Amazon and its cloud computing business have joined a team led by Sierra Space and Blue Origin to help build a commercial space station to support space research and exploration activities in low-Earth orbit. Amazon Web Services will support the Orbital Reef station development project by providing cloud services and tools for space station design […] More

Sierra Space is using Siemens’ portfolio of software and services, Xcelerator, to establish a digital engineering environment to support the development of the Dream Chaser spaceplane and Large Integrated Flexible Environment commercial habitation and science habitat. Sierra Space CEO Tom Vice said in a statement published Wednesday Siemens’ digital engineering tools will enable the company […] More

In line with the White House’s Space Priorities Framework, published in December 2021, federal agencies are looking to the private sector for assistance in maintaining a robust, responsible U.S. space enterprise while global competition, innovation and technology development in the domain continues to accelerate. The framework outlines how the U.S. plans to retain its competitive edge […] More

NASA will invest $5.5 million in nine projects that will test space technologies with suborbital rocket-powered systems, high-altitude balloons and parabolic aircraft. The space agency said Friday its 2021 TechFlights solicitation will fund technology demonstrations in space-like scenarios without having to launch them into orbit. NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate selected the technologies through the […] More

Chris Thompson, former chief engineer of advanced projects at Astra, was named chief technology officer of Phantom Space, where he will lead the development of launch vehicles and satellites and oversee related efforts. The Tucson, Arizona-based space transportation technology development and manufacturing company said Thursday Thompson brings to his new role decades-long experience in the […] More

Tory Bruno, CEO of United Launch Alliance and a previous Wash100 Award winner, said Blue Origin’s BE-4 engines that will power ULA’s Vulcan Centaur rocket continue to perform well in tests and that he expects the flight engines to be delivered before the end of 2021, SpaceNews reported Thursday. He told the publication the reason […] More

NASA has allocated $45 million to fund upcoming contracts that will provide for activities to help reduce the risks of its future human lander system, which astronauts will ride in regular trips to the Moon’s surface as part of the Artemis program. The space agency said Thursday it seeks commercial partners and will award risk […] More

Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory has completed a recent flight test of a sensor aboard the Virgin Galactic-made VSS Unity spacecraft and demonstrated its ability to assess the inside conditions of a suborbital space vehicle and its payload. The JHU APL Integrated Universal Suborbital platform was able to specify VSS Unity’s electromagnetic field environment […] More

NASA has selected a Luna Innovations-built semiconductor laser for use in its Navigation Doppler LiDAR system. “To precisely measure the vehicle speed, direction, and distance, our NDL system uses both Doppler shift and laser beam travel time, which requires a highly stable single-frequency laser source,” said Farzin Amzajerdian, NDL principal investigator from NASA Langley Research Center. “The RIO laser from Luna Innovations has met NASA’s requirements for high reliability, low noise, and ultra-narrow linewidth.”

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Aerojet Rocketdyne has wrapped up the construction of an oxygen-rich staged combustion kerosene engine funded by the U.S. Air Force, and is now looking to test its first rocket motor, SpaceNews reported Tuesday.

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An industry team led by Leidos’ Dynetics business has submitted its proposal for a human landing system that will support NASA’s Artemis mission to the moon slated for 2024.

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Tory Bruno, president and CEO of United Launch Alliance and a previous Wash100 awardee, said ULA’s Vulcan Centaur rocket will be on the launch pad for its maiden flight by the end of 2021, SpaceNews reported Thursday.

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