- WFIRST passes preliminary design review
WASHINGTON — A NASA space telescope recently completed a major review and is making good progress, project officials say, despite uncertainty about its funding. NASA announced Nov. 1 that the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) passed its preliminary design review (PDR), a major milestone in the development of the space-based… Read more » - Here are all the Readers’ Choice winners of the 2019 SpaceNews Awards
In October, we asked SpaceNews readers to vote on the finalists for this year’s SpaceNews Awards for Excellence and Innovation. More than 40,000 votes were cast by the time the poll closed Nov. 1. The Readers’ Choice Award winners named below will be honored at our 3rd annual awards luncheon… Read more » - SpaceX launches second batch of Starlink broadband satellites
WASHINGTON — SpaceX completed its second launch of 60 Starlink satellites Nov. 11, making its own system the largest commercial telecommunications satellite constellation in orbit. SpaceX launched the satellites on a Falcon 9 rocket at 9:56 a.m. Eastern, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The satellites separated just over… Read more » - Soyuz-5 rocket to enter service in mid-2020s
WASHINGTON — The Russian company that markets launch vehicles commercially says it doesn’t expect the new Soyuz-5 medium-lift rocket to be available until the mid-2020s, despite leveraging existing designs and facilities. In an interview during the International Astronautical Congress Oct. 24, Evgeny Solodovnikov, sales director of GK Launch Services, says… Read more » - Telesat LEO manufacturing decision bumped to 2020
WASHINGTON — Telesat Canada will likely choose the winner of a now three-way race to build its low Earth orbit broadband constellation in the first few months of 2020 instead of this year, CEO Dan Goldberg said Nov. 5. Goldberg, in an earnings call, said Telesat still anticipates having 200… Read more » - Air Force to require cybersecurity audits of commercial satellite communications providers
RESTON, Va. — The Air Force starting in 2020 will rate the cybersecurity of commercial satellite communications providers in an effort to increase the protection of military networks. The new program is called Infrastructure Asset Pre-Assessment (IA-Pre) and will be run by the Air Force Space Command’s commercial satellite communications… Read more » - OneWeb’s first big deployment launch slips to January
WASHINGTON — OneWeb has delayed the beginning of its regular launch campaign by a month to allow more testing of its small broadband satellites. “We are taking the utmost care to prepare for launch and therefore are taking a few extra weeks to conduct additional tests on the satellites which… Read more » - Astronaut preparing for ISS mission with reduced crew
WASHINGTON — A NASA astronaut flying to the International Space Station next spring could be the only American on the station for an extended period because of uncertainty in the status of commercial crew vehicles. NASA announced Oct. 30 that Chris Cassidy will fly to the station next April on… Read more » - Avio anticipates Vega C upgrade funding at ESA ministerial, Vega return to flight in March
WASHINGTON — The European Space Agency is considering programs to make Vega light-lift rockets more competitive, according to the chief executive of Vega manufacturer Avio. Avio CEO Giulio Ranzo said during a Nov. 7 earnings call that Vega is on track for a return to flight by March, though what… Read more » - Missing pin blamed for Boeing pad abort parachute anomaly
WASHINGTON — Boeing said Nov. 7 that a misplaced pin prevented a parachute from deploying during a pad abort test of its CST-100 Starliner vehicle three days earlier, the only flaw in a key test of that commercial crew vehicle. In a call with reporters, John Mulholland, vice president and… Read more »
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