NASA Assesses Boeing’s Starliner Astronaut Test Flight’s Probable Effects on Helium Leaks and Other Factors

A detailed inspection of Boeing’s Starliner capsule is ongoing during its inaugural astronaut trip. On June 5, Starliner lifted off, sending NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on a Crew Flight Test (CFT) shakeout voyage to the International Space Station (ISS). Originally scheduled to remain docked to the orbiting lab for almost a week, […]

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A Chinese Spacecraft Releases an Enigmatic Object in Orbit Several Months After Takeoff

Once more, China’s intriguing spacecraft is off and running, launching an unknown payload into orbit that might be a sign that its enigmatic mission is coming to an end. According to Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, the reusable spaceplane appears to have released the mystery item on May 24 at […]

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China Launches an Item into Orbit Using a Covert Spacecraft

During its third voyage, China’s experimental reusable spacecraft successfully launched an unidentified item into orbit. The object was identified by U.S. Space Force space domain awareness personnel as 59884 (International designator 2023-195G). After taking off on December 14, 2023, the possible spacecraft has spent 164 days in orbit. It looks that the item was released […]

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BAE Systems Secures a $450 Million Contract to Construct an Instrument for Meteorological Satellites

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s next geostationary weather constellation will use an ocean-color instrument developed by BAE Systems, formerly known as Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., under a $450 deal. For the Geostationary Extended Operations, or GeoXO, program, BAE Systems is to construct two flying instruments to study ocean color under a cost-plus-award-fee contract […]

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