Posted: Sat, Jun 27 11:16 AM ET (1516 GMT)
NASA selected Rocket Lab to launch a pair of Earth and space science missions. NASA said Thursday it will use Rocket Lab's Electron to launch its Polarized Submillimeter Ice-cloud Radiometer, or PolSIR, and Total and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor-2, or TSIS-2, missions in 2027. PolSIR features a pair of cubesats, launched on individual Electrons, to measure the rise and fall of ice crystals in tropical clouds, as well as how those changes in ice affect storm development. TSIS-2 carries instruments to measure the amount of solar energy entering Earth's atmosphere as a successor to TSIS-1, an ISS payload. NASA used its Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) contract to make the awards and did not disclose their value.

Related Links:

•  SpaceNews article
•  Radio New Zealand article
•  NASA press release

Posted: Sat, Jun 27 11:14 AM ET (1514 GMT)
Four projects canceled earlier this year as part of changes to NASA's Artemis architecture had seen their costs more than double. NASA's Office of Inspector General issued a memo Wednesday evaluating the projects, linked to the Space Launch System Block 1B and lunar Gateway, programs NASA announced earlier this year it would halt. The combined cost of the four contracts had grown from nearly $2.8 billion to $5.9 billion, with more than $1 billion in additional cost increases projected. Some of the projects were up to seven years behind schedule. NASA noted in its response to the memo that it was changing how it was running contracts as it revises its Artemis lunar exploration plans, including more use of fixed-price contracts.

Related Links:

•  SpaceNews article
•  Ars Technica article
•  Space.com article

Perseverance Mars rover finds more potential biosignatures
Posted: Sat, Jun 27 11:12 AM ET (1512 GMT)
A NASA Mars rover has found more potential evidence of past life on the Red Planet. Scientists said this week that rocks analyzed by the...

Boeing to build two MUOS satellites
Posted: Sat, Jun 27 11:10 AM ET (1510 GMT)
Boeing won a contract worth up to $2 billion to build two next-generation military communications satellites for the U.S. Space Force. The contract...

OHB raising money in stock sale
Posted: Sat, Jun 27 11:07 AM ET (1507 GMT)
OHB is raising about half a billion euros in a stock sale to fund expansion and potential acquisitions. The company announced this week it would...