Space Force Adds Pair of Satellites to Detect and Observe GEO Spacecraft
By Tom Roeder [email protected] The U.S. Space Force this month is testing two recent launched Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSSAP) satellites, bringing the constellation to six spacecraft that use cameras and other technical means to monitor what’s going on in the all-important orbit more than 22,000 miles above Earth. The two satellites, built by…
Read MoreState of Space 2022: Industry Enters ‘Era of Access and Opportunity’
By Tom Roeder [email protected] The space industry has entered what Space Foundation CEO retired Navy Rear Adm. Tom Zelibor dubbed “the era of access and opportunity,” during an annual “State of Space” presentation this month on the foundation’s Symposium 365 online platform. Zelibor was joined by several industry leaders during the presentation, highlighting how satellites…
Read MoreOn-orbit Refueling, Servicing Extends Life for Old Satellites, Promises Longer Mission Capabilities with Network of Stations
Editor’s Note: This article is part of The Space Report 2021 Q4. To read additional articles about space station development, 2021 launch and payload analysis, space tourism, and other space industry analysis, purchase quarterly editions here. To learn more about subscribing to our digital site, with 15 years of content and data resources, subscribe here.…
Read MoreJapanese Billionaire Caps Record Space Tourism Year
By Tom Roeder [email protected] The first self-funded space tourist to reach the International Space Station in more than a decade reached his destination aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule Wednesday. Japanese fashion mogul Yusaku Maezawa paid $88 million for the ride, the BBC reported, and was accompanied on the trip by documentary filmmaker Yozo Hirano. Their…
Read MoreHarris Leads Meeting of Newly Enlarged National Space Council, Demands Better Conduct from Space Nations
By Tom Roeder [email protected] Vice President Kamala Harris opened the first meeting of the reconstructed National Space Council on Wednesday with calls to make climate data from satellites more available, grow the aerospace workforce by bolstering educational opportunities, and increase international cooperation with new treaties to govern conduct in orbit. Earlier Wednesday, President Joe Biden…
Read MoreSpaceX Crew-2 Mission Successfully Returns to Earth
By Zoe Hobbs [email protected] NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 successfully returned to Earth on Nov. 9 at 03:33 UTC after undocking from the International Space Station (ISS) on Nov. 8 at 19:05 UTC. The return had been delayed a day due to bad weather but had a smooth landing despite one of four parachutes being slow to…
Read MoreNASA’s New Asteroid Spacecraft Lucy Races to Unexplored Trojan Asteroid Swarms
The NASA asteroid researching mission “Lucy” —selected by NASA in December 2016 — launched Oct. 16, 2021 at 5:34am ET from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The space probe is currently on a 12-year long mission and will be performing multiple gravity assisted boosts (see image) in the following years to gain enough momentum to follow its…
Read MoreCapt. Kirk Crosses the Kármán Line on Blue Origin’s New Shepard
By Zoe Hobbs [email protected] Blue Origin continued its streak of successful New Shepard landings as the NS-18 crew capsule safely touched down at 14:59 UTC on Oct. 12, 2021. The mission lasted 10 minutes and 17 seconds, reaching an apogee of 347,539 feet (nearly 66 miles) above ground level[1], which crossed the Kármán line, considered…
Read MoreFirst All-Civilian Crew Rockets into Orbital Space
By Dennis Thompkins For the first time in space history, an all-civilian crew is traveling in Earth’s orbit without command and control from a government space agency. The SpaceX Inspiration4 launch on Sept. 16 marked the first orbital flight with no professional astronauts on board. It also set as precedent the first time an onboard…
Read MoreCommercial Space Revenue Grew 6.6% in 2020, according to The Space Report Special Edition
“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. Other findings from the special edition: Infrastructure and Support Industries grew the most, by…
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