Atlas V’s launch of Starliner OFT-2 test flight delayedBoeing has scrubbed Tuesday’s planned launch of their Starliner spacecraft on its second uncrewed Orbital Test Flight, called OFT-2, aboard United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket. The issue at hand, according to Boeing, related to incorrect valve position indications in the propulsion system. The issues were first detected during checkouts after thunderstorms storms over launch site on Monday.
Ariane 5 lofts two satellites in important lead-up to James Webb launchClose to one year after its last flight, the Ariane 5 ECA has returned to service with its first launch of 2021, lifting off at 21:00 UTC on Friday, July 30. The sixth overall mission for Arianespace this year follows a rework of the payload fairing due to vibration issues that could have endangered payloads.
Station loses attitude control after Nauka docking, Starliner launch delayedA Russian module that docked to the International Space Station July 29 started firing its thrusters hours later, briefly knocking the station out of its normal attitude and forcing NASA to delay a commercial crew test flight that was scheduled to launch July 30.
High drama as Russian lab module tilts space station with errant thruster firingsA heavyweight Russian laboratory module that experienced a variety of problems after launch last week docked at the International Space Station Thursday, but in a moment of unexpected drama, inadvertent thruster firings briefly knocked the sprawling complex out of its normal orientation.
Inmarsat unveils multi-orbit Orchestra constellationBritish operator Inmarsat plans to add at least 150 low-Earth-orbit satellites to its global fleet, stepping up competition against OneWeb and others developing megaconstellations for mobility markets.
Lucy spacecraft passes pre-shipment review, on track for October launchNASA and Lockheed Martin are another step closer to the launch of their Lucy Trojan Explorer mission, with the craft completing its pre-shipment review ahead of transportation to the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida in August.
Report calls on government agencies to better coordinate spectrumAn interagency dispute about the use of a spectrum band for weather forecasting versus terrestrial wireless services illustrates the need for the federal government to reform its spectrum management processes, a report concluded.
Court denies Viasat attempt to halt Starlink launches pending legal actionA federal appeals court denied a motion from satellite operator Viasat to stop SpaceX from enlarging its Starlink megaconstellation.
Exodus Orbitals is developing an open satellite platformCanadian startup Exodus Orbitals plans to launch its first satellite in March to take the software-defined space trend a step further, providing a platform for third parties to upload and run their applications from orbit.
Signs of Life on Mars? NASA's Perseverance Rover Begins the HuntAfter testing a bristling array of instruments on its robotic arm, NASA’s latest Mars rover gets down to business: probing rocks and dust for evidence of past life.
Blue Origin launches first crewed flight with four crew, including founder Jeff Bezos and “Mercury 13” aviatrix Wally FunkBlue Origin has flown a crew of four onboard a New Shepard rocket on an 11-minute long suborbital spaceflight. It was the first time humans fly onboard the vehicle, making its sixteenth flight since its debut in April 2015.
Boeing crew capsule mounted on Atlas 5 rocket for unpiloted test flightBoeing second Starliner crew ferry spacecraft rolled out of its factory early Saturday at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center for mounting on top of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket set for liftoff July 30 on a redo of a problem-plagued unpiloted test flight in 2019. The human-rated spaceship, which has yet to be cleared to fly astronauts, emerged from Boeing’s Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility near NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building before dawn Saturday, riding a spacecraft transporter for the several-mile journey to ULA’s Vertical Integration Facility at the nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. ULA’s ground crew attached a four-point lifting sling for the overhead crane in the VIF to hoist the Starliner spacecraft atop the Atlas 5 rocket, which was already stacked on a mobile launch platform inside the vertical hangar. Teams completed work to attach the spacecraft to the Atlas 5 rocket over the weekend, setting the stage for an integrated systems test, a “tip-to-tail”
Blue Origin reveals fourth crew member for Bezos spaceflightAn 18-year-old Dutch student will joint Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark and aviation pioneer Wally Funk next Tuesday when they blast off aboard the Amazon founder’s New Shepard rocket for its first sub-orbital flight to space with passengers on board.
Blue Origin donates New Shepard auction proceeds to space nonprofit groupsWith less than a week before its first crewed suborbital spaceflight, Blue Origin is distributing some of the proceeds from an auction for one of the seats on that flight to a group of space-related non-profit organizations.
Virgin Galactic, Branson laud SpaceShipTwo flight “beyond my wildest dreams”Virgin Galactic and its founder, Richard Branson, hailed a successful test flight by the company’s SpaceShipTwo suborbital spaceplane that carried him and five others to suborbital space, but offered few new details about the company’s future plans.
NOAA to take first step toward a small satellite constellationIt’s a good thing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has plenty of time to prepare for its next generation of polar-orbiting weather satellites — because the changes the agency is contemplating are dramatic.
NASA Announces Public Meeting on Mission Equity, Request for InformationNASA’s public meeting to discuss its recently issued request for information (RFI), entitled Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities in NASA Programs, Contracts and Grants, will take place at 1 p.m. EDT Tuesday, July 13.
SpaceX sets new goals for Falcon booster reuse goals after ten-flight milestoneSpeaking virtually at Barcelona’s 2021 Mobile World Congress (MWC), CEO Elon Musk says that SpaceX has already set its sights on even...
Five years on, Juno science reveals answers to zodiacal lights, Jovian aurorasJuno, NASA’s flagship mission to Jupiter, marks five years at the solar system’s largest planet today, having been in space for nearly 10 years since its launch. Juno quickly became one of NASA’s most scientifically important missions upon its arrival, with its Ultraviolet Spectrograph and Advanced Stellar Compass instruments used to reveal many unique scientific phenomena at Jupiter and throughout the solar system.
Capella Space and Phase Four reveal Maxwell Engine performanceCapella Space launched its fourth synthetic aperture radar satellite June 29 with a Maxwell electric thruster manufactured by propulsion startup Phase Four.



















