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• Jeff Foust
NASA has selected three companies to advance to the next phase of an effort to develop a commercial replacement for its aging Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System constellation. The selection marks a step toward shifting a critical space communications service to commercial providers.
NASA
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NASA has selected three companies to advance to the next phase of an effort to develop a commercial replacement for its aging Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System constellation. The selection marks a step toward shifting a critical space communications service to commercial providers.
Christophe Bosquillon examines what Democratic control of both chambers of Congress could mean for U.S. space and defense policy, including NASA, the Space Force and the Golden Dome missile-defense initiative. The analysis also considers potential implications for Europe.
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NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk installed the International Space Station’s eighth and final roll-out solar array during a seven-hour spacewalk, completing an upgrade begun more than five years ago. The arrays are intended to sustain the orbiting laboratory’s power supply through its planned retirement in 2030.
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Orlando International Airport has inaugurated a vertipad for an air-taxi demonstration organized by Florida’s transportation department, using routes and procedures developed with the FAA and NASA. Separately, Electra and VertiPorts by Atlantic will assess infrastructure opportunities to bring ultra-short aircraft operations closer to urban centers.
Victor Glover, an Artemis II astronaut, says traveling to the moon changed how he sees Earth, human connection and the wonder available closer to home. His reflections put the mission’s value in personal perspective, beyond the technical achievement of sending astronauts toward the moon.
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NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins made history as commander of her mission to the International Space Station. Her appointment brings renewed attention to diversity in astronaut leadership and to who gets represented in the next generation of human spaceflight.
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China has outlined a roadmap to land astronauts on the moon before 2030, setting its timeline against NASA’s stated goal of returning astronauts to the lunar surface in 2028. The parallel targets sharpen the competition between the two space programs, though the article provides no further details of China’s plan.
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