Beijing (XNA) Apr 16, 2021
China has completed an upgrade of the ground system for its first-generation relay satellite, Tianlian I, according to the Beijing Space Information Transmission Center on Friday. The system upgrade marks a major advance for China in the space-based tracking, telemetry and control (TT&C) sector, said the center. The four-year upgrade was successfully completed following maintenance d

Washington DC (UPI) Apr 16, 2021
NASA plans to launch its next mission to Mars in 2026 to pick up rock samples being collected over the next two years and collaborate on their return to Earth by 2031, officials said. The Mars rover Perseverance, which landed on the planet Feb. 18, will drill rock samples in an ancient river delta. Such a location, once flowing with water, is the best spot to look for signs of past life

Washington DC (UPI) Apr 16, 2021
Elon Musk's SpaceX has won a $2.9 billion contract to develop the company's Starship rocket as a lunar lander to carry astronauts on Artemis moon missions, NASA announced Friday. In selecting only SpaceX for the lunar program, NASA ended consideration of Musk's rival, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his Blue Origin space company, and a third proposal by Huntsville, Ala.-based Dynetics.

Tucson AZ (SPX) Apr 16, 2021
Like boot prints on the Moon, NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft left its mark on asteroid Bennu. Now, new images - taken during the spacecraft's final fly-over on April 7 - reveal the aftermath of its historic encounter with the asteroid. The spacecraft flew within 2.3 miles (3.7 km) of the asteroid - the closest it has been since the Touch-and-Go, or TAG, sample collection event on Oct. 20, 20

Kennedy Space Center FL (SPX) Apr 16, 2021
The Flight Readiness Review (FRR) for NASA's SpaceX Crew-2 mission to the International Space Station has concluded, and teams are proceeding toward a planned liftoff at 6:11 a.m. EDT Thursday, April 22, from Launch Complex 39A at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA will hold a media teleconference at approximately 7 p.m. EDT today, April 15, at Kennedy to discuss the outcome of t

Centennial CO (SPX) Apr 16, 2021
NASA's Launch Services Program (LSP) has added United Launch Alliance's next generation rocket, the Vulcan Centaur, to the NASA Launch Services II (NLS) indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract in accordance with the on-ramp provision of NLS II. "ULA is honored that NASA LSP has added our Vulcan Centaur rocket to the catalog of launch vehicles available to support future space expl

Washington DC (UPI) Apr 16, 2021
Four astronauts arrived in Florida on Friday for their mission to the International Space Station planned for next week - the third launch of people aboard a SpaceX rocket and capsule. The launch, planned for 6:11 a.m. EDT Thursday from Kennedy Space Center, will mark the first time a reused Dragon capsule and Falcon 9 rocket fly with people on board. "We're excited to fly on th

Washington DC (UPI) Apr 15, 2021
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency awarded three contracts this week to design a nuclear thermal propulsion system that will operate above low Earth orbit in 2025. General Atomics, Blue Origin, and Lockheed Martin are the prime contractors for the deal, according to a DARPA press release. The Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) program has the po

Almaty, Kazakhstan (AFP) April 17, 2021
Two Russian cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut touched down Saturday on the steppe of Kazakhstan following a half-year mission on the International Space Station, footage broadcast by the Russian space agency showed. Russia's Sergei Ryzhikov and Sergei Kud-Sverchkov as well as NASA's Kate Rubins landed on barren land at 0455 GMT around 150 kilometres (90 miles) southeast of the town of Zhezkazg