SpaceNews.com
• Jeff Foust
NASA and AeroVironment are moving forward with development of a helicopter fleet intended for deployment to Mars at the end of 2028. The SkyFall effort would extend rotorcraft operations beyond Ingenuity, positioning aerial mobility as a potential tool for future planetary exploration.
NASA
Latest source-backed stories
NASA and AeroVironment are moving forward with development of a helicopter fleet intended for deployment to Mars at the end of 2028. The SkyFall effort would extend rotorcraft operations beyond Ingenuity, positioning aerial mobility as a potential tool for future planetary exploration.
NASA and Katalyst Space will attempt rendezvous and proximity operations between Katalyst’s LINK spacecraft and NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, following an ongoing commercial spacecraft attitude-control issue. The maneuver is intended to demonstrate capabilities that could support future on-orbit servicing and space exploration missions.
High activity
President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the creation—or further study—of a U.S. Space Academy modeled on institutions serving the Air Force and Coast Guard. The proposed school would train personnel for the Space Force, NASA and the expanding civilian spaceflight industry.
High activity
President Donald Trump presented NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, the Congressional Space Medal of Honor at Johnson Space Center. The award recognizes the crew’s successful Artemis II mission, including its crewed flight around the moon earlier this year.
High activity
NASA has begun examining options to replace its fleet of T-38 Talon jets, which have trained astronauts for decades. The effort comes as the U.S. Air Force prepares to retire its own aging Talon fleet, creating potential challenges for sustaining astronaut training capabilities.
A private spacecraft failed to reach NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, ending efforts to arrest the telescope’s atmospheric decay. Swift is now expected to fall back to Earth in the near future, but NASA has not yet provided a timeline or predicted reentry location.
Colorado-based quantum technology company Infleqtion will continue developing a mission to launch what NASA describes as the world’s first space-based quantum gravity sensor under a $20 million contract. The work advances quantum sensing for space applications, with the mission’s objective and launch timing not disclosed in the article.
Katalyst Space has dropped plans to reboost a NASA satellite but is continuing to operate its Swift spacecraft, using the mission to build experience for future on-orbit satellite servicing missions. The effort provides operational experience even without completing the originally planned reboost objective.
Create a free account to see more recent NASA stories and keep bookmarks in one place.
