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Companies release new details on human-rated lunar lander concepts
The next time astronauts land on the moon, they will ride to the lunar surface in a spacecraft that looks a lot different than the Apollo-era landing module last used in 1972. Lander concepts proposed by SpaceX, Blue Origin and Dynetics -- which won a combined $967 million in NASA funding Thursday -- take wildly different approaches to carrying crews to the moon.
Blue Origin wins lion’s share of NASA funding for human-rated lunar lander
NASA has selected Blue Origin, Dynetics and SpaceX to move forward with development of human-rated lunar landers, committing nearly $1 billion in funding for a range of moonship concepts that include a variant of SpaceX's next-generation Starship vehicle, officials announced Thursday.
SpaceX to debut satellite-dimming sunshade on Starlink launch next month
A new sunshade, or visor, designed to reduce the brightness of SpaceX's Starlink broadband Internet satellites will debut on the company's next launch, a measure intended to alleviate astronomers' concerns about impacts on observations through ground-based telescopes, SpaceX founder Elon Musk said Monday.
Starship prototype clears cryogenic pressure test
SpaceX founder Elon Musk said a prototype for the company's planned Starship launch vehicle passed a cryogenic proof test Sunday night in South Texas, clearing the way for teams to install a Raptor engine this week for a test-firing.
ULA begins stacking rocket for next launch of U.S. military spaceplane
United Launch Alliance technicians raised the first stage of the company's next Atlas 5 rocket onto a mobile launch platform at Cape Canaveral Thursday, kicking off the launch vehicle's build-up for a mission scheduled for liftoff May 16 with the U.S. military's hush-hush X-37B spaceplane.
ULA delivers Delta 4-Heavy rocket to California launch base
United Launch Alliance’s rocket transport ship has delivered a Delta 4-Heavy rocket to Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in preparation for launch of a U.S. government spy satellite late this year.
Intuitive Machines announces moon mission’s launch date, landing site
Intuitive Machines, under contract to carry NASA science instruments to the moon on a privately-developed robotic spacecraft, said this week its first commercial lunar mission will target landing in October 2021 near a deep, narrow valley named Vallis Schröteri.
NASA awards robotic lunar landing contract to Masten Space Systems
NASA has awarded Masten Space Systems, a small company based in Mojave, California, a $75.9 million contract to deliver nine science and technology instruments to the moon's south pole in 2022 with its XL-1 robotic lunar lander.
Ground teams fuel Perseverance rover landing system, attach Mars Helicopter
Working under the cloud of the global coronavirus pandemic, technicians and engineers at NASA's Kennedy Space Center have installed a rotor-driven drone on the agency's next Mars rover and fueled the spacecraft's "sky crane" landing system in preparation for launch in July.
Next GPS launch delayed by coronavirus concerns; X-37B launch remains on track
U.S. military officials said Tuesday the launch of the next satellite for the GPS navigation network -- planned for April 29 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket -- has been delayed to no earlier than June 30 to avoid exposing launch crews to the COVID-19 viral disease. However, the next launch of the military's X-37B spaceplane remains on track for liftoff in May on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, officials said.