Tag: NASA
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Atlas V Flight 110 Done: 6 Rockets Locked to Starliner
Are ULA’s Last Six Atlas V Rockets Stranded on Starliner? The Atlas V completed its 110th flight last Thursday — and the six rockets remaining in United Launch Alliance’s inventory can now only fly one customer: Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule. A hardware incompatibility with Vulcan’s payload fairing, the retirement of Atlas V’s five-booster configuration, and…
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NASA SBA Partnership Targets Space Supply Chain Gaps
Does NASA’s New SBA Partnership Fix the Space Supply Chain? NASA and the U.S. Small Business Administration signed a memorandum of agreement last week that directs at least 60% of participating investment fund capital toward seven NASA-identified technology focus areas — a structural fix aimed squarely at a fragile supplier base that industry groups say…
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Katalyst LINK Launches to Reboost NASA Swift Observatory
Is NASA’s Swift Observatory About to Be Saved by a $30M On-Orbit Servicing Mission? Katalyst Space’s LINK on-orbit servicing spacecraft lifted off at 4:26 a.m. EDT on July 4, 2026, aboard Northrop Grumman’s Pegasus XL rocket, targeting NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory with a mandate to push the aging gamma-ray telescope into a higher, stable…
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NASA Awards Commercial Satellite Data Contracts to Eight New Providers
NASA has awarded contracts to eight commercial satellite data providers under its Commercial Satellite Data Acquisition (CSDA) program, expanding the range of Earth observation data available to support scientific research and operational applications. The awards were issued under the CSDA On-Ramp 2 Multiple Award contract, a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) agreement with a cumulative ceiling value…
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NASA OIG: Starliner Helium Leaks Still Unresolved at March 2026
Is Boeing Starliner’s Human-Rating Certification Still Out of Reach? As of March 2026, Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft still has unresolved helium leaks and propulsion system failures — the same technical problems that grounded it after the two-astronaut Crew Flight Test (CFT) mission in 2024. A NASA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) audit released June 30,…
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NASA may send a backup, nuclear-powered Mars rover to the Moon
NASA officials said Tuesday that they are seriously considering sending the full-scale engineering model of the Perseverance rover, which is currently housed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, to the Moon to expedite their efforts to explore the south pole region. The car-sized rover nicknamed “Promise,” which serves as a testbed for Perseverance and…
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NASA considers sending a spare Mars rover to the moon to rev up preparations for lunar base
An engineering development version of the NASA rovers currently operating on Mars takes a spin at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. (NASA via YouTube) NASA is considering repurposing an engineering development version of the nuclear-powered Mars rovers for a different destination: the moon’s south polar region. The plan calls for turning the test rover,…
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Launch Preview: Swift rescue mission, final Atlas satellite launch
Several orbital launches are scheduled worldwide this week. A mission to rescue the Swift observatory spacecraft is planned along with the first full flight of a South Korean military launcher. This week could also see the final satellite launch by an Atlas family rocket. There is also an Electron launch from New Zealand. The Swift…
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NASA Advisory Panel Warns ISS Safety Margins Are Reaching ‘Alarming’ Levels
The safety margin for operating the International Space Station (ISS) is shrinking to an “alarming” level as aging hardware and limited replacement options continue to challenge long-term operations, NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel has warned. Astronomy Speaking during a panel meeting, chair Susan Helms said it is becoming increasingly difficult for NASA to maintain sufficient…
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Pegasus XL set to air launch Swift Boost Mission to save NASA space telescope
In its first mission since 2021, a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket is scheduled to be air-launched from the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar Stargazer. Riding aboard Pegasus XL is NASA’s Swift Boost Mission, a mission utilizing a robotic servicing spacecraft from Katalyst Space Technologies to raise, or “boost,” the orbital altitude of NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory.…