Space Business News and Space Technology News http://www.spacemart.com/index.html Mon, 26 May 2025 11:49:33 GMT Mon, 26 May 2025 11:49:33 GMT en-us Impulse Space and SES have entered a multi-launch agreement to utilize the Helios kick stage for direct satellite transfers from Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to Geostationary (GEO) and Medium Earth Orbits (MEO), significantly reducing orbital transit time to just hours. The inaugural mission, slated for 2027, will see Helios transporting a 4-ton-class payload directly to GEO within eight hours af]]> Mon, 26 May 2025 11:49:33 GMT SpaceX said Friday it will make another launch attempt next week of the massive Starship rocket - key to CEO Elon Musk's long-term vision of colonizing Mars - after two consecutive in-flight explosions earlier this year. "The ninth flight test of Starship is preparing to launch as soon as Tuesday, May 27," the company said on its website, adding the launch window would open at 6:30 pm (233]]> Mon, 26 May 2025 11:49:33 GMT Rocket Lab USA has announced it will launch the next BlackSky Gen-3 satellite as part of its continued partnership with the real-time space-based intelligence company. The mission, named "Full Stream Ahead," is scheduled to lift off from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand during a window opening May 28, 2025 (UTC). This upcoming flight marks the second of four planned Electron missions this y]]> Mon, 26 May 2025 11:49:33 GMT The Federal Aviation Administration has approved the launch of SpaceX's Starship 9 after two mission mishaps idled the program for months. "The FAA conducted a comprehensive safety review of the SpaceX Starship Flight 8 mishap and determined that the company has satisfactorily addressed the causes of the mishap, and, therefore, the Starship vehicle can return to flight," the FAA said in]]> Mon, 26 May 2025 11:49:33 GMT NASA is advancing innovative microgravity fluid management technologies that pave the way for efficient plant watering in space-without the need for moving parts. Feeding astronauts on deep space missions with fresh produce will require robust plant cultivation methods. However, watering plants in microgravity presents unique problems. Without gravity, bubbles don't rise and droplets don't]]> Mon, 26 May 2025 11:49:33 GMT Exolaunch has signed new multi-year launch agreements with SpaceX, ensuring small satellite launch capacity through 2028 on Falcon 9 rideshare missions. The agreements span various orbital inclinations including sun-synchronous, mid-inclination, near-polar, and dawn-dusk trajectories to meet diverse mission requirements. These contracts allow Exolaunch to continue integrating and deploying]]> Mon, 26 May 2025 11:49:33 GMT Four NASA astronauts who recently returned to Earth from a mission aboard the International Space Station will take part this week in a welcome-home ceremony at NASA's space center in Texas. On Thursday, NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore and Don Pettit will be in Houston to participate in ceremonies to welcome them back to Earth and will share highlights from thei]]> Mon, 26 May 2025 11:49:33 GMT On April 14, 2025, Blue Origin launched six women - Aisha Bowe, Amanda Nguyn, Gayle King, Katy Perry, Kerianne Flynn and Lauren Sanchez - on a suborbital journey to the edge of space. The headlines called it a historic moment for women in space. But as a tourism educator, I paused - not because I questioned their experience, but because I questioned the language. Were they astronauts or sp]]> Mon, 26 May 2025 11:49:33 GMT China's private rocket manufacturer LandSpace successfully launched its modified ZQ-2E Y2 rocket on Saturday, deploying six satellites into orbit from the Dongfeng commercial space innovation pilot zone near the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 12:12 pm (Beijing Time). The ZQ-2E Y2 is an enhanced version of the Zhuque-2 (ZQ-2) model, named after the Vermilion Bird of ancient Chinese mythology,]]> Mon, 26 May 2025 11:49:33 GMT CAS Space, a commercial aerospace firm under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, launched its Kinetica 1-Y7 solid-propellant rocket on Wednesday, successfully deploying six satellites into space. The rocket lifted off at 12:05 pm local time from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert. Onboard were three remote-sensing satellites, one radar satellite, a mini weather satellite, ]]> Mon, 26 May 2025 11:49:33 GMT A massive Russian drone and missile attack on Kyiv Saturday wounded at least 15 people, just as Russia and Ukraine were in the middle of a major prisoner swap. Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 14 ballistic missiles and 250 attack drones overnight, adding that it downed six missiles and 245 drones. Kyiv was "the main target of the enemy attack", the air force said in a statement. ]]> Mon, 26 May 2025 11:49:33 GMT Two Russian military aircrafts are suspected of having violated Finnish airspace on Friday, Finland's defence ministry said in a statement. The incident had taken place off the coast of Porvoo located in southern Finland some 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the country's capital Helsinki on Friday afternoon. "We take the suspected territorial violation seriously and an investigation is o]]> Mon, 26 May 2025 11:49:33 GMT NASA's X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft successfully completed a critical series of tests in which the airplane was put through its paces for cruising high above the California desert - all without ever leaving the ground. "The idea behind these tests is to command the airplane's subsystems and flight computer to function as if it is flying," said Yohan Lin, the X-59's lead avionics]]> Mon, 26 May 2025 11:49:33 GMT Ursa Space Systems, a leader in space-based insights, has partnered with Aireon, a pioneer in space-based Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) technology, to integrate real-time aircraft tracking into its geospatial analytics platform. This collaboration aims to expand Ursa Space's capabilities, providing comprehensive situational awareness for commercial, defense, and humanitarian]]> Mon, 26 May 2025 11:49:33 GMT The Japanese military confirmed on Thursday that remains recovered from the crash of a training plane last week were those of two soldiers. The Air Self-Defense Force's T-4 training aircraft crashed near a lake in central Japan's Aichi region immediately after taking off at its Komaki Air Base last week. "The deaths of its two crew members were confirmed today," Hiroaki Uchikura, head ]]> Mon, 26 May 2025 11:49:33 GMT