Tag: NASA
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NASA EAGLE and FALCON Missions Target Commercial Earth Science
How Will NASA’s New Earth Science Missions Use Commercial Partners? NASA announced two Earth science mission concepts—EAGLE and FALCON—that will rely on commercial satellite platforms and Artemis Program exploration infrastructure to advance climate research while reducing development costs. The missions, unveiled during NASA’s March 24 “Ignition” event, represent a strategic shift toward leveraging existing commercial…
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All Points Logistics Secures KSC Payload Processing Deal
What does All Points Logistics’ new KSC agreement mean for commercial payload processing? All Points Logistics has secured a NASA agreement to construct commercial satellite processing facilities at Kennedy Space Center, marking another expansion of private infrastructure at the historic launch site. The deal positions All Points to capture growing demand from commercial satellite operators…
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Expedition 74 sees vehicle departures and a spacewalk during March
March was another busy month onboard the International Space Station, with the Expedition 74 crew overseeing three vehicle departures and one arrival. The crew also conducted the first spacewalk of the year, U.S. Spacewalk 94, and talked with the Artemis II crew on April 7 during their return trip from the Moon. Departures, arrivals, and…
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NASA chose the right crew to launch a new era of human space exploration
HOUSTON—Their mission is complete. The four people who flew beyond the Moon on NASA’s Artemis II mission are back home in Houston with their families. But the lessons from Artemis II are just beginning to be told. There are tangible, objective takeaways from the nine-day mission. How did NASA’s Space Launch System rocket perform? Nearly…
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NASA Awards Voyager Technologies Seventh Private ISS Mission
How does NASA’s seventh private ISS mission contract signal the agency’s commercial strategy? NASA has awarded Voyager Technologies the contract for the seventh private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, marking the company’s first selection for ISS operations and targeting a launch no earlier than 2028 from Florida. The mission represents NASA’s continued push…
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NASA Seeks Commercial Providers to Replace $5B TDRSS Network
Will NASA’s $5 billion TDRSS network finally go commercial? NASA issued a draft solicitation April 10 for Project NEXUS, marking the agency’s most serious attempt to transition from its aging Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) to commercial communications services. The initiative, valued at potentially billions over the coming decade, requires backward compatibility with…
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Senate Chair Blocks NASA Budget Cuts, Pledges 2026 Funding Levels
Will Senate appropriators maintain NASA’s 2026 budget levels? The chairman of the Senate Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) Appropriations Subcommittee has rejected proposed cuts to NASA’s budget and committed to funding the agency at 2026 levels, providing crucial protection for the Artemis Program and other critical space initiatives during a period of fiscal…
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NASA Rolls Out Artemis III Core Stage April 20
When will NASA roll out the Artemis III core stage? NASA will roll the core stage for Artemis III from its Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans on Monday, April 20, marking a critical milestone for the mission that will return astronauts to the lunar surface. The core stage represents the top four-fifths of the…
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The Artemis II mission has ended. Where does NASA go from here?
The Artemis era well and truly began Friday evening when a shiny spacecraft that had traveled 700,000 miles around the Moon, carrying four astronauts, splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. For NASA, for its international partners, and for all of humanity the successful conclusion of the Artemis II mission marked…
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Artemis 2 Crew Returns to Earth After Historic Lunar Flyby
What does Artemis 2’s successful return mean for NASA’s lunar program? The Artemis 2 crew capsule successfully completed its atmospheric reentry and Pacific Ocean splashdown off the California coast on April 10, marking the first crewed lunar mission in over five decades. The four-person crew—Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialists Christina Hammock Koch,…