Alan Stern, associate vice president of the space science and engineering division at Southwest Research Institute, has been selected to join a scientific team that will fly aboard a Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo vehicle to carry out NASA-backed experiments.

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A Southwest Research Institute-managed program will offer services to help manufacturing companies comply with the federal government’s cybersecurity standards.

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The Department of Defense has selected Southwest Research Institute and partners to develop a prototype system for the processing of satellite-based military data.

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Astroscale's U.S. business has secured a $25.5 million contract from the U.S. Space Force to build a small satellite capable of conducting uninterrupted refueling missions in geostationary orbit. The Astroscale Prototype Servicer for Refueling will be designed to carry and transfer hydrazine directly to client spacecraft, Astroscale U.S. said Wednesday.

The Potomac Officers Club's 2024 Space Summit will offer an in-depth look at how U.S. space experts, government leaders and industry executives are tackling the most urgent issues while forging a path forward in space. Register now.

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NASA announced on Sept. 29 that it had selected SpaceX to launch the Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites mission. The pair of small satellites will study space weather and how the sun’s energy affects Earth’s magnetosphere, the space agency said. The TRACERS launch task order was awarded to SpaceX under the Venture-Class Acquisition of […] More

NASA has selected four companies and one university research organization to conduct phase A study on developing a solar coronagraph instrument for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s space weather forecasting mission. EO Vista, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Raytheon Technologies‘ intelligence and space business, Southwest Research Institute and the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space […] More

Blue Origin and Sierra Space will jointly create a new space station that will operate in low Earth orbit to foster development and human space exploration. The Orbital Reef station is envisioned to support research, industrial, international and commercial pursuits to expand the scope of markets applicable to space, Blue Origin said Monday. The future […] More

Virgin Orbit and the Southwest Research Institute have partnered to look into combining the former’s LauncherOne rocket and the latter’s space mission development expertise to potentially pursue specialized mission opportunities. The partnership is exploring opportunities in joint SwRI platform manufacturing and services delivery to Virgin Orbit clients, and considering stewardship programs focused on the use […] More

France- and Italy-based businesses of Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between Thales and Leonardo, have landed spots on a potential $6 billion NASA contract vehicle covering spacecraft systems and support services through an on-ramp solicitation process. The agency issued the first RAPID IV on-ramp award nearly eight months after its original selection of five aerospace companies to participate in the program.

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NASA will help mature six space technologies through the agency’s Flight Opportunities program that will facilitate low-gravity simulation tests onboard aircraft and suborbital rockets. The space agency said Thursday it will award funds to cover the integration and flight, and limited payload development costs for the selected demonstrations that will validate the technology’s feasibility to reduce technical risks. […] More

NASA has chosen nine research proposals from government, industry and academic institutions that seek to study the sun and space environment. The agency said Friday proposals under the Explorers Program include five Heliophysics Small Explorer missions that will receive $1.25 million each to conduct an 11-month concept study as well as two Explorer Missions of Opportunity Small Complete […] More

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has completed initial tests on a field-deployable system that combines technologies from the Southwest Research Institute and PyroGenesis Canada to neutralize chemical warfare agents. DARPA said Friday it tested SwRI’s soil-scrubbing technology alongside PyroGenesis’ Tactical Plasma Arc Chemical Warfare Agents Destruction System that works to collect and convert toxic CWA decomposition products into non-hazardous salts. The platform […] More