Space

NASA now considers the SpaceX Falcon 9 to be a Category 3 launch vehicle, suitable for flying its most expensive and critical spacecraft.

Initial survey shows planets beyond the Solar System are more plentiful than stars.

Competitors will be required to conduct two separate launches to low Earth orbit within weeks of each other from two different sites.

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency looks to balance supporting the country’s aerospace industry with enabling new applications for aviation.

Baseline standards for avionics, communications, life-support, power, robotics, rendezvous operations and thermal systems expected this year.

Wright advances electric plans; Ignite will test electric drives; RemoveDebris images orbital junk; SESAR launches UAS demos; Vanuatu eyes vaccine delivery by drone.

The FAA is readying new rules and technologies to accommodate increasing launch and reentry operations by commercial space operators.

Flying at Mach 1.4 and 50,000 ft., the X-59 is designed to produce a sonic “thump” of less than 75 PNLdB, compared with the 105-110-PLdB “double-bang” sonic boom produced by Concorde.

Airbus and British academia are studying the potential of very large satellite communication antennas to be placed in orbit.

Prime launcher will use biopropane fuel, enabling lighter architecture and speedier turnarounds for reuse.

British smallsat launcher firm Skyrora is planning to use additive manufactured engines for its Skyrora XL smallsat launcher.

Under pressure from SpaceX, some members of the European Space Agency are already considering a successor to the in-development Ariane 6 launcher.

The Hubble Space Telescope has resumed science operations following more than three weeks of troubleshooting involving its gyroscopes.

Comprehensive captive-carry flight-test campaign awaits 747 and LauncherOne combination following successful fit check with rocket and wing pylon.

How Stratolaunch is set up to handle the loss of its financier and visionary leader may serve as a role model for kindred space ventures whose billionaire backers are still around.

Finding Earth 2.0 is high on the list of priorities as next-generation space observatories vie for support from astronomers and astrophysicists.

The Long March 8 was originally supposed to be a cheap expendable launcher. Somewhere in the Chinese space launch sector, that was not considered good enough.

Defense Department officials continue to lay the framework for a U.S. Space Force and will submit a proposal to the White House in early December.

The Callisto, program includes five flights, the last one involving landing on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean.

Russia is aiming to return venerable Soyuz rocket to flight as early as Oct. 25.

A pair of European- and Japanese-built orbiters are headed to Mercury for a flagship science mission to learn more about the Solar System’s innermost and least-explored terrestrial planet.

Here is a look at some of the more than two dozen public and private organizations that have unveiled lunar exploration and development programs.

House and Senate Democrats differ on how the U.S. military should operate in space, and an influential Senate lawmaker is advocating for a combatant command similar to U.S. Cyber Command.

Large-company consolidation push is noted in aerospace sector, which some observers see as a classic positioning tactic ahead of softening business climate.

The launch of AEHF-4 lays the groundwork for faster data transfer for the U.S. military, as the Air Force plans for rapid acquisition of a follow-on program.