Robert Lightfoot, vice president of strategy and business development at Lockheed Martin's space segment, has been appointed chairman of the Alabama Space Grant Consortium's Industrial Advisory Board, according to the University of Alabama at Huntsville. Lightfoot joined Lockheed in early May and oversees strategic planning efforts across space technology programs.

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ACS has completed the modernization of a test facility for Sierra Nevada Corp.'s Vortex rocket engine in North Freedom, Wis.

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Some industry officials say NASA should have a contract in place within the following twelve months for the design of a “utilization” or “mini-hab” module of its proposed Gateway lunar space station in order to achieve its aim of landing astronauts on the surface of the moon by 2024, SpaceNews reported Monday.

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NASA has announced that a reusable, multi-mission orbital vehicle by Sierra Nevada Corp. is now ready for full-scale manufacturing and testing after passing an integration review validating its design performance. The company said Tuesday it has already started integrating critical parts of the Dream Chaser spacecraft, including major structural components, thermal protection system tiles and […] More

Aerojet Rocketdyne and Sierra Nevada Corp. have concluded a four-month study that focused on modifying advanced solar electric propulsion vehicle concepts for future human exploration missions and deep space habitation. Sacramento, Calif.-based Aerojet said Wednesday it supplemented Sierra Nevada’s Lunar Gateway concept with an SEP module for the Power and Propulsion Element study under NASA’s Next […] More

S. Sita Sonty, a more than 15-year foreign service veteran and previously a senior adviser for legislative affairs and administration at the State Department, has been named vice president of international business at Sierra Nevada Corp. She will work at SNC’s Washington, D.C office and manage a product portfolio designed for the aerospace, defense and […] More

An Orbital ATK spacecraft took off Monday aboard the company’s Antares rocket to deliver approximately 7,400 pounds of experiments and crew supplies to the International Space Station. The launch of the Orbital ATK-built Cygnus spacecraft designated S.S. J.R. Thompson from NASA‘s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia serves as the company’s ninth cargo delivery mission to the orbiting laboratory under the […] More

Six companies aim to build ground prototypes of deep space habitat concepts through NASA‘s Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships-2 program. NASA said Friday prototypes from Bigelow Aerospace, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Orbital ATK, Sierra Nevada Corp. and NanoRacks will help the agency assess configurations of proposed habitats and support tests that will validate standards and common interfaces currently under consideration. All […] More

Matt Simon, habitation lead for NASA’s Evolvable Mars Campaign, has said the agency  wants a similar structure for future deep space modules that will serve as transit and surface habitats for Mars and moon explorations, Ars Technica reported Wednesday. Eric Berger writes Simon told the publication deep space habitats from the Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnership […] More

The Orbital ATK-built Cygnus spacecraft has arrived at the International Space Station to deliver approximately 5,300 pounds of crew supplies, scientific experiments and laboratory equipment. The S.S. Alan Poindexter space vehicle reached ISS Sunday and completed berthing procedures seven days after it launched from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia to mark Orbital ATK’s sixth cargo delivery mission […] More

An Orbital ATK-built spacecraft lifted off Monday onboard the company’s updated Antares 230 rocket to deliver more than 5,100 pounds of scientific instruments and crew supplies to the International Space Station. NASA said Monday the Cygnus spacecraft’s launch from Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia marks Orbital ATK’s sixth cargo delivery mission to the ISS under the Commercial Resupply Services contract and […] More

A partnership between Sierra Nevada Corp. and the United Nations’ Office for Outer Space Affairs aims to launch microgravity payloads from UN member states aboard the company-built Dream Chaser spacecraft by 2021. The U.N. said Tuesday the collaborative effort aims to give developing nations an opportunity to build and deploy payloads into orbit and that all member nations will have the chance to propose payloads […] More