Tag: Space Operations Mission Directorate

NASA to Provide Coverage of Progress 91 Launch, Space Station Docking

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The unpiloted Roscosmos Progress spacecraft pictured on Aug. 13, 2024, from the International Space Station. Credit: NASA NASA will provide live launch and docking coverage of a Roscosmos cargo spacecraft delivering approximately three tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the crew aboard the International Space Station. The unpiloted Roscosmos Progress 91 spacecraft is scheduled to launch at 4:24 p.m. EST, Thursday, Feb. 27 (2:24 a.m. Baikonur time, Friday, Feb. 28), on a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Live launch coverage will begin at 4 p.m. on…

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NASA Awards Planetary Defense Space Telescope Launch Services Contract

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Credit: NASA NASA has selected SpaceX of Starbase, Texas, to provide launch services for the Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor mission, which will detect and observe asteroids and comets that could potentially pose an impact threat to Earth. The firm fixed price launch service task order is being awarded under the indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity NASA Launch Services II contract. The total cost to NASA for the launch service is approximately $100 million, which includes the launch service and other mission related costs. The NEO Surveyor mission is targeted to launch no…

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NASA, SpaceX Invite Media to Watch Crew-10 Launch to Space Station

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NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 members (from left to right) Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, NASA astronauts Nichole Ayers and Anne McClain, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi pictured training at SpaceX in Hawthorne, California. Credit: SpaceX Media accreditation is open for the launch of NASA’s 10th rotational mission of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft, carrying astronauts to the International Space Station for a science expedition. The agency’s SpaceX Crew-10 mission is targeting launch on Wednesday, March 12, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center…

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NASA Awards Launch Service Task Order for Pandora Mission

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Credit: NASA NASA has selected SpaceX of Starbase, Texas, to provide the launch service for the agency’s Pandora mission, which will study at least 20 known exoplanets and their host stars to find out how changes in stars affect our observations of exoplanet atmospheres. The selection is part of NASA’s Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) launch services contract. This contract allows the agency to make fixed-price indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity awards during VADR’s five-year ordering period, with a maximum total value of $300 million across all contracts. During its one-year primary…

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Meet the Space Ops Team: Lindsai Bland

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3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) With more than 17 years of experience at NASA, Lindsai Bland has been an integral part of the agency, contributing to multiple Earth observing system missions at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Now, Bland ensures the agency’s communications and navigation resources meet overall needs and requirements as the Mission Operations Interface Lead for NASA’s SCaN (Space Communications and Navigation) program.  This sunset photo shows Deep Space Station 14 (DSS-14), the 230-foot-wide (70-meter) antenna at the Goldstone…

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NASA Selects Four Commercial Companies to Support Near Space Network

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NASA has selected multiple companies to expand the agency’s Near Space Network’s commercial direct-to-Earth capabilities services, which is a mission-critical communication capability that allows spacecraft to transmit data directly to ground stations on Earth. The work will be awarded under new Near Space Network services contracts that are firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts. Project timelines span from February 2025 to September 2029, with an additional five-year option period that could extend a contract through Sept. 30, 2034. The cumulative maximum value of all Near Space Network Services contracts is $4.82 billion. Some…

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NASA’s New Deep Space Network Antenna Has Its Crowning Moment

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4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) A crane lowers the steel reflector framework for Deep Space Station 23 into position Dec. 18 on a 65-foot-high (20-meter) platform above the antenna’s pedestal that will steer the reflector. Panels will be affixed to the structure create a curved surface to collect radio frequency signals. NASA/JPL-Caltech After the steel framework of the Deep Space Station 23 reflector dish was lowered into place on Dec. 18, a crew installed the quadripod, a four-legged support structure that will direct radio…

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NASA’s Spot the Station App Developed by and for the People 

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3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) The Spot the Station app was developed in collaboration with the public through a series of crowdsourcing competitions. NASA With more than 25 years of operations, the International Space Station continues to symbolize discovery and cooperation for the benefit of humanity. Since 2012, observers have interacted with the space station through NASA’s Spot the Station website, a web browser-based tool that includes interactive maps for users to track the station and find viewpoints closest to their location.   A decade…

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NASA Awards Launch Services Contract for Dragonfly Mission

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Caption: Artist’s concept of Dragonfly soaring over the dunes of Saturn’s moon Titan. NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben NASA has selected SpaceX to provide launch services for the Dragonfly mission, a rotorcraft lander mission under NASA’s New Frontiers Program, designed to explore Saturn’s moon Titan. The mission will sample materials and determine surface composition in different geologic settings, advancing our search for the building blocks of life. The firm-fixed-price contract has a value of approximately $256.6 million, which includes launch services and other mission related costs. The Dragonfly mission currently has…

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