Tag Archives: Orion

A Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Tuesday passed its fiscal 2019 spending bill that would authorize $21.3 billion in funds for NASA, representing a $1.4 billion increase from the president’s budget request for the agency, SpacePolicyOnline.com reported Tuesday. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) led the markup of the Senate Appropriations commerce, justice …

House lawmakers have called on the Senate to speed up the confirmation of Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-Oklahoma) for the NASA administrator role in light of Robert Lightfoot’s decision to retire as the agency’s acting chief by the end of April. Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas), chairman of the House space subcommittee, …

The Royal Australian Air Force’s P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft, built by Boeing, has reached initial operating capability status five months ahead of schedule. Australia has received six of 12 P-8As on order to date, RAAF said Tuesday. The Number 11 Squadron operates the delivered units at a military airbase in Edinburgh, South Australia. Marise Payne, …

President Donald Trump’s fiscal 2019 budget proposal would allocate approximately $20 billion for NASA and cancel the space agency’s funding of the International Space Station in 2025, Nextgov reported Monday. The proposal also includes funding for partnerships with private firms to send robots to the moon and advances a plan …

NASA and the U.S. Navy have conducted another recovery test of an Orion test vehicle aboard the USS Anchorage amphibious transport dock. The Navy said Thursday the Underway Recovery Test-6 is meant to ensure the safe retrieval of the Orion spacecraft crew module, which is designed to transport humans to deep space. …

NASA has announced that the Orion spacecraft’s fifth parachute test will take place Dec. 13 at the U.S. Army‘s Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona. The space agency said Tuesday a C-17 aircraft will drop a model Orion vehicle from an altitude of 35,000 feet as engineers will assess a simulated scenario wherein …

NASA has showcased a rocket engine verification test to more than 1,500 visitors during an open house event at Stennis Space Center on Thursday. The agency said Friday it tested the RS-25 engine E2063, which is one of four RS-25 engines that will power the crewed and uncrewed flights of the Space Launch System rocket. NASA …

The Government Accountability Office has recommended that Congress consider instructing  NASA to implement strategies to address challenges related to oversight of three human spaceflight programs. GAO said in a report published Thursday that although NASA’s current approach to integrate its Space Launch System, Orion spacecraft and supporting ground systems offer some advantages, …

NASA and Russia’s space agency Roscosmos have signed a joint statement during the 68th International Astronautical Congress to collaborate on the formulation of a deep space gateway concept. The joint statement represents a common human exploration vision between the two agencies and gateway concept studies under the partnership will help decision …

NASA has decided to pursue its original plan to conduct the first integrated flight of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft without crew. The agency said Saturday it is “technically capable” of launching astronauts aboard the Exploration Mission-1 flight test, but it would be difficult to modify plans to make way for a crewed …