by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Redwire reported a first quarter net loss of $17.3 million on revenues of $32.9 million. The adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) loss was $4.7 million for the quarter.

“Delays in contract awards, macroeconomic challenges, including inflation and supply chain delays in contractor start dates had a negative impact on performance,” the company said in a statement.

United Launch Alliance Mission Information

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket will launch Boeing’s Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100 Starliner spacecraft on its Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) to the International Space Station. OFT-2 is the second uncrewed flight of the Starliner that will demonstrate the spacecraft’s human transportation capabilities. This test flight is the last major step before the Atlas V and Boeing’s Starliner capsule take American astronauts to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

Launch Date and Time: Thursday, May 19, 2022 at 6:54 p.m. EDT (2254 UTC)
Webcast: Begins May 19 at 6 p.m. EDT (2200 UTC)

CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION, Fla. (NASA PR) — Social media users are invited to register to take part in a global virtual NASA Social for the agency’s Boeing Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) to the International Space Station. This is the second uncrewed flight test of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

NASA Mission Update

NASA will provide coverage of the upcoming prelaunch, launch, and docking activities for the agency’s Boeing Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) to the International Space Station. Scheduled to launch at 6:54 p.m. EDT on Thursday, May 19, OFT-2 is the second uncrewed flight for Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

The Starliner spacecraft will launch on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. About 31 minutes after launch, the Starliner will reach its preliminary orbit. It is scheduled to dock to the space station at 7:10 p.m. on Friday, May 20. Prelaunch activities, launch, and docking will air live on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.

– 30,000 square-foot facility (2,787 square meters) is housed in world’s largest satellite factory where Boeing builds advanced space and communications systems for commercial and government customers
– Powered by Boeing subsidiary Millennium Space Systems, virtually every aspect of satellite manufacturing will be accomplished in the new production facility

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., March 30, 2022 (Boeing PR) — Boeing (NYSE: BA) unveiled a new high-throughput small satellite production, integration and test facility designed for efficiency and rapid delivery timelines. Housed in the world’s largest satellite factory, Boeing’s 1-million-square-foot El Segundo facility (92,903 square meters), the small satellite production line will be powered by Boeing subsidiary, Millennium Space Systems. 

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

The first three passenger flights of Blue Origin’s New Shepard have been long on symbolism. On the first one, Jeff Bezos invited Wally Funk, who in 1960 was one of 13 women who underwent the same medical checks as the Original Seven Mercury astronauts. NASA wasn’t accepting female pilots at the time, so Funk had to wait 51 years to reach space.

New Shepard’s second flight included starship Capt. James T. Kirk, or more precisely, the actor who played the “Star Trek” captain, William Shatner. The third flight had Laura Shepard Churchley, the daughter of America’s first astronaut to fly to space, who launched aboard a vehicle named after her father, Alan.

• The rapid prototype program, executed in collaboration with Boeing subsidiary Millennium Space Systems, will provide high levels of protection for U.S. and allied satellite communications
• PTS-P will be first space-based hub of the U.S. military’s jam-resistant waveform, Protected Tactical Waveform (PTW)

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., March 16, 2022 (Boeing PR) — The U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command (SSC) and Boeing [NYSE: BA] recently completed a critical design review for the Protected Tactical SATCOM Prototype (PTS-P), validating Boeing’s technical maturity on the rapid-prototyping program.

“We’re making great progress on this pacesetter program,” said Lt. Col. Ryan Rose, SSC’s Tactical SATCOM Division deputy chief. “We’ve asked all industry partners to move fast — to build, iterate, demonstrate, and improve performance, so we can deploy much faster than we typically would. This design review demonstrates we’re on track to deliver new communication capabilities to the warfighter.”

WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — NASA has awarded three additional missions to Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) of Hawthorne, California, for crew transportation services to the International Space Station as part of its Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contract. The CCtCap modification, following the agency’s notice of intent to procure the flights in December 2021, brings the total missions for SpaceX to nine and allows NASA to maintain an uninterrupted U.S. capability for […]

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla., February 15, 2022 (Northrop Grumman PR) – Northrop Grumman will launch a variety of critical research and supplies on its upcoming 17th Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The launch, which take place at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, is scheduled for no earlier than February 19 at 12:40 p.m. ET.

The ISS National Laboratory is sponsoring more than 15 research and technology development payloads as part of this mission. These payloads, which represent diverse fields of study, intend to bring value to our nation through space-based research and enable a robust and sustainable market in low Earth orbit. Below highlights some of the ISS National Lab-sponsored investigations launching on Northrop Grumman CRS-17.

NASA has released the selection statement that lays out the space agency’s reasoning for awarding Nanoracks, Blue Origin and Northrop Grumman a total of $415.6 million to develop plans for private space stations under the Commercial LEO Destinations (CLD) program. The facilities are designed to maintain a permanent U.S. presence in Earth orbit when the International Space Station (ISS) is retired in 2030.

In this story, we’ll look at the Blue Origin’s Orbital Reef station. The project summary is drawn from publicly available information. Excerpts from the selection statement follow. Long paragraphs in the latter have been broken up to improve readability. Acronyms have been spelled out for the sake of clarity.