ULA and Blue Origin Move Forward with BE-4 Plan
United Launch Alliance (ULA) and Blue Origin announced an agreement today for expanding production of Blue Origin’s BE-4 engine that ULA wants to use for its new Vulcan rocket. The …
GAO Lambasts Air Force, Chides DOD, Over GPS OCX Ground Segment Acquisition
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) lambasted the Air Force today for poor acquisition decisions on the Global Positioning System’s (GPS’s) future Operational Control System (OCX). The Air Force has “consistently …
WSJ: Aerojet Rocketdyne Wants to Buy ULA
Rocket engine maker Aerojet Rocketdyne (AJR) wants to buy United Launch Alliance (ULA) for approximately $2 billion according to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ). No deal has been made yet, …
What's Happening in Space Policy September 7-11, 2015
We’re back to “regular order” this week with our list of upcoming space policy related events only for one week (September 7-11, 2015). The House and Senate return to work …
Boeing Chooses Starliner as New Name for CST-100
Boeing’s Chris Ferguson unveiled the new name for Boeing’s CST-100 commercial crew capsule today during a ceremony inaugurating the company’s Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center …
Antares RTF Now in "Spring" 2016, Two Cygnus Launches on Atlas V First
Orbital ATK’s Frank Culbertson said today that return-to-flight of the Antares rocket now will be in “spring” 2016. Earlier indications were that it would be in March. Instead, a second …
Two Senators Seek GAO Review of NASA Commercial Cargo Contracts
Senators Cory Gardner (R-CO) and David Vitter (R-LA) are asking the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to undertake a “full review” of NASA’s commercial cargo contracts. Both contractors, Orbital ATK and …
Soyuz TMA-18M Launch to Briefly Increase ISS Crew to Nine – UPDATE
UPDATE, September 2, 2015, 12:50 am EDT: Soyuz TMA-18M launched successfully on time at 12:37 am EDT. Docking is scheduled for September 4 at 3:42 am EDT. ORIGINAL STORY, September …
Shotwell: Couple More Months Before Falcon 9 Launches Again, Will be New Version
SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said today that it will be a “couple of months” before the Falcon 9 rocket returns to flight, longer than the company anticipated. She also said …
What's Happening in Space Policy August 31 – September 11, 2015
Summer is coming to an end and this will be the last of our “summer vacation” multi-week lists of upcoming space policy events. This edition covers two weeks, August 31-September …