WASHINGTON (FAA PR) — The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) published the Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment for the SpaceX Starship/Super Heavy Launch Vehicle Program at the SpaceX Boca Chica Launch Site in Cameron County, Texas (Draft PEA) on September 17, 2021, for public review and comment. The FAA received over 19,000 comments on the Draft PEA and will post the comments on the project website by February 18th. The project website […]

LOS ANGELES, CA, February 14, 2022 (Jared Isaacman PR) – Today Jared Isaacman, founder and CEO of Shift4 (NYSE: FOUR), announced the Polaris Program, a first-of-its-kind effort to rapidly advance human spaceflight capabilities, while continuing to raise funds and awareness for important causes here on Earth. The program will consist of up to three human spaceflight missions that will demonstrate new technologies, conduct extensive research, and ultimately culminate in the first flight of SpaceX’s Starship with humans on board.

SRIHARIKOTA, India (ISRO PR) — India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C52 injected Earth Observation Satellite EOS-04, into an intended sun synchronous polar orbit of 529 km altitude at 06:17 hours IST on February 14, 2022 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, SHAR, Sriharikota.

Aerojet Rocketdyne Positioned to Continue Driving Growth, Profitability and Value Creation EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Feb. 13, 2022 (Aerojet Rocketdyne PR) — Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: AJRD) (the “Company”) today reaffirmed its strong foundation for substantial value creation following the termination of its merger agreement with Lockheed Martin Corporation. The Company issued the following statement: We are poised to deliver substantial value to our shareholders driven by our continued leadership […]

BETHESDA, Md., Feb. 13, 2022 (Lockheed Martin PR) — Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT) today announced it has terminated its agreement to acquire Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: AJRD). The decision to terminate the agreement follows the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) lawsuit filed late last month seeking a preliminary injunction to block the acquisition.

“Our planned acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne would have benefitted the entire industry through greater efficiency, speed, and significant cost reductions for the U.S. government,” said Lockheed Martin Chairman, President and CEO James Taiclet. “However, we determined that in light of the FTC’s actions, terminating the transaction is in the best interest of our stakeholders. We stand by our long heritage as a merchant supplier and trusted partner and will continue to support Aerojet Rocketdyne and other essential suppliers in the Defense Industrial Base still overcoming the challenges of the pandemic.

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

The U.S. had denied claims that a pair of SpaceX Starlink satellites came close to hitting the Chinese space station last year.

“Because the activities did not meet the threshold of established emergency collision criteria, emergency notifications were not warranted in either case,” the U.S. said is a note verbale sent to the United Nations. “If there had been a significant probability of collision involving the China Space Station, the United States would have provided a close approach notification directly to the designated Chinese point of contact.

GREENBELT, Md. (NASA PR) — The James Webb Space Telescope is nearing completion of the first phase of the months-long process of aligning the observatory’s primary mirror using the Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) instrument.

PARIS (ESA PR) — It’s the first mission of its kind, set to monitor our active and unpredictable Sun and help protect us from its violent outbursts – and it has a new name.

Once known as “Lagrange,” ESA’s upcoming space weather mission needed a new name that would reflect its vital role: helping to protect Earth’s infrastructure, satellites, inhabitants and space explorers from unpredictable but violent solar events like solar flares and ‘coronal mass ejections’.

PARIS (ESA PR) — Sea-level rise is arguably one of the most serious consequences of the climate crisis. While using satellite data to monitor how the height of the sea is changing provides critical evidence for decision-making, satellites are also essential to measuring the individual components, such as seawater temperature and glacier melt, that contribute to the overall rise. Confidence in the accuracy of these separate measures is key. ESA-funded research now confirms that the figures match up.

Two companies have protested the U.S. Space Force’s award of a $678 million contract for space services. Washington Technology reports: Space Force decided to move away from the incumbent on a $678 million contract for remote sensing support when it picked newcomer Booz Allen Hamilton for the work. Now Space Force must give more explanation on why it did so after two protests were filed by Science Applications International Corp. and […]

VIENNA, Va. (Spire Global PR)– Spire Global, Inc. (NYSE: SPIR) (“Spire” or “the Company”), a leading global provider of space-based data, analytics, and space services, today announced that it has been awarded as part of Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Delivery Order 4 of the contract issued by the National Oceanographic and Oceanic Administration (NOAA), for commercially available space-based radio occultation (RO) data for use in operational weather forecasts. The award, valued at over $8 million, represents the single largest U.S. government purchase of commercial, operational RO data.

The award is the next milestone in NOAA’s goal to expand the purchase of commercial RO data. It is an increase in the number of RO profiles that Spire provides NOAA from 3,000 to 5,500, serving as a testament to Spire’s proven ability to reliably deliver valuable, operational RO data, profiling atmospheric temperatures and related quantities for weather models helping NOAA and as a result American citizens prepare for extreme weather events.

Veteran in Large Scale Constellation Design and Development of Space Systems Joins Leader in Optical Wireless Communications to Spearhead Satellite Optical Communications Product Development

DENVER, February 10, 2022 (BridgeComm PR) — BridgeComm, Inc., a leader in optical wireless communications (OWC) solutions and services, today announced that Rich Tortorelli will join the company as a chief systems engineer. Having developed, managed and executed 160 plus satellites with space-based constellations, Tortorelli brings thirty years of invaluable experience to BridgeComm to enhance its OWS space produce development efforts.