Human Spaceflight & Space Stations News

NASA Spaceflight

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NASA details Artemis progress across commercial lunar landers, surface habitats and SLS/Orion hardware

NASA’s latest Artemis updates span commercial robotic lunar landers, technology demonstrations for future surface habitats, and hardware development for the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft. The agency’s progress report provides a cross-program view of preparations for Artemis III and subsequent missions to the Moon.

SpaceNews.com

NASA, ESA and partners develop infrastructure for a viable lunar base

NASA and the European Space Agency are defining the infrastructure needed to support a sustainable lunar base, while Northrop Grumman and the Canadian Space Agency are adapting work from NASA’s planned Gateway station for future lunar-base applications.

Space.com

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NASA astronauts complete 6.5-hour ISS spacewalk to prepare for solar array upgrade

Jessica Meir and Anil Menon spent 6.5 hours outside the International Space Station on Aug. 6 installing mounting hardware for new rollout solar arrays. The upgrade is intended to provide additional power for the station, according to NASA.

SpaceNews.com

NASA and Roscosmos extend Soyuz–Crew Dragon seat exchanges, excluding Starliner

NASA and Roscosmos will continue exchanging astronaut seats between Russian Soyuz and U.S. Crew Dragon spacecraft. The agreement does not yet include Boeing’s Starliner, leaving the crew-transport arrangement limited to the two currently participating vehicles.

SpaceNews.com

NASA and Roscosmos continue seat barter agreement

SpaceNews.com

Voyager seeks more flexibility in NASA’s commercial space station requirements for Starlab

Voyager Technologies remains optimistic about Starlab’s prospects but is seeking changes to NASA’s commercial space station request for proposals. The company wants certain requirements relaxed, highlighting the tension between NASA’s program objectives and industry’s ability to deliver commercially viable orbital infrastructure.

SpaceNews.com

SpaceX hedges on how long Crew Dragon will continue flying

SpaceX says its Crew Dragon fleet has a “significant” amount of life remaining, but the company has not committed to how long the spacecraft will stay in service. The uncertainty puts the future of a central platform in commercial human spaceflight under renewed scrutiny.

European Spaceflight

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ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot completes third EuroSuit spacesuit test aboard the ISS

ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot has completed a third evaluation of the EuroSuit intravehicular activity spacesuit prototype aboard the International Space Station. The repeated on-orbit testing advances Europe’s assessment of a domestically developed suit for crew operations and helps validate its design in the space-station environment.