Jeff Foust
Jeff Foust is a Senior Staff Writer at SpaceNews, a space industry news magazine and website, where he writes about space policy, commercial spaceflight and other aerospace industry topics. Jeff has a Ph.D. in planetary sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and earned a bachelor's degree in geophysics and planetary science from the California Institute of Technology. You can see Jeff's latest projects by following him on Twitter.
Latest articles by Jeff Foust
![SpaceShipTwo](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/u7UWMqyyuUDcw8nPKv7Yt8-320-80.jpg)
Boundary of Space Being Reconsidered as Virgin Galactic Test Program Advances
By Jeff Foust last updated
As Virgin Galactic gets closer to its first suborbital flights into space, a potential change in terminology could make it easier for the company to achieve that milestone.
![Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the anti-satellite test in a televised speech March 27.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/mBAuYGy9LFzVB6vXnwK273-320-80.jpg)
India Tests Anti-Satellite Weapon
By Jeff Foust last updated
The Indian government announced March 27 it successfully fired a ground-based anti-satellite weapon against a satellite in low Earth orbit.
![Hass Suborbital Rocket](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/XtbyRnA2c7Dh2AorqvQrgC-320-80.jpg)
ARCA Space Will Launch Test Flights from Spaceport America
By Jeff Foust last updated
A former Ansari X Prize competitor plans to carry out tests of high-altitude drones and suborbital rockets at New Mexico’s Spaceport America.
![WFIRST](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/sipyntLGWRvWGWP8wriPFA-320-80.jpg)
Senator Seeks Assurances on JWST and WFIRST Funding
By Jeff Foust last updated
As Congress works to finalize a fiscal year 2019 spending bill for NASA, a senator is asking colleagues to secure the future of two of NASA's largest astrophysics missions.
![Congress ignored NASA's proposal to cancel WFIRST in fiscal year 2019, but the $312 million it provided was $60 million less than what the project needed to stay on track for a 2025 launch.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/TmUmz6o47jfapypEjsUV3d-320-80.jpg)
NASA's WFIRST Space Telescope Faces Funding Crunch
By Jeff Foust last updated
A NASA astrophysics mission that avoided cancellation last year could still face budget problems if it evades another termination threat this year, agency officials warned this week.
![Two days after the Air Force announced it was awarding Vector a launch contract, the company replaced its CEO amid reports the company had closed its three facilities.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/pTFDfy9x8VNp5yqzCggxPN-320-80.jpg)
Vector Replaces CEO Amid Reports of Financial Problems
By Jeff Foust published
Small launch vehicle company Vector has replaced its founding chief executive and disclosed that financial difficulties have forced the company to suspend its operations.
![SpaceX plans to modify Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center to host launches of its Starship vehicle and Super Heavy booster.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Ny97FET2SWUiUPJtnNt78X-320-80.jpg)
Report Outlines SpaceX's Plans for Starship Launches from NASA's Kennedy Space Center
By Jeff Foust published
SpaceX plans to build facilities at the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A for launches and, eventually, landings of its next-generation launch vehicle, according to a newly released report.
![NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine discussed his desire to support industrialization of low Earth orbit in a July 31 speech at the ISS Research and Development Conference in Atlanta.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/qesfqtqRgTNpwEcANdBMdZ-320-80.jpg)
NASA Seeks 'Industrialization' of Low Earth Orbit with ISS Commercialization Strategy
By Jeff Foust published
Jim Bridenstine says he believes the agency's new strategy for increasing commercial use of the International Space Station will lead to an "industrialization" of low Earth orbit.
![A problem hampering the key instrument on the GOES-17 satellite is likely due to some kind of particulates blocking pipes used to remove heat, a report concluded.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ESDs7Fr3cTqhiZ8AL2qe9W-320-80.jpg)
GOES-17 Instrument Problem Blamed on Blocked Heat Pipe
By Jeff Foust published
A report released Aug. 1 concluded that a problem with an instrument on the GOES-17 weather satellite is likely caused by some kind of blockage in a system used to cool the instrument.
![The OneWeb Satellites factory, located just outside the gates of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, will be able to produce two OneWeb satellites a day when fully operational.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/CY9R28y2RpZELzdiB4beWQ-320-80.jpg)
OneWeb Satellites Inaugurate Florida Factory
By Jeff Foust published
OneWeb Satellites, the joint venture of Airbus and OneWeb, formally opened its Florida factory that will soon be producing satellites for OneWeb’s constellation at the rate of two per day.
