The House Science, Space and Technology Committee has approved two bills aimed at supporting the rocket propulsion and space support industries. One bill, proposed by Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), would designate NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama as the agency’s lead center for rocket propulsion, including the development of new technology. Such a designation […]
More than 60 House members have signed a letter to Senate leaders urging them to schedule a vote on the nomination of Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-Okla.) to be NASA administrator. The letter, led by Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas), chairman of the House Science Committee’s space panel, says that confirmation of a new NASA head is […]
The Department of Defense is trying to speed up the fielding of new space capabilities, but it is too early to say whether that effort will bear fruit, the head of U.S. Strategic Command said March 20. DoD and the Air Force have both assembled teams of leaders who believe in moving more quickly in […]
The Department of Defense, which opposed a congressional proposal last year to create a space corps within the Air Force Department, is taking another look at the idea, according to a DoD official. The examination is part of a broader, congressionally mandated review of options that Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan is leading to ensure […]
SpaceX and United Launch Alliance (ULA) will launch up to five spacecraft for the U.S. Air Force under contract awards announced late March 14. SpaceX received a contract valued at up to $290.6 million to launch up to three Global Positioning System (GPS) III satellites, the Pentagon said. ULA’s $354.8 million contract calls for placing Air Force […]
Robert Lightfoot, NASA’s acting administrator for the past 14 months, announced March 12 that he will retire April 30. “I will work with the White House on a smooth transition to the new administrator,” Lightfoot wrote in a note to NASA employees. It is unclear who the new administrator will be. President Donald Trump has […]
Orbital ATK [OA] announced March 13 that it is developing a robotic spacecraft that will carry up to 12 pods to refuel satellites on orbit. The Mission Robotic Vehicle (MRV) will approach a satellite that is healthy but low on fuel. It will then deploy a Mission Extension Pod (MEP), which will attach to the satellite […]
The Big Falcon Rocket (BFR), which SpaceX is developing to colonize Mars, is on a path to begin flight tests in the first half of 2019, according to company founder Elon Musk. Initial tests will probably be short up-and-down flights, Musk said March 11 at the South by Southwest Conference in Austin, Texas. Musk acknowledged that […]
Air Force officials are looking to shift to a warfighting operational mindset in the space domain with the opening of a new coalition center to test capabilities and aggressively pursue simulation opportunities for mission training. Leadership for Air Force Space Command want to move away from viewing space solely as a support unit to better […]
The Pentagon is close to picking an outside firm to write a roadmap for the possible creation of a military space department, a key lawmaker said Feb. 28. The fiscal year 2018 defense authorization act, which Congress passed late last year, calls for the deputy defense secretary to hire a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) to craft the […]
