Space and Aeronautics

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan on Tuesday fielded questions from lawmakers about three separate space organizations the Pentagon is pursuing: U.S. Space Command, the Space Development Agency and a Space Force. When pressed by Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) to rank them in order of priority, Shanahan said the first two were the most urgent. “I would push forth standing up of the U.S. Space Co... Read more »

On Feb. 28, the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the Crew Dragon capsule for its Demo-1 flight test. The capsule carried about 400 pounds of supplies for the International Space Station and a dummy named Ripley, which was fitted with sensors to record what astronauts can expect to experience throughout their mission. Three days after the launch, the spacecraft docked autonomously to the Internation... Read more »

U.S. Rep. Kendra Horn (OK-05), made some of her first public appearances as the chairwoman of the House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics on Wednesday, when she met with hundreds of the industry’s representatives from the public and private sectors. She spoke at the Commercial Spaceflight Federation’s conference to introduce her vision for the coming years. That sector is already taking off. T... Read more »