Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos has said the next administration should ask NASA to launch large-scale technology development initiatives and prize programs, Space News reported Wednesday. Jeff Foust writes Bezos made the remarks in an on-stage interview during a lecture at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington Tuesday. “One thing that the government could […] More

Orbital ATK aims to build a rocket technology offering for the U.S. Air Force as part of the company’s push into the national security satellite market, Reuters reported Tuesday. Irene Klotz writes John Steinmeyer, director of business development at Orbital ATK, said at the Space Congress held Tuesday in Florida the company would base its “Next Generation Launcher” on solid-rocket […] More

Rick Ambrose, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin‘s space systems segment, has said Lockheed and Boeing are committed to fund the development of their 50-50 joint venture’s Vulcan rocket, Space News reported Thursday. Mike Gruss writes Ambrose told a press briefing at the Satellite 2016 conference in Maryland that uncertainty on how to move away from the Russia-built RD-180 […] More

Craig Cooning, president of the network and space systems division at Boeing, has said the company’s joint venture with Lockheed Martin will incrementally invest funds to help develop two potential domestic alternatives to the Russian RD-180 engine, National Defense Magazine reported Tuesday. Stew Magnuson writes Cooning told a press briefing at the Satellite 2016 conference in Maryland that the United Launch Alliance will support the […] More

United Launch Alliance has requested an additional supply of Russian-made RD-180 rocket engines for use in the launch of Atlas V rockets to space, Reuters reported Wednesday. Andrea Shalal writes the Lockheed Martin–Boeing joint venture intends for the 20 Russian engine orders to fulfill customer demands for civil and commercial launch services while ULA’s development of […] More

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has awarded Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Masten Space Systems around $19.5 million in contract funds to continue building prototype robotic spaceplanes, Space.com reported Friday. Mike Wall writes the three companies moved into phase 1B of the agency’s Experimental Spaceplane-1 development initiative. Boeing and Northrop received $4 million each […] More

United Launch Alliance Chairman Craig Cooning and CEO Tory Bruno believe the congressional ban on RD-180 engines hurts the business case for further Boeing and Lockheed Martin investment on rocket development, SpaceNews reported Friday. Warren Ferster writes that the ULA executives have indicated the need for 14 of the Russia-made engines to participate in competitions under the U.S. Air Force‘s […] More

United Launch Alliance has introduced its new Next Generation Launch System rocket called Vulcan that features many components designed to be reusable. The Boeing–Lockheed Martin joint venture said Monday it selected the Vulcan name as the result of an online poll that received more than a million votes. “More capabilities in space mean more capabilities here on earth,” said Tory Bruno, ULA […] More

Tory Bruno, CEO of United Launch Alliance, has said ULA will adopt new business strategies as the company aims to stay ahead in the space launch services market, Reuters reported Friday. Andrea Shalal writes ULA, a Boeing and Lockheed Martin joint venture, seeks to grow its customer base to include commercial firms and reduce cycle time […] More

NASA and its industry partners Blue Origin, Boeing, Sierra Nevada Corp. and SpaceX together passed 23 milestones in the Commercial Crew Program in 2014 as they seek to develop crew space transportation systems. NASA said Monday the program also included technical review sessions to ensure the reliability and safety of those systems, which would carry astronauts to and from the […] More

Boeing, Blue Origin, Sierra Nevada Corp. and SpaceX have reported their current statuses on their respective agreements with NASA under the Commercial Crew Program for space transportation systems. “Our partners’ detailed progress on launch and spaceflight capabilities expands domestic access to space,” Kathy Lueders, manager of the Commercial Crew Program, said Friday. NASA said these industry partners are working with […] More

Dynetics and Aerojet Rocketdyne are using 3-D printing technology to build a new rocket engine in an effort to replace the current Russian-built engine used to send Atlas V to space, Nextgov reported Thursday. Marcus Weisgerber reports that the project started two years ago before the White House, Defense Department and Congress indicated plans to replace the RD-180 engine due to tension with the Russian government. “Going […] More