July 12th, 2018
Author: 
The Japanese space probe Hayabusa2 is in “home position” at 12 miles (20 kilometers) away from asteroid Ryugu. Hayabusa2 has been confirming instrument operations in preparation for future observations. New images have shown the results of part of this rehearsal observation, notes the Japan Aerospace and Exploration Agency (JAXA). As the asteroid has rotated, […]
Posted in 
Now in Sol 2108, NASA’s Curiosity rover is headed for another drill session on the Red Planet. “After being out of commission for over a year, Curiosity’s drill is making not just a comeback, but a strong one, with imminent plans for a second drill hole within the span of 60 sols,” reports Roger […]
Thanks to the first commercial tweet from space, New Mexcio-based Solstar is taking a next step in building infrastructure for the Internet of Things (IOT) in space. On April 29th, Solstar demonstrated the first commercial internet and Wi-Fi service in space, funded entirely by private investment. The Solstar payload flew on Blue Origin’s eighth test […]
The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued today an assessment of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. NASA has contracted with two companies — Boeing and SpaceX — to develop vehicles to transport astronauts to the International Space Station. Neither is expected to be ready until 2019. Before any missions happen, the GAO reports, NASA will […]
Rocket Lab has confirmed plans to expand its launch capability by developing a U.S. launch site – Launch Complex 2. Four U.S. space ports are under review to launch the group’s Electron rocket. — Cape Canaveral — Wallops Flight Facility — Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska — Vandenberg Air Force Base A decision on the […]
The nonprofit SpaceIL and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) announced today that a robotic lunar landing mission is slated to launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida this December. If all goes as planned, the craft would attempt a touchdown on the Moon on February 13, 2019. A final launch date will be announced closer to the event, […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has just begun Sol 2107 science duties. The robot is heading back to the “Great Red Spot,” reports Roger Wiens, a geochemist at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. “Unhampered by the storm, Curiosity is heading back toward a site visited on Sol 2005 for what we hope will […]
The European Space Agency (ESA) has issued an annual report on the status of the space environment. The report focuses on the time evolution of cataloged and asserted objects in terms of number, mass, and area as well as addressing the global adherence to space debris mitigation measures. Summary statements A number of summary statements […]
China’s state-run Xinhua news agency reports that the country is accelerating its timetable for a space station. Citing Yang Liwei, director of the China Manned Space Engineering Office and the country’s first astronaut, the station’s core section is expected to be launched in 2020. Two experiment modules of the space station will be sent into […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is performing Sol 2104 duties. Scott Guzewich, an atmospheric scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland reports that a primary goal for recent planning was for the robot to approach its next drill location on the Vera Rubin Ridge. To do so, Curiosity is paralleling the north […]
