Tag: selects

NASA Taps ULA’s Centaur V to Power Future SLS Upper Stage

Spaceflight Now reports, “NASA officially selected United Launch Alliance’s Centaur 5 as the upper stage for its Space Launch System rocket starting with the Artemis 4 mission, scheduled to launch no earlier than early 2028. The Centaur 5 was developed as the upper stage of ULA’s Vulcan rocket. The launch vehicle flew four times since its debut in January 2024 and the upper stage performed well across all flights.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)

US Space Force Selects Rocket Lab and Stoke Space to Compete for Future National Security Launches

SPACE reports, “Private launch companies Rocket Lab and Stoke Space have been selected to compete for future U.S. national security space launches. The two launch companies were awarded ‘National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 Lane 1 contracts’ by the U.S. Space Force on March 27, broadening the military branch’s launch options and strengthening access to space.”
Full Story (SPACE)

Firefly Alpha Selected to Launch Earth Science SmallSat Mission for NASA

Space News reports, “NASA selected Firefly Aerospace to launch a trio of Earth science smallsats that will study the formation of storms. The agency said March 4 that it awarded a task order through its Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) contract to Firefly to launch the three-satellite Investigation of Convective Updrafts (INCUS) mission. NASA did not disclose the value of the task order, a practice it has followed on other VADR awards. The INCUS satellites will launch on a Firefly Alpha rocket from Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.”
Full Story (Space News)

Space Force Selects Four Companies to Develop Concepts for ‘Resilient GPS’ Satellites

Space News reports, “The U.S. Space Force selected four companies to develop concepts for smaller, more cost-effective GPS satellites based on commercial designs, aiming to augment the existing Global Positioning System network, the Department of the Air Force announced Sept. 23. Astranis, Axient, L3Harris Technologies and Sierra Space have been chosen to submit proposals for the Resilient GPS (R-GPS) program, which seeks to explore the use of proliferated small satellites transmitting core GPS signals.”
Full Story (Space News)

Lockheed Martin Picks GE’s CF6-80E1 Engine to Power its LMXT Tanker

Breaking Defense reports that Lockheed Martin has chosen “GE Aerospace’s CF6-80E1 engine to power the aerospace giant’s LMXT tanker pitch for the Air Force, the two companies announced” Tuesday. Larry Gallogly, Lockheed Martin’s campaign director for the LMXT, said during a briefing with reporters, “We have endeavored through our supply chain to make sure we were getting the absolute best bang for the buck, so to speak, and providing the best engine for the LMXT. We’re very happy to announce that competition is now complete, and we have selected an iconic United States company, General Electric, to provide the CF6-80E1 engine for the LMXT.”
Full Story (Breaking Defense)

FAA Selects Five Universities to Examine Drone-Based Disaster Assistance

ExecutiveGov reports that the Federal Aviation Administration “has selected five universities to examine drone-based approaches government organizations can apply when responding to manmade or natural disasters.” The grantees are the University of Vermont, the University of Alabama Huntsville, New Mexico State University, North Carolina State University, and Kansas State University.
Full Story (ExecutiveGov)

NASA Selects SpaceX Falcon Heavy for Next Space Telescope Launch

The Orlando (FL) Sentinel reports that with the “success of the James Webb Space Telescope images released this month, NASA is gearing up to send up yet more powerful hardware to capture next-generation images of the universe, and has chosen SpaceX for its ride.” The mission will see the “company’s Falcon Heavy launching the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope to space from Kennedy Space Center on a mission targeting liftoff in October 2026.” The space telescope’s launch “was dubbed a top priority by the 2010 Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey.” The telescope was previously known as the Wide Field InfraRed Survey Telescope.
Full Story (Orlando Sentinel – Subscription Publication)

NASA Selects Design Concepts for Lunar Nuclear Power Stations

SPACE reports that NASA “and the U.S. Department of Energy selected three design concept proposals that the government hopes could be ready for use on the moon by the end of the 2020s, to support the space agency’s Artemis program of lunar exploration.” NASA sees the $5 million contracts “as potentially useful for the exploration of Mars and other deeper-space destinations.” The selected teams “are led by Lockheed Martin, Westinghouse and IX (a joint venture of Intuitive Machines and X-Energy)” and are to “provide NASA critical information from industry that can lead to a joint development of a full flight-certified fission power system.”
Full Story (SPACE)