NASA

WASHINGTON — A change in engines will cause the launch of a lunar lander being built for a NASA-funded mission to slip from 2026 to 2027.In a May 9 statement, ispace U.S., the American subsidiary of Japan’s ispace, said it will use a new engine called VoidRunner for its Apex 1.0 lunar lander. That lander is being developed by ispace U.S. for a team led by Draper flying a mission that is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program.The company previously planned to use an engine from Agile Space Industries called A2200, a bipropellant engine that produces about 2,200 newtons (500 pounds-force) of thrust. However, ispace U.S. said that after a review with Agile, the companies concluded the A2200 “would not be supplied within the originally planned procurement schedu...

WASHINGTON — President Trump’s national security advisor Mike Waltz on Wednesday forcefully defended the administration’s Golden Dome missile defense initiative, insisting that the project is not a fad and will remain a top administration priority.Speaking April 30 at the Hill & Valley Forum on Capitol Hill — organized by Silicon Valley tech leaders — Waltz hailed Golden Dome as a strategic necessity. The project — initially introduced as “Iron Dome for America” before being renamed Golden Dome — has emerged as a flashpoint in Washington’s defense policy debate. Proposed as a next-generation missile shield featuring space-based sensors and interceptors, Golden Dome received a major boost in a GOP-backed spending bill. But it’s also drawing sharp opposition from Democrats, who wa...