WASHINGTON—NASA’s new Vertical Assembly Center, a 170-foot-high machine that will be used to assemble elements of the agency’s Space Launch System, is ready to weld parts for the rocket that will send humans to an asteroid and Mars.
EL SEGUNDO, CA—Millennium Space Systems has opened a new 70,000-square-foot headquarters and assembly plant here. The factory can produce more than 40 satellites simultaneously.
ROLLA, MO—Researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology are running computer simulations of additive manufacturing processes that could lead to stronger, more durable materials for spacecraft.
SAN DIEGO—Space Micro, a manufacturer of radiation-hardened electronic products for spacecraft and military applications, has expanded its assembly plant here, doubling the size of its clean room and environmental qualification testing space.
NEPHI, UT—Roger Boisjoly, the engineer who warned about a problem with the space shuttle Challenger’s solid rocket boosters before the disastrous launch in July 1985, died last month at age 73.
MOJAVE, CA—Stratolaunch Systems has begun constructing an air and space port here, where the company plans to assemble aircraft to launch spacecraft into orbit.