Posted: Sun, Jun 16 10:17 AM ET (1417 GMT)
Blue Origin has secured a place in the national security space launch market with a contract Thursday. The company, along with SpaceX and ULA, won National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 Lane 1 launch contracts Thursday that are worth up to a combined $5.6 billion over five years. The three companies will compete for orders over the contract period in fiscal years 2025 through 2029, with at least 30 Lane 1 missions expected. The three companies were the only ones that met the criteria for less-demanding Lane 1 missions, although there will be on-ramps annually starting in fiscal year 2025 to bring new companies onto the contract. The Phase 3 contract is a big win for Blue Origin, marking the first time it has been selected to launch sensitive national security satellites.

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•  Ars Technica article
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Posted: Sun, Jun 16 10:14 AM ET (1414 GMT)
Voyager 1 is returning science data from its instruments after engineers fixed a computer problem. NASA said Thursday that all four operational instruments on the spacecraft are providing data for the first time since a computer malfunction cut off communications in November. Engineers concluded that a corrupted computer memory chip caused the communications problem and rewrote flight software to correct it. At a committee meeting Thursday, Voyager's project scientist expressed hope that Voyager 1 and its twin Voyager 2 could operate into the 2030s as controllers manage declining power levels.

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•  SpaceNews article
•  Washington Post article
•  New York Times article
•  NASA/JPL release

ISS spacewalks postponed
Posted: Sun, Jun 16 10:11 AM ET (1411 GMT)
NASA has rescheduled a spacewalk that was postponed Thursday but provided few details about what caused the scrub. NASA postponed a spacewalk by astronauts Tracy...

Apex raises $95 million for satellite bus production
Posted: Sun, Jun 16 10:07 AM ET (1407 GMT)
Satellite manufacturer Apex has raised $95 million to accelerate production of larger buses. The company announced the Series B round Wednesday, led by XYZ Venture...

Virgin Galactic performs last commercial flight of VSS Unity
Posted: Sun, Jun 16 10:03 AM ET (1403 GMT)
Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity suborbital spaceplane made its final commercial flight June 8 as the company moves on to a new generation of vehicles....