Jeff Foust

As the National Science Foundation (NSF) recovers from a five-week partial government shutdown, the agency is already starting preparations for another potential shutdown.

United Launch Alliance won a NASA contract Jan. 31 to launch a planetary science mission in what the agency said was a competitive procurement.

The Israeli company that built a privately funded lunar lander scheduled for launch next month is partnering with a German firm to offer similar landers for future European Space Agency missions.

As Blue Origin breaks ground on a new factory for producing rocket engines, the company says development of its BE-4 engine will be completed later this year.

A partial government shutdown now nearly five weeks old is affecting a growing number of space companies and organizations as well as the agencies themselves shuttered by the lapse in funding.

Stratolaunch, the company founded by the late billionaire Paul Allen, said Jan. 18 that it is ending work on a launch vehicle that would be flown on the company’s giant aircraft.

Small launch vehicle developer Rocket Lab will launch an experimental satellite for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in February, the first of a planned dozen launches in 2019.

Less than a week after laying off 10 percent of its employees, SpaceX said Jan. 16 that it plans to shift work on at least prototypes of its next-generation launch system from Los Angeles to Texas.

The ongoing partial government shutdown has upended aspects of a major astronomy conference this week but has not, for now, affected operations of NASA astrophysics missions.

The ongoing partial government shutdown has grounded a NASA aircraft used for astronomical observations amid reviews about how to operate that program in the future.

The latest taxi test of the giant aircraft being developed by Stratolaunch for its air-launch system is a sign the plane’s first flight may take place soon.

Blue Origin expects to start flying people on its New Shepard suborbital vehicle early this year, but has yet to start selling tickets or even establish a ticket price for future commercial flights.

NASA said Jan. 4 it is delaying a planned visit to the United States by Dmitry Rogozin, the head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, a trip that had become increasingly controversial.

Deep Space Industries (DSI), a company founded to pursue asteroid mining but which more recently has focused on smallsats, has been acquired by another space technology company.

The ongoing partial government shutdown has led one company to delay an upcoming launch and could affect other commercial launches in the near future, including a key commercial crew mission.

Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) has won NASA approval to begin full-scale production of its Dream Chaser cargo spacecraft scheduled to make its first flight in about two years.

SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk says a redesigned test vehicle for the company's next-generation reusable launch system could be ready for initial flights early next year.

As the Commerce Department works on plans to take over civilian space traffic management responsibilities, the U.S. Air Force is making more data available on the positions of military satellites.

A cyberattack that may have compromised information about current and former NASA employees is only the latest sign of ongoing information security problems that have plagued the agency for years.

The Senate approved legislation Dec. 20 to reform commercial space regulations and extend the life of the International Space Station, but the passage may be too late for this bill to become law.