CROWD SOURCING: Planetary Resources, which has been busy developing an initial prototype of its prospective space telescope, the Arkyd-100, is going public with a pitch for so-called crowd-sourcing of its project — i.e., public donations. The group has unveiled a $1 million fund-raising campaign to launch the telescope, set up a user interface system, “cover fulfillment costs for all of the products and services in the pledge levels,” and fund the “immersive” education program the company is promising.

Further hold-ups could result from short-sighted budget cuts

Human travel to Mars with current technology bears significant threat

LAUNCH SURVEY: The U.S. Air Force is surveying industry bidders on their near- and long-term plans to offer national security launch services, as well as what companies see as critical issues in providing this capability, recommendations for changes to Pentagon policy — especially in helping to lower launch costs — and how Defense Department acquisitions could help stabilize the industrial base. Comments are sought by June 21 for the ongoing strategic National Security Space Launch Assessment, according to a May 29 notice in the Federal Register.

With just more than 2 1/2 half years remaining for teams in the Google Lunar X-Prize (GLXP) contest to successfully land on the Moon and claim up to $30 million in prizes, organizers say a group of leading contenders is starting to emerge.

The military called it Operation Bumblebee: a secret program to develop a weapon that -- like the insect -- could take off vertically, change directions instantly and deliver a painful sting

Micrometeoroid might be the culprit for NOAA satellite issues

The second express Russian Soyuz mission to the International Space Station restored the outpost to six-crewmember operations late March 28, after the capsule docked to deliver veteran cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin, NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg and the European Space Agency’s Luca Parmitano.