Theresa Cross

In a unique blend of Hollywood glamor and technological brilliance, Hedy Lamarr, a film star during Hollywood’s Golden Age, played an unexpected role in shaping the way we connect and communicate.

In its latest earnings report, Northrop Grumman disclosed an “unfavorable estimate-at-completion adjustment” for the Habitation and Logistics Outpost module for NASA’s Lunar Gateway.

The Federal Trade Commission has granted approval for L3Harris Technologies to complete its acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne.

The United Kingdom Space Agency recently revealed its comprehensive Space Exploration Technology Roadmap, aimed at driving the country’s direction of research, development, and funding allocation over the next 10 years. 

Hughes Network Systems is poised to reshape global connectivity with the launch of Jupiter 3, also called EchoStar 24 on a Falcon Heavy rocket later tonight.

A Swiss company called Astrostrom is working with the European Space Agency to study the possibility of building a solar power satellite using lunar resources.

Lockheed Martin’s Orion capsule is a spacecraft designed for deep space exploration. Developed in collaboration with NASA, the spacecraft will be used to send astronauts to the vicinity of the Moon under the Artemis program.

Pulsar Fusion, a UK aerospace company, is making significant strides in the development of a groundbreaking nuclear fusion rocket engine, according to those close to the project.

In a surprising move, the Australian government has made the decision to terminate the ambitious National Space Mission for Earth Observation, a billion-dollar project that aimed to establish a state-of-the-art satellite system for a range of monitoring purposes.

Europe is currently grappling with a temporary setback with its ability to launch payloads into space, prompting a heightened reliance on SpaceX for launching vital science and navigation spacecraft. 

Houston-based Axiom Space has been granted a significant task order by NASA to modify its Artemis 3 lunar spacesuit design for International Space Station’s spacewalking capabilities.

The Spaceport Company, a pioneering player in the space industry composed of launch system and maritime experts, has received a significant boost in funding from the Department of Defense to develop mobile sea-based launch platforms.

Four volunteers have embarked on a one-year mock mission to Mars at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. This is the first of three-year-long missions, which are part of NASA’s Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog, or CHAPEA. Mission 1 commenced on June 25.

In a momentous event in the field of astrophysics, SpaceX successfully launched the Euclid mission in collaboration with the European Space Agency. 

A new startup called K2 Space is betting that SpaceX’s massive Starship rocket will usher in an era of “mass abundance” for satellites.

The company says that, until recently, the high cost of sending something to space has forced satellite operators to choose to build either large, very expensive spacecraft, or small satellites that are lower performing with low payload mass, but are much lower in cost.

While SpaceX continues to ready its massive Starship rocket for flight in South Texas, the company launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Florida with a batch of upgraded Starlink satellites.

Liftoff atop a Falcon 9 rocket took place at 8:27 a.m. ET Wednesday, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Aboard were 21 upgraded Starlink V2 “mini” satellites bound for low Earth orbit, adding to the ever-increasing internet constellation for SpaceX.

NASA’s crawler-transporter has been certified as the heaviest self-powered vehicle on Earth by Guinness World Records.

The agency’s Exploration Ground Systems was presented the certificate on March 29, at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Crawler-transporter 2, CT-2, is more than 6.6 million pounds and has the ability to transport up to 18 million pounds. It has technically held this record since 2016, after the completion of modifications it received to support the Artemis program and the Space Launch System rocket and its mobile launcher tower.

Small rocket startup Stoke Space recently received funding from Breakthrough Energy, an investment firm founded by Bill Gates.

Stoke Space was founded by Andy Lapsa and Tom Feldman in 2019 to develop a clean-fueled, fully-reusable two-stage rocket. Lapsa was formerly responsible for the development and operation of Blue Origin’s BE-3 and BE-4 engines.

The engines that are being developed for Stoke Space’s rocket utilize liquid oxygen and liquid natural gas, which burns cleaner than kerosene — one of the more common rocket propellant fuels, today.

OneWeb is nearing the completion of its broadband internet constellation, a project that’s overcome a number of setbacks over the years, including a global pandemic and Europe’s largest conflict since World War II.

The company’s most recent batch launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on March 9, 2023. A final dedicated launch from India is expected within the next week. However, the original plan was to fly all of the constellation’s satellites atop Russia’s Soyuz rocket.

That was before Russia’s war in Ukraine, which resulted in the suspension of all Soyuz launches for Western customers. That included OneWeb, which now has 36 spacecraft worth an estimated $50 million dollars stuck at Russia’s Baikonur Cosmodrome launch site with no clear resolution for getting the satellites back.

It’s been a turbulent week for Virgin Orbit, headquartered out of Long Beach California. The company suspended all operations and furloughed most of its workforce for a week as it sought relief by raising funds to rescue its rocket-flying business, according to sources close to the matter on March 15.

During a 5 p.m. EDT meeting that day, company higher-ups explained that employees could cash in their paid time off as the furlough would be unpaid with a small team remaining in place continuing to work.

During the third quarter of 2022, Virgin Orbit reported a loss of $42.9 million as cash demands continued, with fourth quarter funding coming from an investment arm of its founder Richard Branson’s parent company, Virgin Group.

Notes in the amounts of $25 million, an unsecured convertible note secured in November of 2022, along with another $30 million in senior secured notes in December 2022 and January 2023 gives “first priority” access to assets by Branson’s parent company.