A new study using data from a pair of gravity-measuring NASA satellites finds that large parts of the arid Middle East region lost freshwater reserves rapidly during the past decade. Scientists at the University of California at Irvine (UC Irvine); NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.; and the National Center for Atmospheric Research…

The March 1 launch of Cargo Resupply Service mission 2 [CRS2] to the International Space Station was flawless.  Space X’s Falcon 9 brought the Dragon capsule into orbit. But at 9 minutes into the flight, the Dragon capsule’s Draco thruster system did not activate as planned. The capsule is equipped with 18 of SpaceX’s Draco…

Lockheed Martin has successfully completed a Delta Preliminary Design Review for the next Global Positioning System III satellite vehicles planned under the U.S. Air Force’s GPS III program. The GPS III program will affordably replace aging GPS satellites, while improving capability to meet the evolving demands of military, commercial and civilian users. GPS III satellites…

Aerojet, a GenCorp company, announced May 8 that the final Crew Module Reaction Control System pod assembly for NASA’s Orion spacecraft’s Exploration Flight Test-1 has arrived at the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Aerojet’s CM RCS pods will provide the full complement of primary and redundant control required for…

NASA astronaut Suni Williams will announce March 22 the two winners of the YouTube Space Lab contest, a global science competition that challenges 14-18 year-old students to design a science experiment for the International Space Station. The awards ceremony will be held at 10 a.m., EDT, in the Newseum’s Knight Room at 555 Pennsylvania Ave….

NASA’s Space Technology Program has awarded Space System/Loral of Palo Alto, Calif., a $3 million contract to initiate the process of hosting a space laser communications relay demonstration terminal payload aboard a Loral commercial satellite, which launches in 2016. The agreement marks the first time NASA has contracted to fly a payload on an American-manufactured…

NASA has selected Jacobs Technology, Inc., of Tullahoma, Tenn., for its Engineering and Science Services and Skills Augmentation contract at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. The approximate, potential maximum quantity value of the contract, including all options, is $600 million. Jacobs will provide the continuous requirement for engineers, scientists and technicians necessary to…

Virgin Galactic, the world’s first commercial spaceline, announced May 30 that its vehicle developer, Scaled Composites, has been granted an experimental launch permit from the Federal Aviation Administration for its suborbital spacecraft, SpaceshipTwo, and the carrier aircraft, WhiteKnightTwo. “This important milestone enables our team to progress to the rocket-powered phase of test flight, bringing us…

The VINASAT-2 telecommunications satellite, designed and built by Lockheed Martin for the Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group of Vietnam, is now ready for service following successful on-orbit deployment and checkout of all spacecraft systems. “VINASAT-2 will join VINASAT-1 to form a satellite network, helping to improve the business capabilities, safety and reliability of the Vietnam…