Posted: Tue, Jan 6 6:49 AM ET (1149 GMT)
The Milky Way galaxy is more massive and spins faster than astronomers previously believed, scientists reported Monday. Astronomers used the Very Long Baseline Array radio telescope to measures distances and motions within the galaxy, finding that objects were moving faster than previous estimates. The solar system, for example, rotates around the galaxy at a speed of over 960,000 km/h, up from previous estimates of 800,000 km/h. That increase in rotation means the Milky Way's mass is 50 percent higher than before, now 3 trillion solar masses, making it similar in size to the nearby Andromeda Galaxy.

Related Links:

•  New York Times article
•  SPACE.com article
•  AP article
•  Science News article
•  Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics press release

Posted: Sat, Jan 3 9:03 AM ET (1403 GMT)
The company that lost a bid to win a NASA contract to ferry supplies to the International Space Station may protest the contract awards, the Wall Street Journal reported late Friday. PlanetSpace, a small company with several major aerospace companies as subcontractors, was one of three companies to bid on NASA's ISS Commercial Resupply Services program this fall, but lost out to Orbital Sciences Corporation and SpaceX. PlanetSpace's proposal was scored higher than Orbital's, according to source selection documents, but NASA chose Orbital because of concerns about PlanetSpace's management weaknesses and ability to handle technical risk. Sources told the Journal that PlanetSpace officials are consulting with lawyers on the possibility of filing a protest, but no decision has been made. A formal debrief is likely to take place in early January, after which PlanetSpace would decide whether to protest.

Related Links:

•  Wall Street Journal article [subscription required]
•  Space News article [temporary link]

Virgin Galactic, Spaceport America finalize lease agreement
Posted: Thu, Jan 1 9:11 AM ET (1411 GMT)
Virgin Galactic has agreed to a long-term lease agreement with a new commercial spaceport in New Mexico, state officials announced Wednesday. Virgin Galactic will...

Loral reveals customer of satellite contract
Posted: Thu, Jan 1 9:00 AM ET (1400 GMT)
Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) revealed Wednesday that the previously-unannounced customer of one of its communications satellites is Intelsat. SS/L will build the...

NASA releases Columbia crew survival report
Posted: Wed, Dec 31 6:38 AM ET (1138 GMT)
The crew of the space shuttle Columbia lost consciousness within seconds of the breakup of the orbiter during reentry on the STS-107 mission nearly...