Civil News

The latest civil stories, summarized by AI

China’s 2027 crewed circumlunar mission sparks renewed space race

NASA chief says China is expected to perform a crewed circumlunar flight around the Moon in 2027, a development echoed by Jared Isaacman who warned the next Moon mission will be taikonauts. The comments underscore a perceived space-race dynamic between the U.S. and China, while Isaacman has pushed to accelerate Artemis—now reframed as a 2027 low-Earth-orbit test (Artemis 3) followed by a 2028 lunar landing (Artemis 4)—and Congress has signaled support with increased exploration funding. All crewed lunar missions to date have been NASA missions.

6 days ago•Source: SpaceNews

NASA opens final bid round for Mars telecom relay orbiter

civil

14.495 min•9 days ago

NASA opens final bid round for Mars telecom relay orbiter

NASA has released the final RFP for the Mars Telecommunications Network (MTN), inviting proposals by June 15 and aiming to award a contract by Oct. 1. The MTN would be a Mars communications relay orbiter funded with about $700 million from the budget reconciliation act and targeted for readiness by 2028, with a payload allowance around 20 kg (55 x 55 x 45 cm) and 60 watts of power. Eligibility is limited to companies that participated in 2024–25 Mars sample return commercial studies; eight firms did (Blue Origin, L3Harris, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Rocket Lab, SpaceX, Quantum Space, Whittinghill Aerospace), though NASA has not disclosed which included telecom orbiter concepts. Blue Origin and SpaceX have been vocal proponents of a Mars telecom orbiter.

via SpaceNews