NASA announced in a stacked press conference that the agency is delaying its much anticipated Artemis 2 mission over safety concerns with the Lockheed Martin Orion spacecraft. Now slated for a September 2025 launch date, the delay also extends to Artemis 3 which is planned to liftoff one year after Artemis 2.
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Lockheed Martin’s Orion capsule is a spacecraft designed for deep space exploration. Developed in collaboration with NASA, the spacecraft will be used to send astronauts to the vicinity of the Moon under the Artemis program.
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That’s right! While Artemis 1 is an important mission for the return of humanity to the Moon, everyone back here on Earth has the opportunity to participate by sending messages to an iPad that resides within the Orion spacecraft. A camera will capture the message on the iPad within the capsule and share the recording, so while sending your message beyond the Moon you can spread it to other people here on Earth. And sending your message is really simple. Here’s how.
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On Thursday, NASA announced the selected contractors to develop designs for the future commercial space stations to replace the International Space Station.
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Over the past few years, 5G has become a game-changing technology in the commercial sector. Included in smartphones and tablets, it can allow for fast internet speeds away from the user’s home wifi network. Now, Lockheed Martin plans to bring this technology to the Department of Defense.
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You will likely recognize the name “Nanoracks” for its Bishop airlock that launched to the International Space Station last year, but this project will forever cement the name “Nanoracks” in the history books. Today, Nanoracks introduced Starlab, the first-ever continuously crewed, commercial, free-flying space station.
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In a blog post on NASA’s Lucy website, the teams announced that the spacecraft is healthy, but they are looking into an issue with one of Lucy’s giant solar arrays.
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Lockheed Martin recently opened their STAR Center at the former Astronaut Experience (ATX) attraction location. Now they are moving forward with plans to construct another factory building near their offices and AstroTech.
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NASA announced contract awards to five companies for further development of lunar lander concepts for its Artemis Program on Tuesday.
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Today the two defense contractors announced they will team up to develop the next lunar rover for NASA’s Artemis program.
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On December 15, the US Air Force used artificial intelligence (AI) to control a Lockheed U-2 spy plane’s radar and sensor systems. This marked the first time that AI was given control of any US military system.
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Lockheed Martin won a contract to build Space Force’s brand new constellation of missile warning satellites for $4.9 billion. This comes after another contract in 2018 to start research and development for these new satellites. This constellation of satellites will replace the Space Based Infrared System currently in operation.
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In the early 60s, the Cold War was intensifying between the United States and the Soviet Union. Because of rising tensions between the two superpowers, the threat of a nuclear war was a genuine concern for both sides. So naturally, spying and reconnaissance became valuable tactics.
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Lockheed Martin has announced plans to acquire Aerojet Rocketdyne in a deal worth $4.4 billion. Lockheed expects the acquisition to close in the second half of 2021. Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for NASA’s Orion spacecraft to send astronauts to the Moon. Aerojet Rocketdyne provides the RS-25 and RL-10 engines on NASA’s Space Launch System.
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NASA has announced that technicians working on assembling the X-59 airplane completed a major milestone in its construction back on November 5. On that day, technicians were successfully able to close up the airplane’s wing, encasing interior components that will never be touched by human hands again.
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NASA’s upcoming Artemis I mission is a major step toward sending the first woman and next man to the Moon in this decade. The first flight of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft is on track for November 2021, and the uncrewed lunar flyby mission will clear the way for SLS and Orion to carry astronauts.
The Verge was first to report on an unexpected hiccup in Orion’s readiness to fly, however, and the timeline for a fix could come down to the wire for Artemis I.
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TechCrunch Sessions: Space 2020 is a two-day online event that will take place on December 16 and 17. During the event, TechCrunch will interview key figures from space technology companies as well as those who invest in them.
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SpaceX will attempt to launch a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station this afternoon at 3:55 p.m. EDT. SpaceX is sending the GPS III Space Vehicle 3 to space to join a constellation of 31 existing global positioning system satellites operated by the United States.
Falcon 9’s first stage will attempt to land on the SpaceX droneship “Just Read the Instructions” in the Atlantic Ocean 8 minutes 30 seconds after liftoff. The GPS III satellite payload will be deployed in space 1 hour and 29 minutes after liftoff.
Watch the launch, landing, and deployment below.
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