Focus: Human Spaceflight

Spanish launch startup PLD Space announced plans for a large reusable launch vehicle and a crew capsule on Monday.  Last October, PLD Space launched its suborbital Miura 1 rocket for the first time. The company is currently working toward the launch of the Miura 5 two-stage, orbital rocket. The first commercial flights of Miura 5...

The Polaris Dawn mission, in which a crew of four civilians will attempt the first civilian spacewalk, will also test out Starlink laser communications aboard the Dragon spacecraft.   SpaceX launched the Polaris Dawn mission early Tuesday at 5:23 a.m. ET from Cape Canaveral, Florida. A crew of four civilians in a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft will...

Shortly after SpaceX completed its first test flight of its Starship rocket on Thursday, the company’s CEO Elon Musk outlined potential next steps for the launch vehicle in a series of posts to X (formerly Twitter). Musk stated that after Starship sustained some minor damage during the mission and lost shielding tiles, SpaceX would augment...

Blue Origin flew a crew of astronauts to the edge of space on May 19, returning the New Shepard rocket to crewed flight after a gap of almost two years. The mission was a success with a special nod to history. Ed Dwight, who was the first Black astronaut candidate in the 1960s but not...

Texas Governor Greg Abbott launched the new Texas Space Commission this week to improve the state’s position in the national space industry. Abbott also announced inaugural members of the commission’s board of directors and the Texas Aerospace Research and Space Economy Consortium (TARSEC) executive committee during an event at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston...

Virgin Galactic has completed its first spaceflight this year and its 11th overall. Interestingly, the latest flight was the first flight that all four seats aboard VSS Unity were occupied by private astronauts. The flight took place on Friday 26 Jan. Virgin Galactic’s next mission, expected in the second quarter of 2024, will include both...

Virgin Galactic, Richard Branson’s space tourism company, returned to flight on Thursday with a successful crewed mission to the edge of space. The mission — Unity 25 — was staffed with all Virgin Galactic specialists, and is the company’s final test of its full spaceflight system and experience before it plans to enter commercial service...

Blue Origin will now land astronauts on the surface of the Moon, as the Jeff Bezos-owned company won the second NASA human landing system award on Friday. It is a $3.4 billion fixed-price contract.  Blue Origin will develop its Blue Moon lander for the Artemis V mission, set for 2029. With this award, SpaceX and...

Airbus Defence and Space is joining Voyager Space’s work to build the Starlab commercial space station. A Wednesday announcement from Airbus and Voyager was light on details but said that Airbus will provide technical design support and expertise.  Starlab is planned as a free-flying space station to support NASA, global space agencies, and researchers, set...

A Rocket Lab Electron rocket is currently en-route to Virginia, and the launcher plans to hold its first mission from Wallops Island by the end of the year. Rocket Lab executives provided an update on its launch and space systems business lines on Wednesday during an investor presentation.  HawkEye 360 is the first customer for...