Ron Garan, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and a former NASA astronaut, has joined World View as chief pilot, Space News reported Tuesday. Jeff Foust writes Garan will be responsible for overseeing commercial flights of high-altitude balloons that the company designed to carry payloads or passengers to an altitude of at least 19 miles. He became an astronaut […] More

A National Reconnaissance Office payload lifted off Wednesday onboard a United Launch Alliance-built Delta IV rocket as part of the NROL-45 mission in support of national defense. The payload’s launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California marks the Boeing–Lockheed Martin joint venture’s second launch this year, ULA said Wednesday. The Delta IV rocket used in the mission consists of a composite […] More

Aerojet Rocketdyne has secured two contracts worth a combined $1.36 billion for the development of technologies to power the Space Launch System rocket and the CST-100 Starliner crew module that Boeing is building for NASA. NASA said Tuesday Aerojet Rocketdyne will build an expendable version of the company’s RS-25 engine for the SLS heavy-lift launch vehicle under a […] More

SpaceX has secured a task order from NASA to transport astronauts to and from the International Space Station in 2017 under a potential $2.6 billion Commercial Crew Transportation Capability contract. SpaceX has conducted the critical design evaluation phase on the Crew Dragon space vehicle and Falcon 9 rocket that comprise its crew transportation platform, the space agency said […] More

Delegates at the International Telecommunication Union’s 2015 World Radiocommunication Conference in Geneva have allocated the 1087.7-1092.3 megahertz frequency band to track aircraft worldwide. ITU said Wednesday the agreement over the radiofrequency spectrum allocation is in response to the March 2014 disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370. “In reaching this agreement at WRC-15, ITU has responded in […] More

Boeing has kicked off operations for an all-electric propulsion satellite the company developed for ABS. The 702SP satellite now services customers in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa following an on-orbit handover on Aug. 31, Boeing said Thursday. “702SP’s patented dual-launch capability helps customers share launch costs, which can significantly lower overall expenses for […] More

Research and Markets predicts that the global satellite-based Earth observation market will achieve a 13.23-percent compound annual growth rate over a five-year period ending 2019. The company said Friday the report points to the growing application base for satellite data leading to the increasing number of launches of Earth observation satellites, which is the key market driver. […] More

A new Visiongain report forecasts the global military aircraft maintenance, repair and operations market will hit $49 billion in value in 2015. Visiongain said Friday the increasing adoption of new fighter aircraft among tier-one market players would spur growth in the industry. The 2015-2025 forecast covers maintenance aspects in operations and field, heavy airframe, heavy engine, […] More

Iridium Communications has selected seven businesses as the initial service providers to resell the Iridium Push-to-Talk service to military, search-and-rescue, law enforcement and other customers in the international market. The company said Monday the service works to support instant communication from any location via the Iridium low-earth orbit satellite system and operates as half-duplex communication. The following are […] More

United Technologies Corp. has confirmed that it is currently in negotiations with multiple bidders for the acquisition of UTC subsidiary Sikorsky Aircraft, Defense News reported Saturday. Andrew Clevenger writes that sources have named the bidders as Airbus, Blackstone, Lockheed Martin and Textron. The report said the news comes after UTC announced its plan to either sell or spin […] More

Aitech Defense Systems will develop computing boards and subsystem for the Crew Space Transportation-100 spacecraft that Boeing is building for NASA under the space agency’s Commercial Crew Program. The CST-100 capsule is being designed to transport up to seven crew members to the International Space Station and other low-Earth orbit locations by 2017, Aitech said May 5. Chatsworth, California-based […] More

At least five companies have submitted bids to NASA to deliver supplies to the International Space Station through a second round of commercial resupply services competition, the Washington Post reported Monday. Christian Davenport writes NASA’s decision to partner with industry for ISS cargo resupply missions has drawn interest from bigger contractors and encouraged investor-backed startup […] More