Lab’s New Zealand spaceport due to ongoing efforts by NASA to certify the Electron booster’s automated flight termination system for use at Wallops.