Space Industry Analysis
Dec 17, 2012
A probe into an upper-stage low-thrust anomaly during an October GPS launch has verified that a leak occurred in the RL10B-2 engine. But, a root cause continues to elude investigators, and satellite owners are proceeding with Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) missions only if they are willing to accept any extra risk resulting from the unknowns surrounding the incident.
Dec 10, 2012
They could not have timed it better: One day after France launched its second high-resolution Pleiades satellite, shareholders of U.S. commercial imagery provider GeoEye approved a buyout by the company's chief U.S. competitor that will leave Longmont, Colo.-based DigitalGlobe operating the largest fleet of high-resolution optical Earth-imaging satellites.
Dec 10, 2012
As Hurricane Sandy wound its way north along the Atlantic Coast in late October, the storm appeared to be on a track to head harmlessly out to sea. But data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) polar orbiting weather satellites indicated that the deadly storm would take a sharp left turn and hit some of the most densely populated regions of the U.S., providing days of warning.
Dec 10, 2012
SpaceX bests Orbital, eyes duel with ULA for Air Force contracts
Dec 10, 2012
Curiosity 2.0 will gather samples for eventual return to Earth.
Dec 10, 2012
A Washington Outlook item in the Dec. 3 issue (page 23) incorrectly stated the outcome of pre-flight pressure testing on the International Space Station's Unity node. According to NASA, the 1996 tests were halted before the node structural test and flight articles reached the maximum design pressure of 23 psia “based on predefined sensor cutoff data being met.” Those strain gauges were positioned to test anticipated “high stresses on the radial port gussets,” and no cracks were discovered in the hardware by subsequent inspections, NASA says.
Jul 15, 2020
Northrop Grumman’s Minotaur IV rocket ended a nearly three-year hiatus with a July 15 launch from Wallops Island, Virginia, to put a quartet of classified satellites into orbit for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).
Jul 15, 2020
With bleak weather forecast, the United Arab Emirates’ Mars Hope mission, which was slated to lift off on July 17 from Japan’s Tenegashima Space Center, faces a second launch delay.
Jul 15, 2020
The first entirely Chinese mission to Mars may depart within two weeks, following arrival of the spacecraft at the Wenchang launch base on Hainan island.
Jul 15, 2020
The Defense Innovation Unit’s plans call for establishing an unmanned orbital outpost in low Earth orbit initially.
Jul 14, 2020
The commercial human lander system is a critical part of the Trump administration’s directive that NASA accelerate its return to the surface of the Moon with human explorers from 2028 to 2024.
Jul 14, 2020
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) Hayabusa 2 asteroid sample return mission will drop off materials from the asteroid Ryugu as it passes by Earth on Dec. 6 Japan time.
Jul 14, 2020
Poor weather at Japan’s Tenegashima Space Center is prompting a delay of the United Arab Emirates’ Mars Mission to no earlier than July 17.
Jul 13, 2020
Interest in the human and robotic exploration of the Moon and Mars is on the rise—politically influenced budgets, the global economy and COVID-19 pandemic permitting.