Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin announced that Russia is ending NASA’s participation in the long-delayed Venera D mission, which involves launching an orbiter and lander to Venus in 2029. Roscosmos tweeted: (Translated from Russian) ⚡ “In the context of the introduction of new and the preservation of previously imposed sanctions, I consider the continued participation of the United States in the Russian project for the development and creation of an interplanetary […]

South Korea has postponed the second flight of its Nuri (KSLV-II) booster by a month to mid-June to allow engineers to correct flaws that caused the rocket to fail on its maiden flight in October. Nuri’s second flight is schedule for June 15, with the launch window extending until June 23, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) said in a press release. The original launch date was May 19. Nuri […]

Russia is suspending cooperation with Arianespace on the launch of Soyuz rockets from Europe’s Guiana Space Center and pulling its personnel from the South American spaceport over European Union (EU) sanctions imposed on the nation for the nation’s invasion of Ukraine. Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin tweeted: (Translated from Russian)

In response to EU sanctions against our enterprises, Roscosmos is suspending cooperation with European partners in organizing space launches from the Kourou cosmodrome and withdrawing its technical personnel, including the consolidated launch crew, from French Guiana.

VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE, Calif. (SpaceX PR) — On Friday, February 25 at 9:12 a.m. PST, SpaceX launched 50 Starlink satellites from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. This was the fourth flight for the Falcon 9 first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously supported Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, DART and one Starlink mission.

WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — An astronaut steps into a body scanner and, hours later, walks on Mars in a custom-made spacesuit, breathing oxygen that was extracted from Mars’ carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere. On Venus, an inflatable bird-like drone swoops through the sky, studying the planet’s atmosphere and weather patterns. Ideas like these are currently science fiction, but they could one day become reality, thanks to a new round of grants awarded by NASA.

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

MOJAVE, Calif. — Stratolaunch’s Roc — the world’s largest airplane by wing span at 385 ft (117.3 m) — flew for the fourth time on Thursday. In a sign of just how complicated the massive air-launch platform is to fly, one of the main objectives of this flight test was to retract and lower the plane’s landing gear at altitude for the first time ever.

Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin welcomed a statement that it is ‘business as usual’ on the International Space Station (ISS) a day after he threatened to send the 500 metric ton facility crashing into the atmosphere over the United States.

WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — NASA has awarded nearly $1.2 million to seven university teams through the 2022 Breakthrough, Innovative and Game-changing (BIG) Idea Challenge to design, develop, and demonstrate innovative and cost-effective robotic systems that go beyond traditional wheeled rovers and move in different ways – including rovers that hop, slither, and roll.

As NASA expands its space exploration to more extreme terrain on the Moon, solutions to moving in harsh environments are integral. The BIG Idea Challenge spurs development of innovative technologies to meet the agency’s Artemis program goals to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before and use what we learn on the Moon to send humans to Mars.

The ability to move in different ways, or adaptive locomotive modality, is vital to enabling extreme terrain exploration. The capability to explore areas that are currently inaccessible will open new opportunities for science and in-situ resource utilization operations. The selected teams will develop integrated robotic solutions, with prototypes incorporating a minimal level of sensing, autonomy, and other necessary elements needed for a relevant test.

Definitive Agreement on Acquisition by U.S.-based Investment Firm will Fuel Firefly’s Continued Journey as a Leader in End-to-End Space Transportation

BOCA RATON, Fla., Feb. 24, 2022 (AEI PR) — AE Industrial Partners, LP (“AEI”), a U.S-based private equity firm specializing in aerospace, defense & government services, space, power and utility services, and specialty industrial markets, announced today that it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire a significant stake in Firefly Aerospace (“Firefly” or “the Company”), an emerging leader in economical launch vehicles, spacecraft, and in-space services, from Noosphere Venture Partners LP (“Noosphere”). Transaction closing is subject to the satisfaction of regulatory approvals, including Hart-Scott-Rodino (“HSR”) clearance. Other terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

NASA has issued a statement in response to Dmitry Rogozin’s Twitter rant in which the head of Russia’s space program threatened to drop the International Space Station on the U.S., Europe, China or India. NASA continues working with all our international partners, including the State Space Corporation Roscosmos, for the ongoing safe operations of the International Space Station. The new export control measures will continue to allow U.S.-Russia civil space […]

Roscosmos General Director Dmitry Rogozin went on rant on Twitter, raging against what he called “Alzheimer’s sanctions” imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, and threatening to the International Space Station on a uncontrolled re-entry over four countries. His tweets were in Russian, which were translated into English by Twitter. The translation might not be exact, but the message seems pretty clear. ALZHEIMER’S SANCTIONS Biden said the new sanctions […]

HOUSTON (NASA PR) — NASA experts will join a virtual news conference hosted by Axiom Space to preview the launch of Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1), the first private astronaut mission to the International Space Station. The briefing will take place at 11 a.m. EST Monday, Feb. 28.

The virtual press conference will be available on Axiom Space’s YouTube channel at:

https://www.youtube.com/axiomspace