![NASA's draft plans for lunar lander development call for the use of public-private partnerships to develop landers, starting with a version that can host two astronauts on the moon for six and a half days in 2024.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/h2uV52SHcWjFLKb8Yt9yMW-320-80.jpg)
NASA Outlines Plans for Lunar Lander Development Through Commercial Partnerships
By Jeff Foust published
As NASA celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first crewed landing on the moon, the agency released new details about how it will procure landers to enable humans to return to the moon in the 2020s.
![A ground prototype of a habitation module developed by Northrop Grumman during testing in May at the Johnson Space Center.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/DUovsYWiCpne8nuQqtEqxE-320-80.jpg)
NASA Taps Northrop Grumman to Build Lunar Gateway Habitation Module
By Jeff Foust published
NASA has quietly decided to give Northrop Grumman a contract to build a “minimal” habitation module for its lunar Gateway.
![A SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft testing its SuperDraco thrusters. SpaceX said July 15 that an accident nearly three months earlier that destroyed a Crew Dragon spacecraft during testing was likely caused by a faulty valve in the SuperDraco propulsion system.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RLfcU2yXaTTbxP9wHAgmXF-320-80.jpg)
SpaceX Says Faulty Valve Led to Crew Dragon Test Accident
By Jeff Foust published
The April 20 explosion of SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft was caused by a leaky component and faulty valve, the company says.
![NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a July 11 memo he'll undertake a nationwide search to find a new associate administrator for human exploration and operations as well as two deputies after reassigning longtime associate administrator Bill Gerstenmaier.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/okb7X8muZB9eLWfnHQiRTX-320-80.jpg)
NASA Chief Says Leadership Changes Linked to Urgency in Exploration Programs
By Jeff Foust published
NASA chief Jim Bridenstine said he needed to move quickly to change leadership of NASA's exploration programs to address cost and schedule issues and keep a 2024 human lunar landing on track.
![An illustration of the Genesis lunar lander that Firefly will offer to NASA using a design provided by Israel Aerospace Industries.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/uAzTQy3kQL23KmdwaM2xDn-320-80.jpg)
Firefly to Partner with Israel Aerospace Industries on Moon Lander
By Jeff Foust published
Firefly Aerospace announced July 9 it plans to work with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), the manufacturer of the Beresheet lunar lander, to develop its own lunar landers for NASA.
![Virgin Galactic said the several hundred million dollars it raised through the merger with SCH will allow it to move into commercial operations of its SpaceShipTwo suborbital vehicle.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/4We3WACkc5aYtCSmrUXzDL-320-80.jpg)
Virgin Galactic to Go Public, Merge with Investment Company
By Jeff Foust published
Virgin Galactic announced it had reached an agreement to merge with a public investment vehicle, raising several hundred million dollars of capital and allowing the company to become publicly traded.
![PTScientists said it will continue to work on its lunar lander after filing for preliminary insolvency with a German court because of a funding shortfall.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/oLkXpTANYJx6rzBBfW6u2R-320-80.jpg)
German Lunar Lander Company Files for Bankruptcy Protection
By Jeff Foust published
A German company that is developing a lunar lander has filed for insolvency, citing a shortfall in funding, but vows to continue development of its spacecraft.
![An illustration of the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) spacecraft, which will launch in April 2021 on a Falcon 9.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/MrtBZd3p8Y3MJPMxdXoEBV-320-80.jpg)
SpaceX Wins Contract to Launch NASA Small Astrophysics Mission
By Jeff Foust published
NASA awarded a launch contract to SpaceX July 8 for the launch of a small astrophysics mission as the company offered a Falcon 9 at a lower price than a much smaller rocket.
![NEOCam was a finalist in the previous competition for Discovery-class planetary science missions. It was not selected, but received funding to continue development of its infrared detector technology.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/WGjwt7kuPGGjACN8G74C8L-320-80.jpg)
Report Makes Case for Space-based Asteroid Tracking Telescope
By Jeff Foust published
A report last month has buoyed the efforts of scientists seeking a dedicated mission to search for near Earth objects, although NASA has yet to commit to funding that mission.
![While DSCOVR's primary mission is monitoring the solar wind, its EPIC instrument provides full-disk views of the Earth, sometimes capturing the moon as it passes between the Earth and the spacecraft.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/sPZaJkDZZUPg3Y2AKuXN9K-320-80.jpg)
DSCOVR Spacecraft in Safe Mode
By Jeff Foust published
A joint NASA/NOAA spacecraft that monitors space weather and provides imagery of Earth has been offline for more than a week because of a problem with its positioning system.
Get the Space.com Newsletter
Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!