Space

In this week's Washington Outlook: Defense committees add more money for military spending than the Senate is likely to pass; the return of the Europa lander; another ATC fight in the works.

Who will make it to Mars first? NASA, or the new entrepreneurs? Listen in as our editors discuss.

Oman begins receiving Eurofighter Typhoons, U.S. approves sale of another C-17 to India, IAI wins major IT consolidation contract and Lockheed pumps out GPS III satellites.

Calt is pursuing three paths to reusable space launch: lifting bodies and, for wingless rockets, parachute recovery and powered landings.

Calt will make Long March 8 with propulsion modules from other space launchers. Long March 5B will omit a module.

Casc’s Xian propulsion institute will lighten its P35 solid-propellant motor, then develop a larger derivative, presumably for a new space launcher

Airbus and startup OneWeb are preparing to manufacture satellites at an unprecedented pace—one per day.

Looking back on a career illuminated by a love of words, science and the sheer excitement of the promise and peril of space exploration.

This strategy also would feature less chance of introducing terrestrial contamination, reduced risk and perhaps a more manageable cost...

The launch from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) was the second for SpaceX in three days. SpaceX then landed the first-stage booster on a barge in the Pacific Ocean.

Trump administration boosts military space budget by 5% compared to last year’s projections, provides seed funding for six new programs.

Compared to the cold radioactive vacuum of space, survival in combat is a piece of cake.

Thales Alenia Space is to take a “minority stake” in Airstar Aerospace, a company with know-how in balloon envelopes, in a bid to advance its Stratobus telecommunications airship project.

Objectives include studying the Solar System's origins, the possibility of extraterrestrial life and dangers to Earth from the Sun and small space objects.

As CALT works on the propulsion and structural challenges of a huge Moon rocket, the alternative of multiple smaller launches is also considered.

Virgin Orbit, the newly created small satellite launch Virgin Group company, is nearing completion of the first “pathfinder” LauncherOne test rocket.

The imbalance of male-female U.S. astronauts dates to President Dwight Eisenhower’s belief that military pilots were best qualified to fly in space.

There is a lot of intriguing activity in the aerospace industry than is not be apparent at first look.

China’s main space launcher builder has loosened the schedule for flying a super-heavy rocket.

The U.S. Air Force says it will continue investing in the Aerojet Rocketdyne AR-1 engine as a potential replacement for the Russian-made RD-180.

The Stratolaunch satellite launching aircraft is set to begin fuel-system testing, on track for its first launch demonstration in 2019.

While SpaceX focuses on reuseable launchers, Arianespace looks to compete by drastically lowering the costs of its expendable ones.

Digital twins and digital threads will help head off production issues in advance.

Dennis Muilenburg on the New Midsize Airplane, 777X, Bombardier, Trump, Iran, China, Blue Origin and his “audacious” aftermarket plan.

In this week's Washington Outlook: The bill still faces challenges from Democrats, the bizav and general aviation communities and competition from higher congressional priorities.