EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (Millennium Space Systems PR) — Millennium Space Systems, a Boeing (NYSE: BA) company, successfully demonstrated the ability of deployable tether technology to significantly reduce the time a satellite remains on orbit after service life completion.

“Thousands of satellites will launch over the next decade, creating serious congestion in low Earth orbit,” said Patrick Kelly, Ph.D., Dragracer program manager at Millennium Space Systems. “What we’ve proven is a way to safely and deliberately deorbit retired satellites.”

Space Foundation Releases 36th Annual Space Symposium Special Edition Revealing Commercial Space Revenue Grew 6.6% in 2020, Exceeding $356B

• Infrastructure and support industries grew the most, by 16.4%, surpassing $137B
• Products and services grew 1.2%, accounting for over 60% of commercial space
• More than 1,100 SmallSats launched in 2020, 92% of all spacecraft deployed

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., Aug. 24, 2021 (Space Foundation PR) — Space Foundation, a nonprofit advocate organization founded in 1983, today released “The Space Report 2021 36th Annual Space Symposium Special Edition,” which explores commercial space revenues, the global space workforce, the market for small launch vehicle developers, sustainability for lunar exploration, the SmallSat economy, the potential of nuclear power and propulsion, and the future of international lunar space policy.

“The Space Report 2021 36th Annual Space Symposium Special Edition” found that the global space economy, which reached $447B in 2020, was 176% greater than in Space Foundation’s first economic analysis in 2005. Nearly 80% of this total in 2020 was commercial revenues.

The ESCAPADE mission – led by the University of California Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory to study Mars’ magnetosphere – with two Rocket Lab Photon spacecraft has received NASA approval to move toward launch.

LONG BEACH, Calif., 23 August, 2021 (Rocket Lab PR) — Rocket Lab, a global leader in dedicated launch and space systems, today announced it will begin final mission design and commence manufacturing two interplanetary Photon spacecraft for a science mission to Mars, delivering Decadal-class science at a fraction of the cost of typical planetary missions.

 The Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (ESCAPADE) mission will orbit two Rocket Lab-built Photon spacecraft around Mars to understand the structure, composition, variability, and dynamics of Mars’ unique hybrid magnetosphere. The mission will also support crewed exploration programs like Artemis through improved solar storm prediction.

• Virgin Orbit has entered into a definitive agreement to become publicly traded on Nasdaq through a business combination with NextGen Acquisition Corp. II (NASDAQ: NGCA) that values Virgin Orbit at $3.2 billion
• Virgin Orbit’s highly differentiated air launch technology enables satellite launches at any time, from any place, and to any orbit
• Virgin Orbit has rapidly moved into successful commercial operations with three launches in just thirteen months and a 100% success rate on revenue-generating missions
• Business Combination is being accompanied by a $100 million fully committed PIPE led by strategic and institutional investors including Boeing and AE Industrial Partners, in addition to existing Virgin Orbit investors and NextGen
• Business combination and PIPE transaction will provide up to $483 million in growth capital (assuming no redemptions) to further scale rocket manufacturing to meet customer demand, and to fund growth in its space solutions business and Virgin Orbit’s ongoing product development initiatives
• Combined company’s common stock expected to trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol “VORB” upon closing; business combination expected to be completed around the end of the year

LONG BEACH, Calif., August 23, 2021 (Virgin Orbit PR) — Virgin Orbit, the responsive launch and space solutions company, through its parent company Vieco USA, Inc. (“Virgin Orbit” or the “Company”) and NextGen Acquisition Corp. II (“NextGen”) (NASDAQ: NGCA), a special purpose acquisition company, announced today that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement (the “Merger Agreement”) under which Virgin Orbit will become a publicly-traded company.

• Controversial decision announced one week before Trump left office
• Colorado’s leaders says comments confirm that political factors, not merit, led to decision
• Two separate government investigations continue into move

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

Former president Donald Trump claimed on Friday to have “single-handedly” moved the U.S. Space Command from Colorado to Alabama, adding fuel to the political firestorm that erupted over the controversial decision earlier this year.

“Space Force — I sent to Alabama,” Trump said. “I hope you know that. (They) said they were looking for a home and I single-handedly said, ‘Let’s go to Alabama.’ They wanted it. I said, ‘Let’s go to Alabama. I love Alabama,” Trump told the Alabama-based Rick & Bubba radio program.

HERNDON, Va. (BlackSky PR) – BlackSky Holdings, Inc. (“BlackSky”), a leading technology platform providing real-time geospatial intelligence and global monitoring, today announced that it has been awarded a contract modification from the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) to provide on-demand satellite imagery through a monthly subscription. The requirements and funding for this effort will be transferred to NRO’s Electro-Optical Commercial Layer program.

BlackSky’s high-resolution satellite constellation will generate imagery for defense and intelligence communities to support homeland defense, national security, disaster and emergency response missions. BlackSky’s real-time imagery offers timely and relevant information on pattern-of-life anomalies that meet critical mission requirements and enable warfighters to make informed decisions.

Firefly Aerospace has completed a successful static fire of its Alpha booster at the Vandenberg Space Force Station. The company also announced that it is planning the inaugural launch of the new rocket on Sept. 2 from the California military base. The rideshare mission will carry a number of payloads, which are show below. Payload Purpose Company/ Organization Nation  DREAM CubeSat deployer Firefly USA BSS1 (DFAST Demonstrator) Technology demonstration Benchmark Space […]

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. (NASA PR) — Social media users are invited to register to take part in another global virtual NASA Social for the next SpaceX delivery of NASA science investigations, supplies, and equipment to the International Space Station. SpaceX’s 23rd Commercial Resupply Services mission is targeted to launch at 3:37 a.m. EDT on Saturday, Aug. 28, 2021, on a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. (NASA PR) — Teams from Boeing and United Launch Alliance (ULA) safely returned the CST-100 Starliner to its production facility in Florida on Aug. 19 for continued work on the spacecraft’s service module propulsion system. The Starliner Orbital Flight Test-2 spacecraft was removed from its Atlas V rocket inside the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida and […]

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (NASA PR) — The farther humans go into deep space, the more important it will be to generate products with local materials. Reducing Earth delivery requirements reduces overall mission cost and launch weight.  It also allows for the construction of infrastructure using space-based resources, a practice called in-situ resource utilization (ISRU). NASA is making long term investments to advance ISRU technology across multiple areas, including regolith-based in-space manufacturing and construction.

• OneWeb confirms successful launch and contact with all 34 satellites, bringing total in-orbit constellation to 288 satellites
• Remains on track to commence service this year and deliver global service in 2022
• OneWeb continues to gather momentum, recently announcing a series of global distribution partnerships with business fully funded

LONDON, 22 August 2021 (OneWeb PR) — OneWeb, the low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite communications company, today confirmed the next successful launch of 34 satellites by Arianespace from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. 

MOSCOW (Roscosmos PR) — The launch of the Luna-25 automatic interplanetary station from the Vostochny Cosmodrome has been reconfirmed and is scheduled for the second possible launch window (the period when the spacecraft launched from the Earth, taking into account its design features and power-to-weight ratio, will optimally reach its destination along a given trajectory) in May 2022.