Lockheed Martin and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have agreed to jointly explore autonomous and robotic technologies under a partnership agreement the parties signed Friday. The company said Monday it will collaborate with the university’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics as well as Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory to engage the university’s faculty and students in human-machine teaming and navigation […] More

NASA will test a Bigelow Aerospace-developed human-rated expandable habitat to collect data for deep space habitat designs after the structure is installed on the International Space Station. The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module will be attached to the space station’s Tranquility node using the Canadarm2 robotic arm on April 16 during an estimated four-hour attachment period, NASA said […] More

D-J Engineering has secured a subcontract from Boeing to help manufacture machine parts for a space capsule under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, Spaceflight Insider reported Sunday. Collin Skocik writes D-J Engineering will manufacture hatch frame and frangible joints for the CST-100 spacecraft that is meant to bring astronauts to the International Space Station and Bigelow […] More

Christopher Jones, corporate vice president and president of technical services at  Northrop Grumman, has been elected as an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. AIAA said Tuesday Jones and 146 other professionals were cited for their work in the engineering and science of aeronautics and astronautics. Jones holds positions on several boards of directors, including the Air Force […] More

Ronald Sugar, a former chairman and CEO of Northrop Grumman, has joined the board of directors at Phoenix-based cybersecurity technology company BeyondTrust. Sugar led the Falls Church, Va.-based aerospace and defense contractor as chief executive from 2003 to 2010, when he was succeeded by then-Chief Operating Officer Wes Bush as CEO. He previously served as chairman of the […] More

NASA and Orbital ATK confirmed that the Dawn probe has made it into orbit around the Ceres dwarf planet after a 7.5-year journey. Ceres’ gravity captured the Orbital ATK-built spacecraft Friday at 4:39 a.m. Pacific time, NASA said Friday. Dawn took off in September 2007 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and initially encountered Vesta, orbiting the […] More

NASA took the first step Friday in what it hopes to be a new era for human space exploration as the agency sent the Orion capsule into a nearly four-hour orbit to evaluate its potential for future missions via Boeing‘s Space Launch System. Engineers for NASA and Orion constructor Lockheed Martin focused much of their attention […] More

A United Technologies Corp. subsidiary will produce materials for the environmental control and life support system of a crew capsule Boeing is building under a $4.2 billion contract with NASA. UTC Aerospace Systems will design, build and manufacture ECLSS components for Boeing’s CST-100 spacecraft and is scheduled to deliver the hardware in 2016, UTC Aerospace […] More

Randy Morgan serves as executive vice president of operations for Parsons‘ government services group, where he oversees the operations of the group’s divisions and projects, as well as nine support departments. The 29-year GovCon industry veteran joined Parsons through its acquisition of SPARTA, where he served as president and oversaw the integration of SPARTA into Parsons. […] More

Sierra Nevada will collaborate with international space organizations to further develop the company’s Dream Chaser space taxi under a NASA commercial program, the Denver Business Journal reported Wednesday. Greg Avery writes that Sierra Nevada, the European Space Agency and the German Aerospace Center have forged an alliance to explore potential technologies for the spaceship. Mark Sirangelo, […] More

An Orbital Sciences cargo spacecraft launched from NASA‘s Wallop’s Flight Facility in Virginia Thursday to carry supplies to the International Space Station. An Antares rocket lifted off from Wallops and will transport 2,780 pounds of load including science experiments, crew supplies and spare parts to the ISS, NASA said Thursday. The mission is Orbital’s first contracted cargo delivery […] More