Moon

SpaceFund to invest in navigation system for cislunar space
Venture investor SpaceFund announced Nov. 3 it plans to finance the development of an autonomous navigation capability for space missions beyond Earth orbit in the region known as cislunar space.

Exotrail to provide thrust for York cislunar mission
York Space Systems plans to rely on Exotrail electric propulsion for a mission to provide Earth-to-moon communications services from cislunar orbit.

General Atomics wins DARPA contract to develop nuclear reactor to power missions to the moon
DARPA awarded a $22 million contract to General Atomics to design a small nuclear reactor for space propulsion.

Australian startup develops quantum sensors for space applications
Q-Ctrl, an Australian startup, is developing quantum sensors to send to Earth orbit, the moon and eventually Mars.

Frontier Aerospace wins second propulsion contract from Astrobotic
SAN FRANCISCO – Southern California startup Frontier Aerospace has won contracts to supply propulsion systems for two Astrobotic lunar landers.
Simi Valley, California-based Frontier Aerospace was already building 150-pound and 10-pound t…

Frontier Aerospace completes design of Peregrine thrusters
Frontier Aerospace, a small Southern California company, has completed the design of attitude control thrusters it's developing with NASA and Astrobotic Technologies for deep space missions.

Spacebit invites research partners for 2021 lunar missions
Spacebit is inviting university researchers to share data the London-based company plans to obtain from the miniature rovers scheduled to travel to the moon with Astrobotic Technology and Intuitive Machines in 2021.

ULA’s Tory Bruno argues for U.S. investments in the production of fuel in space
Bruno has pitched the idea of a "strategic propellant reserve" to the National Space Council

Space Force members can go to the moon, if they’re picked by NASA
Gen. DT Thompson: There are no plans today to send Space Force units into space.

NASA affirms partnership with Space Force, Bridenstine stresses value of ‘soft power’
Bridenstine: "I really hope people take away from this discussion that we are an instrument of national power."

U.S. military eyes a role in the great power competition for lunar resources
DIU space director Butow: “We have the power where it make sense of leveraging and using public private partnerships to our advantage.”

Voyager Space Holdings announces acquisition of Pioneer Astronautics
Voyager is acquiring Pioneer Astronautics, a company that develops technologies to make human life sustainable in outer space.

India launches Chandrayaan-2 lunar orbiter and lander mission
India successfully launched its Chandrayaan-2 orbiter and lunar surface spacecraft Monday, a week after the first launch attempt was scrubbed due to an issue with the launch vehicle.

Safety panel calls on NASA to apply commercial crew lessons for Artemis
As NASA starts development of lunar landers for Artemis, it should carefully incorporate the lessons learned from the commercial crew program, a safety panel advised.

White House reiterates human moon missions on the path to Mars
A day after President Trump appeared to cast doubt on NASA’s plans to send humans to the moon, a White House official said the moon remained a goal of the agency’s programs as a step towards Mars.

U.S. and Japan to cooperate on return to the moon
The governments of the United States and Japan have agreed to further cooperation in space which could include flying Japanese astronauts to the moon.