Big News for Crewed Spaceflight - SpaceNews This Week

Top stories of the week from SpaceNews

A weekly roundup of the top SpaceNews stories from this week, every Friday Over the last week, big news for crewed spaceflight broke on multiple fronts. First and foremost, Blue Origin announced plans to launch its first crewed New Shepard flight in 18 months, a six-person suborbital mission. Meanwhile, new legislation would eventually end the repeatedly-extended "learning period" and allow safety regulations on crewed spaceflight — but also would instruct the FAA to further streamline the launch process, and NASA announced three teams for its Artemis lunar rover contract. Next week, you can expect daily news and announcements from our team covering the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs. Stay tuned. Our Top Story Blue Origin to resume crewed New Shepard flights Jeff Foust, April 5, 2024 CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Blue Origin announced plans April 4 for its first crewed New Shepard flight in more than 18 months, a mission that will give an opportunity for America's first Black astronaut candidate to finally go to space.   The company said the six-person crew of the NS-25 suborbital mission will include Ed Dwight. He was a U.S. Air Force pilot announced by the Kennedy administration in 1961 as an astronaut candidate, the first Black person to be considered. He graduated from the Air Force's Aerospace Research Pilot School but was not selected by NASA in its next astronaut classes. He left the Air Force in 1966 and became a sculptor. Other News From the Week POLICY & POLITICS Senate bills seek to reform commercial space regulations Two bills recently introduced into the Senate would reform regulation of commercial space activities, including putting into motion an eventual end of the "learning period" limiting human spaceflight safety rules. Thailand joins China-led ILRS moon base initiative Thailand has signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation on the China-led International Lunar Research Station (ILRS).  The memorandum of understanding was signed April 5 by Xu Zhanbin, deputy administrator of the China National Space Administration (CNSA) and Permsuk Sutchaphiwat, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation (MHESI). COMMERCIAL Virgin Galactic countersues Boeing about mothership project Virgin Galactic has filed a countersuit against Boeing over a project to develop a new mothership aircraft, arguing in part that Boeing performed poorly. The suit comes two weeks after Boeing filed suit against Virgin Galactic in Virginia, alleging that Virgin refused to pay more than $25 million in invoices on the project and misappropriated trade secrets. Mitsubishi takes stake in Starlab Space Japan's Mitsubishi Corp. is joining Starlab Space, the joint venture of Voyager Space and Airbus Defence and Space that is developing a commercial space station. Starlab Space announced April 4 that Mitsubishi has become a strategic partner of Starlab Space and would take an equity stake in the joint venture.   NASA selects three companies to advance Artemis lunar rover designs NASA has selected three companies to work on lunar rover concepts that would be offered as a service for Artemis lunar landings and scientific activities. NASA announced it picked Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost and Venturi Astrolab for its Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) Services contract. The contract covers work to design and develop rovers that would be used by astronauts on Artemis missions starting with Artemis 5 at the end of the decade. MILITARY Kratos demonstrates satellite internet tech for U.S. Army Kratos Defense & Security Solutions announced April 4 it completed a demonstration of satellite-based broadband for the U.S. Army using a virtual ground system — a software-defined alternative to traditional hardware-based ground stations for controlling satellite constellations. Scout Space eyes military customers for space domain awareness sensor Scout Space, a startup based in Reston, Virginia, is developing a space domain awareness sensor aimed at the military market as the U.S. seeks new ways to monitor and protect its assets in orbit. China launches first of a new series of Yaogan reconnaissance satellites China launched its first Yaogan-42 satellite late Tuesday, adding to the country's growing military satellite reconnaissance capabilities. Copyright (C) 2024 Multiverse Media Inc.. All rights reserved. You signed up to receive this newsletter on Spacenews.com. At times you may receive marketing material. Our mailing address is: Multiverse Media Inc. 100 Fillmore St. 5th Floor Denver, CO 80206 USA Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe