Space

Jeff Bezos and three other passengers are set to launch on the company’s first human mission on July 20.

The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) said the spacecraft blasted off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center and landed “horizontally” in Inner Mongolia.

The U.S. House Appropriations Committee has approved a $25.04 billion NASA budget for 2022.

An 18-year-old student on a gap year before college will join Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark Bezos and aviation pioneer Wally Funk on Blue Origin’s first human spaceflight, slated to launch on July 20, the company said on July 15.

In its latest defense white paper, the Japanese defense ministry names China as its main security threat and for the first time includes the stability of Taiwan in the annual report.

Flight test paves a path toward commercial passenger service.

U.S. Navy can use KC-46 tankers; Space nuclear-propulsion concepts chosen; Germany’s space command; and India’s 10th P-8.

NASA is making progress in the development of a new spacesuit design to return human explorers to the Moon’s surface and outfit a wide range of male and female astronauts.

Russia’s Roscosmos is testing the elements of a single-orbit flightpath to the International Space Station.

Masten Space Systems will demonstrate a prototype of a GPS-like positioning, navigation and timing system on the Moon for the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), the Mojave, California-based company announced on July 13.

The newly formed U.S. Space Force has not done enough to realize the space force vision, which was founded in large part to fix lasting issues with acquisition, according to draft legislation passed by the House Appropriations Committee.

The FAA has approved a modification to Blue Origin’s launch license to fly passengers, clearing the way for company founder and financier Jeff Bezos and three crewmates to fly on the New Shepard suborbital launch system on July 20, pending weather and technical checks.

NASA and the Energy Department selected three reactor design concepts for space nuclear propulsion systems.

SpaceShipTwo Unity glided to a landing at 9:32 am on July 11 after successfully providing a six-member crew, including Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson, a few minutes of weightlessness in space.

NASA and SpaceX reported late July 9 a successful splashdown of the company’s 22nd Dragon resupply mission to the International Space Station.

NASA and Northrop Grumman have finalized a $935 million contract for development of the lunar Habitation and Logistics Outpost module, which along with the Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) will comprise the initial components of the agency’s human-tended, lunar-orbiting Gateway.

With the successful deployment of seven small satellites into low Earth orbit, Virgin Orbit has begun commercial launch service operations as

Admiral reveals new Trident details; MEO satellite test coming in 2022; the Netherlands’ Reaper and NGI approach questioned.

Company is partnering to supply internet-via-satellite services to customers.

SpaceX’s 22nd Dragon resupply mission spacecraft is headed for a late July 9 splashdown and recovery off Florida’s Gulf Coast, following a weather-delayed departure from the International Space Station’s U.S. segment with a 5,300-lb. return payload of science experiments, technology development hardware and other equipment.

Launch of the long-delayed Nauka was planned for July 15, but technical issues have pushed back the launch.

NASA is mulling a request to rename the James Webb Space Telescope.

Blacktree has joined Airbus Defense and Space’s Team Maier initiative, established in October 2020 to provide solutions for Australia's JP 9102 military satellite communication program.

The U.S. Space Force may begin testing early-warning satellites in medium-Earth orbit as early as 2022, which aligns with comments made by a service official last week who said the Force Design team will assess the theory of putting missile-warning satellites into non-traditional orbits.

Until the July 5 decision to postpone the undocking, the Cargo Dragon was to depart the ISS on July 6 at about 11 a.m. EDT with a 5,000-lb. return cargo for a parachute-assisted descent into the Atlantic Ocean on July 8 at 12 a.m. EDT.