Aerojet Rocketdyne will supply six RL10C-1 production engines to Stratolaunch Systems Corp. under a contract for the third stage of a commercial air-launch system for Stratolaunch’s unmanned Thunderbolt rocket. Aerojet Rocketdyne said Monday the contract also contains an option for six additional RL10C-1 engines for The Eagles Launch System, which is scheduled to launch Thunderbolt into space in 2018. “This contract expands our reach into […] More

NASA awarded contracts to 12 companies under the Announcement of Collaboration Opportunity to help advance its Moon to Mars mission objectives. The space agency said Wednesday it chose 16 proposals focused on space component and equipment development, design, manufacturing and testing. As part of the unfunded Space Act agreements, NASA will share its facilities and […] More

Timothy Rumford, formerly an operating unit director within Northrop Grumman‘s tactical space systems division, has been appointed vice president of operations at Leesburg, Virginia-based aerospace technical services provider Optimum Technologies. Rumford comes to OpTech with three decades of aerospace industry experience across business, program management and engineering areas, the company said Monday. In his previous […] More

Edward Morris, former senior director for launch system programs at Stratolaunch Systems, has joined Decisive Analytics to serve as vice president for commercial space.

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John Benac, former mechanical systems design and analysis engineer at Boeing, has joined NanoRacks to serve as director of engineering.

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Melanie Preisser, previous vice president of government relations at Stratolaunch Systems, has joined York Space Systems as VP of national systems responsible for overseeing public and private sector relationships and commercial space industry growth efforts.

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Seattle-based space industry leaders have urged Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., to help establish a space center in Washington in response to the state’s lag behind other states, including California and Texas, Geekwire reported Friday. Executives such as Aerospace Futures Alliance CEO Kelly Maloney and Aerojet Rocketdyne General Manager Ken Young voiced out their ideas as […] More

Steven Nixon, vice president of strategic development at space transportation company  Stratolaunch Systems, has joined Ensco‘s board of directors. Greg Young, Ensco chairman of the board, said in a statement published Thursday Nixon will bring his experience and background to help drive the firm’s strategy and presence across the defense, space and intelligence markets. Nixon previously served as a strategy […] More

Orbital ATK is pursuing new opportunities for its Pegasus air-launch rocket with no plans to phase out the vehicle, Spaceflight Now reported Tuesday. Stephen Clark writes company officials believe Pegasus will continue to perform missions beyond its June 2017 launch of NASA‘s Ionospheric Connection Explorer satellite. Orbital ATK entered a partnership with Vulcan Aerospace‘s Stratolaunch Systems subsidiary in October to deploy Pegasus […] More