AeroTime
• Stephen Pope
The FAA has proposed allowing the agency to waive requirements under 13 federal environmental and natural-resource laws when reviewing specific commercial space licenses and permits. The stated goal is to reduce regulatory friction and speed the approval timeline for commercial space launches.
Launch Vehicles & Space Transportation
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Fortastra and Hadrian have signed a memorandum of understanding laying out a framework for technical collaboration to build advanced spacecraft aimed at urgent national security space missions, the companies announced. The agreement focuses on coordinating industrial and spacecraft-manufacturing expertise for faster program execution.
The FAA has proposed allowing the agency to waive requirements under 13 federal environmental and natural-resource laws when reviewing specific commercial space licenses and permits. The stated goal is to reduce regulatory friction and speed the approval timeline for commercial space launches.
The Exploration Company says it has selected Siemens Xcelerator software to speed development of its reusable Nyx cargo spacecraft. The company cites reduced design complexity and improved engineering collaboration across its development workflow as key reasons for the move.
An abandoned SpaceX rocket stage launched in January 2025 is expected to strike the Moon in the early hours of Aug. 5 (UTC), traveling at roughly 8,700 km/h. The impact will occur after the stage delivered two commercial lunar landers, and scientists say they are uncertain about the resulting ejecta-plume conditions for model calibration.
High activity
ArianeGroup has completed a wet dress rehearsal of its Themis reusable booster demonstrator at Esrange Space Centre in Sweden. The milestone advances ground verification for the program’s reusable propulsion and launch-system integration, paving the way for subsequent test activity.
ispace and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) have signed a contract covering the launch and transportation of ispace’s Mission 3 ULTRA Lunar Lander using MHI’s H3 rocket. The agreement formalizes the commercial transport arrangement for the company’s next Moon mission.
The U.S. Department of Transportation is proposing to exempt commercial space launch licensing from many environmental regulations. The initiative would narrow the regulatory requirements applied during the licensing process, changing the compliance scope for commercial launch providers seeking authorization.
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