Sydney, Australia (SPX) May 14, 2025
China has successfully completed full-scale testing of a 140-tonne liquid oxygen-methane rocket engine, a critical component for the nation's reusable carrier rockets, according to its developer, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation's Academy of Aerospace Propulsion Technology. The engine, boasting the highest thrust among China's current open-cycle liquid oxygen-methane models

Pasadena CA (JPL) May 15, 2025
The mission team wanted to fix the thrusters, deemed unusable decades ago, before the radio antenna that sends commands to the probe went offline for upgrades. Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California have revived a set of thrusters aboard the Voyager 1 spacecraft that had been considered inoperable since 2004. Fixing the thrusters required creativity and risk,

Sydney (AFP) May 15, 2025
An Australian aerospace firm said Thursday it has delayed a historic first attempt to launch a locally developed rocket into orbit, with a jar of Vegemite as its payload. Gilmour Space Technologies said a ground system glitch forced it to postpone the first test launch of its three-stage Eris rocket by a day until Friday. "The issue was with an external power system we use during system

Astana, Kazakhstan (AFP) May 15, 2025
Kazakhstan said Thursday there were no talks on Russia giving up its lease on the Baikonur spaceport before it runs out in 2050, amid reports Moscow is looking to ditch the ageing cosmodrome. The spaceport is used by Russia to send astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). But Moscow has signalled it aims to pull out of the ISS - one of the rare projects where Russian coopera

Image: On 3 May, the fully assembled Orion spacecraft for Artemis II began its journey to the Multi-Payload Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The spacecraft is shown in transport, with its protective fairing panels clearly visible and proudly bearing the ESA and NASA logos.

Los Angeles CA (SPX) May 12, 2025
The United States Space Force's (USSF) Space Systems Command (SSC) has awarded contracts to CACI, General Atomics, and Viasat as part of Phase 2 of the $100 million Enterprise Space Terminal (EST) program. This phase aims to advance the development of space laser communication terminal prototypes, promoting long-range, resilient space communications. The contracts were issued through the Space E

Los Angeles CA (SPX) May 14, 2025
Orbit Fab, known as the Gas Stations in Space company, has appointed Major General Jody A. Merritt, USAF, and Major General Roger W. Teague, USAF (Ret.), to its Advisory Board. These seasoned military leaders join Dr. Claire Leon, a former Director of the SSC Space Systems Integration Office, reinforcing Orbit Fab's expertise in space operations and government acquisition. Maj Gen Jody A.

Tokyo, Japan (SPX) May 14, 2025
Small satellites, typically weighing between 10 and 100 kilograms, are playing a crucial role in advancing global connectivity through satellite constellations. However, these compact satellites often face limitations in managing communication beams, which are essential for transmitting and receiving signals across vast distances. Communication beams are electromagnetic waves that can exhi

London, UK (SPX) May 14, 2025
A cutting-edge facility in Glasgow aims to address the risks associated with in-space 3D printing, a technology poised to transform how objects are manufactured in orbit. Researchers at the University of Glasgow's James Watt School of Engineering have developed the NextSpace Testrig, the first dedicated facility designed to assess the structural integrity of materials 3D printed in space.

Los Angeles CA (SPX) May 14, 2025
An international team led by Princeton University researchers has conducted the most precise simulations of magnetized turbulence in the Galaxy to date, revealing surprising discrepancies with long-established theoretical models. These large-scale computations, leveraging the power of over 140,000 parallel processors at the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre, have captured the complex behavior of tur