Space

Former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine began a new job on Jan. 25: senior advisor to Acorn Growth Companies, an Oklahoma-based private equity firm focused on midsize aerospace, defense and intelligence companies.

The Transporter-1 mission lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 10 a.m. on Jan. 24 following a one-day delay due to weather.

NASA plans the first in a series of spacewalks next week to equip the European Space Agency’s new Bartolomeo science platform outside the International Space Station (ISS) with communications systems, and then prepare for future upgrades to the orbiting lab’s solar power system.

Smallsat contracts firm up after Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne deploys first payloads in ‘picture-perfect’ demo polar orbit test mission.

What the 80% have to offer in fight for equality.

Launch this year still possible, says NASA.

The European Commission is to order the first 12 satellites for the second generation of the Galileo navigation constellation from Airbus and Thales Alenia Space.

Private equity-backed space rollup Redwire has acquired spacecraft design and engineering specialist Oakman Aerospace of Littleton, Colorado.

On the job less than a day, the Biden administration made its first two appointments at NASA.

SpaceX kicked off what is expected to be a pivotal year for its fledging internet-via-satellite service with the delivery of 60 more spacecraft into orbit on Jan. 20, as public beta trials expand to the UK.

NASA needs to strategically reassess risk as it enlists commercial and international partners in its deep-space ambitions, according to the agency’s independent Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel.

Boeing has completed a review and verification of 1 million lines of software for the upcoming reflight of an uncrewed CST-100 Starliner spacecraft.

Conservative test parameters for NASA’s Space Launch System Core Stage hot fire prompted the early but orderly shutdown of the Boeing-built booster’s four Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-25 engines, NASA said on Jan. 19.

Plans for a satellite launch site in the Shetland Islands have been submitted to the local authorities for planning permission.

With a major budget increase and a launcher strategy being defined, the EU’s space ambitions begin to crystallize.

The unanticipated clumpy nature of the Martian soil at Elysium Planitia, the equatorial landing site, offers little friction for digging meaning a probe cannot be buried.

Reducing aircraft NOx; Automotive radar for eVTOLs; Satellite inspection in space; and NASA picks university projects.

The LauncherOne rocket reached space for the first time on Jan. 17, carrying 10 small satellites to orbit.

NASA did not immediately say why the hot fire was cut off about 67 sec. after ignition.

Thales Alenia Space has been awarded a European contract to prepare for an in-orbit demonstration of spacecraft servicing.

The EU is looking for synergies between two components of its Multiannual Financial Framework for 2021-27: the newly created €8 billion ($9.5 billion) European Defense Fund and the €14.9 billion space budget.

Japan’s SoftBank has re-invested in OneWeb, the satellite communications company that was sent into Chapter 11 nine months ago after the Tokyo-based holding company withdrew its support.

Under Trump, NASA expanded business, international partnerships.

Boeing’s latest KC-46 contract; KC-390 flies to U.S.; Insitu fraud case resolution and U.S. Space Command to settle in Huntsville.

Airbus says it has completed the Preliminary Design Review on the UK’s new Skynet 6A military communications satellite. The review occurred in November and was completed virtually due to the restrictions in place because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, Airbus announced Jan. 14.