Astra Space is slated to conduct its first launch under the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Launch Challenge between Tuesday and March 1, GeekWire reported Tuesday.

The U.S. Space Force has tasked Atmosphere and Space Technology Research Associates to build and test a military-grade prototype technology intended to characterize Earth's clouds. ASTRA said Tuesday it will collaborate with Lockheed Martin, Atmospheric and Environmental Research, Pumpkin and Atmospheric and Environmental Research to develop the cloud characterization system.

NASA has selected Astra Space, Relativity Space and Firefly Black to launch different types of small satellites under contracts with a combined value of $16.7M. The companies will send to space nanosatellites, CubeSats and other types of small satellites under the Venture Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 effort, the space agency said Saturday.

The Catalyst Space Accelerator has chosen eight small businesses to take part in its sixth accelerator program.

Atmospheric & Space Technology Research Associates has built an information system as part of a National Science Foundation-backed project that aims to increase the resiliency of power grid infrastructure to the effects of space weather.

Atmospheric & Space Technology Research Associates has received a six-month contract of an undisclosed value to design a small, low-Earth orbit satellite architecture to support the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's weather forecasting mission.

Peter Beck, founder and CEO of small satellite launch firm Rocket Lab, said the Department of Defense and other agencies could help the small launch sector by funding space programs that will drive demand for launch services, SpaceNews reported Monday.

Northrop Grumman has announced that its automated cargo spacecraft slated to be deployed to the International Space Station will be named after former U.S. Navy officer and NASA astronaut John Young. The Cygnus spacecraft will be launched aboard Northrop’s Antares rocket on Nov. 15 from Pad-0A of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport …

BAE Systems will invest $508 million to revive an industry-led effort to establish regulations and technology for the integration of unmanned air vehicles into the U.K. national airspace, FlightGlobal reported Tuesday. Beth Stevenson writes the U.K. government’s business department previously funded the Autonomous Systems Technology Related Airborne Evaluation and Assessment program before …

An Orbital Sciences cargo spacecraft launched from NASA‘s Wallop’s Flight Facility in Virginia Thursday to carry supplies to the International Space Station. An Antares rocket lifted off from Wallops and will transport 2,780 pounds of load including science experiments, crew supplies and spare parts to the ISS, NASA said Thursday. The mission is …

Fred Kennedy, former director of the Space Development Agency and a more than 25-year defense and industry veteran, has been appointed president of Santa Clara, California-based space technology company Momentus.

“[We] are well-positioned to create a disruptive force in space-based intelligence. No company has such strong roots in geospatial with our level of scale and a strong commercial mindset.”  EM: It has been almost three weeks since the MDA acquisition of DigitalGlobe and the dust has hardly settled. But how …

Modern Technology Solutions Inc. has obtained the Federal Aviation Administration’s approval to operate commercial unmanned aerial systems in U.S. civilian airspace. The authorization permits MTSI’s C-ASTRAL Bramor rTK drone to fly up to 200 feet over land and throughout the U.S., MTSI said Monday. Bramor is designed to perform mapping and …

A broadcast and broadband service satellite built by EADS subsidiary Astrium was scheduled to launch into space on Sept. 29. The ASTRA 2E satellite is the seventh Eurostar spacecraft designed and developed by Astrium and was set to fly aboard an International Launch Services Proton vehicle from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome,  EADS said Sep. 27. …

A consortium led by the British government and several aerospace companies including BAE Systems predicts the civilian drone market could be worth $400 billion within four years, Reuters reports. The Autonomous Systems Technology Related Airborne Evaluation & Assessment program also estimates the market could be worth up to $62 billion …