NASA has chosen five space technologies to test fly on high-altitude balloons, suborbital rockets or aircraft that simulate low gravity. The agency said Saturday the selected experiments are part of the Flight Opportunities program that aims to test space technologies through methods that simulate spaceflight. Stephan Ord, technology manager for NASA’s Flight Opportunities program, said the program works to help NASA […] More

NASA has selected proposals from Honeywell and UMPQUA Research to develop technology platforms designed to increase oxygen recovery from exhaled carbon dioxide to at least 75 percent and reduce oxygen resupply for future long-duration spaceflight missions. The companies will each receive up to $2 million in funds to develop their technologies over a two-year performance […] More

Orbital ATK will host students of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) at the company’s Dulles, Virginia-based headquarters in support of Higher Orbits’ Go For Launch! program, Loudon Now reported Thursday. Higher Orbits, a non-profit organization, will hold its three-day program next month at Orbital ATK’s Dulles headquarters for high school students to participate in […] More

An Esterline subsidiary has received a contract to supply 50 flight management systems for installation on the U.S. Air Force‘s fleet of HH-60G Pave Hawk search-and-rescue helicopters. Esterline said Tuesday its CMC Electronics business will perform non-recurring engineering to help the military branch re-host the current HH60G control display unit from the legacy CMA-882 system to the CMA-2082MC platform. Work will occur at CMC’s […] More

SpaceX plans to launch used Dragon spacecraft for cargo delivery missions to the International Space Station by 2017 as part of the Elon Musk-owned company’s Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA, SpaceNews reported Friday. Jeff Foust writes that Benjamin Reed, SpaceX director of commercial crew mission management, told the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight that SpaceX looks to reuse Dragon spacecraft to […] More

NASA officials have said the agency does not have plans to extend its contract with the Russian space agency to transport U.S. astronauts to the International Space Station in 2019 through the Russian-built Soyuz crew capsules, Spaceflight Now reported Thursday. Stephen Clark writes NASA bought six round-trip seats for U.S. astronauts on the Soyuz spacecraft under […] More

NASA has released a broad agency announcement on an umbrella for partnerships to support the Asteroid Redirect Mission and work to boost technologies, capacities and spaceflight experience for continued human exploration. A presolicitation notice posted Thursday says the space agency wants subsequent awards from the BAA to foster partnerships between U.S. and international partners for commercial, scientific, exploration technology and planetary defense ARM […] More

NASA has kicked off its use of specialized transporters built by Wheelift to transport the core stage and test articles of the Space Launch System to various agency centers for tests. The space agency said Tuesday the mobile platforms are designed to carry the 212-foot SLS core stage, the largest part of the SLS rocket built to […] More

Lockheed Martin has delivered a heat shield for the Orion Exploration Mission-1 crew module to NASA‘s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA said Saturday the heat shield was transported to KSC’s shuttle landing facility  Thursday from the company’s manufacturing facility in Denver via a Super Guppy aircraft. The agency offloaded and moved the technology to the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building Saturday. The […] More

NASA has partnered with BSN medical to develop a compression garment that will work to help reduce an astronaut’s risk of experiencing rapid heart rate, low blood pressure and lightheadedness after a long-duration spaceflight. A team of scientists from NASA and Russia currently examines the potential of BSN’s JOBST three-piece elastic gradient compression garments to protect against post-spaceflight orthostatic intolerance, the company […] More

Orbital ATK has transported the first two next-generation Iridium satellites to Vandenberg Air Force Base in California as part of preparations for the scheduled liftoff on Sept. 19, Spaceflight Now reported Wednesday. Stephen Clark writes the satellites were shipped via truck from an Orbital ATK-run manufacturing facility near Phoenix to Vandenberg, where eight additional message transmission […] More

Boeing and engineering company Bastion Technologies have signed up for NASA‘s mentor-protege program with the goal to build up the latter company’s aerospace market expertise. The two companies aim to exchange manufacturing, quality, marketing and business development strategies under an agreement that will run for 18 months, Boeing said Tuesday. Bastion President Jorge Hernandez said the company’s partnership with Boeing […] More