Tag: commercial-space
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Space Systems Command Expands COMSO Working Capital Fund
How is Space Systems Command streamlining commercial space acquisitions? Space Systems Command’s Commercial Space Office (COMSO) is expanding its Working Capital Fund and finalizing Commercial Augmentation Space Reserve (CASR) funding structures to accelerate commercial space acquisitions for national security missions. The initiative aims to reduce procurement timelines from traditional multi-year defense contracting cycles to months,…
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A unique NASA satellite is falling out of orbit—this team is trying to rescue it
BROOMFIELD, Colorado—One of NASA’s oldest astronomy missions, the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, has been out of action for more than a month as scientists await the arrival of a pioneering robotic rescue mission. The 21-year-old spacecraft is falling out of orbit, and NASA officials believe it’s worth saving—for the right price. Swift is not a…
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LandSpace’s Lanyan Methane Rocket Engine Completes Long-Duration Test
China’s commercial space company LandSpace has successfully conducted a long-duration full-system test of its Lanyan liquid oxygen–methane rocket engine, according to a report by China Media Group. The 220-tonne-class engine uses a full-flow staged-combustion cycle, a highly efficient but technically complex engine design, and is intended to support next-generation heavy-lift launch vehicles for China’s expanding…
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Sierra Space Raises $550 Million Series C at $8 Billion Valuation
U.S. aerospace company Sierra Space said it has raised $550 million in a Series C funding round led by LuminArx Capital, valuing the company at $8 billion. The company said the new funding will help increase production capacity and support expansion beyond its current satellite and spacecraft mission programs. “Sierra Space has sharpened its focus…
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Former astronaut on lunar spacesuits: “I don’t think they’re great right now”
Crew members traveling to the lunar surface on NASA’s Artemis missions should be gearing up for a grind. They will wear heavier spacesuits than those worn by the Apollo astronauts, and NASA will ask them to do more than the first Moonwalkers did more than 50 years ago. The Moonwalking experience will amount to an…
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Blue Origin boss: Government should forget launch and focus on “exotic” missions
Eighteen months after leaving his job as a vice president at Amazon to take over as Blue Origin’s chief executive, Dave Limp has some thoughts on how commercial companies and government agencies like NASA should explore the Solar System together. Limp had no background in the space industry before taking the helm of Jeff Bezos’…
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SpaceX may have solved one problem only to find more on latest Starship flight
SpaceX made some progress on another test flight of the world’s most powerful rocket Tuesday, finally overcoming technical problems that plagued the program’s two previous launches. But minutes into the mission, SpaceX’s Starship lost control as it cruised through space, then tumbled back into the atmosphere somewhere over the Indian Ocean nearly an hour after…
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FAA: Airplanes should stay far away from SpaceX’s next Starship launch
The Federal Aviation Administration gave the green light Thursday for SpaceX to launch the next test flight of its Starship mega-rocket as soon as next week, following two consecutive failures earlier this year. The failures set back SpaceX’s Starship program by several months. The company aims to get the rocket’s development back on track with…
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The top fell off Australia’s first orbital-class rocket, delaying its launch
The payload fairing at the top of Gilmour Space’s first Eris rocket was supposed to deploy a few minutes after lifting off from northeastern Australia. Instead, the nose cone fell off the rocket hours before it was supposed to leave the launch pad Thursday. Gilmour, the Australian startup that developed the Eris rocket, announced the…
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A privately developed Australian rocket is ready for a historic launch
Gilmour Space, a venture-backed startup based in Australia, is about to launch a small rocket from its privately owned spaceport on a remote stretch of the country’s northeastern coastline. It’s the first time anyone has attempted to reach orbit with a rocket designed and built in Australia. Gilmour’s three-stage rocket, named Eris, could launch at…