Happy 10th Anniversary of commercial space! It is amazing how far the commercial industry has come in both orbital and suborbital flight since then. Here are some great interviews with Dennis Tito by Miles O'Brian and SPACE.com.
CCDev 2 Awards
After a brief delay due to a small budget issue in Washington, the Commercial Crew Development Round 2 decisions have been made. Boeing has been given the largest prize, followed by Sierra Nevada Corp, Space Exploration Technologies, and Blue Origin. There are also milestones that companies can complete for extra cash, and here is why NASA might have chosen who they did. Warren Ferster at SpaceNews and Doug Messier at Parabolic Arc
SpaceX Announces Falcon Heavy
After successful launches of their Falcon 9 rocket, and reentry of their Dragon capsule, Space Exploration Technologies has announced their most ambitious project yet: Falcon Heavy. Press Release at SpaceX
Moon Express: Open For Business
After months of secrecy, GLXP contender Moon Express has announced their future plans, and who is involved. Bob Richards has co-founded the company with entrepreneurs Barney Pell and Naveen Jain. Debra Werner at Space News
CSF Elects New President
Rear Admiral Craig Steidle has been named President of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, replacing Bretton Alexander who has held the position for nearly five years. Press Release at CSF
Winning!
Google Lunar XPrize contender Astrobotic has won a NASA contract to develop a lunar gravity simulation device. Press Release at Astrobotic
SpaceX Will Launch Air Force Satellites
The United States Air Force, the National Reconnaissance Office, and NASA have selected Space Exploration Technologies to launch Air Force and other national security satellites. Peter B. de Selding at Space News
Rocketdyne Joins RCSP
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne has joined the Rocket City Space Pioneers, a Google Lunar XPrize team consisting of Alabama businesses and organizations. Press Release at RCSP
Safety First
After months of waiting due to the budget crisis in Washington, Orbital Sciences will be receiving the $100 million promised by NASA for a risk-reduction flight. Stephen Clark at Spaceflight Now
SS2 Flying Higher
With orbital companies dominating the press this month with the announcment of the CCDev 2 awards, Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo has quietly completed its longest glide test to date. Leonard David at SPACE.com
Organizing Chaos
With so many difference programs and awards coming out of NASA, it is easy to get confused. Thankfully, Doug Messier at Parabolic Arc has made a list of who has been given what.
Making Space Pay and Having Fun Doing It
At TEDxSanJoseCA, XCOR Aerospace CEO Jeff Greason gives an excellent talk about how he got into the space industry, why he thinks NASA cannot do it alone, and how he plans to make a difference.
Congress Saves The Space Program
In his latest video, Rand Simberg explains how "Congress Saved The Space Program". If you think that he is exaggerating the silliness of supporters of the status quo, take a look at this article by Senator Marco Rubio about how manned spaceflight is vital to U.S. interests.
The Space Show
Robert Zimmerman, Dr. Alan Stern, and Jon Goff discuss their respective NewSpace initiatives with Dr. David Livingston on The Space Show.
NewSpace 2011: Fulfilling The Promise
Registration for the Space Frontier Foundation's annual NewSpace Conference is now open. NewSpace 2011: Fulfilling the Promise, being held at Ames July 28-31, will bring together leaders of the NewSpace industry and NASA to discuss the current state and business of NewSpace, potential government/commercial partnerships, and where we should go from here.
Space Investment Summit 9
SIS-9, being held in Huntsville, AL on May 18th, will continue a well established series of forums offering a full day of exclusive dialogue sessions with prominent investment leaders and entrepreneurs discussing innovation in space-related commerce worldwide.
ISDC 2011: From The Ground Up
The International Space Development Conference is the National Space Society's annual conference. It covers several broad areas of study related to building a spacefaring civilization, including transportation to and through space, technology needed to live and work in space, and Earth-based activities to advocate for or educate others about spacedevelopment.
