Earth watcher Proba-V is in good health following its launch last week. The Vegetation imager has been switched on and the first image has been captured over western France. The miniature satellite is designed to map land cover and vegetation growth across the entire planet every two days. The data can be used for alerting authorities to crop failures or monitoring the spread of deserts and deforestation. The satellite’s vegetation imager was switched on Wednesday in time to get...

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -  Boeing [NYSE: BA] has a new satellite customer under a contract to design and deliver one Boeing 702HP high-power spacecraft to ViaSat Inc. [NASDAQ: VSAT] in 2016. The satellite, ViaSat-2, will provide high-speed satellite broadband services to subscribers of the ViaSat Exede® Internet service, as well as address its growing mobile broadband businesses. The companies also will cooperatively offer the system to other satellite providers. Contract value is not being disclosed. "...

LOS ANGELES AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -  A U.S. Air Force Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite built by Boeing was successfully launched May 15. The fourth GPS IIF satellite, Space Vehicle Number (SVN) 66, was carried aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V Launch Vehicle at 5:38 p.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The new capabilities of the IIF satellites will provide greater navigational accuracy through improvements in atomic clock technology; a more robust signal for commercial aviation and safety-of-l...

NASA's first mission to sample an asteroid is moving ahead into development and testing in preparation for its launch in 2016. The Origins-Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) passed a confirmation review Wednesday called Key Decision Point (KDP)-C. NASA officials reviewed a series of detailed project assessments and authorized the spacecraft's continuation into the development phase. OSIRIS-REx will rendezvous with the astero...

CARLSBAD, Calif. -  ViaSat (NASDAQ: VSAT) has executed a contract with Boeing (NYSE: BA) to build ViaSat-2, which is based on ViaSat's next generation, Ka-band satellite technology and architecture. ViaSat-2 is expected to be, by far, the world's highest capacity satellite at the time of launch (scheduled for mid-2016) achieving an unparalleled mix of capacity and coverage. ViaSat-2 is anticipated to approximately double the bandwidth economics of ViaSat-1 while simultaneously increasing its coverage foo...

See space crafts photos, homemade tech and more from the Maker Faire Bay Area in May 2013.

Seeing our fragile Earth hanging alone in space could inspire people to take the long view.

The online Slooh Space Camera will offer live views of Comet ISON at 4:45 pm ET today (May 19).

The online Slooh Space Camera will provide live views of Comet ISON Sunday (May 19) at 4:45 p.m. ET (2045 GMT).

What was your favorite space news story of the last week?

From snow falling on our largest telescopes to cool lunar vehicles in space, don't miss these amazing space photos of the week.

NASA's Kepler has revolutionized exoplanet science, researchers say.

A new video from a skywatcher in northern Michigan shows amazing views of the auroras and other cosmic wonders over the course of a year.

Dream Chaser's first free-flight test is slated for later this year.

Electric vehicles have no real competitors for the Martian market.

Electric propulsion technology has matured to the point that NASA may consider it as part of a scheme to send people to Mars.

The Mobile Science Lab flashes some complex moves to get rock samples from drill bit to baking chamber for chemical analysis (CHIMRA experiment).

The eruption shouldn't pose a threat to Earth but may supercharge northern lights displays.

In the new "Star Trek" film, the planet Nibiru is a lush, jungle planet.

This space wallpaper of the nebula NGC 3603 shows globules of gas and dust; giant, gaseous pillars; young stars surrounded by debris disks; aging, massive stars; and a blue supergiant star—all various stages in star life.

The agency must take a realist attitude to what can be done with little money, Bolden said.

After a day of rest, active region 1748 unleashed class-M1.3 and M3.2 flares on May 16th and 17th, 2013. This same storm blasted 4 X-class flares between May 13 and 15.

A new 65-foot-wide impact crater is the result.

The X-38 research vehicle touches down on Rogers Dry Lakebed.

A NASA moon monitoring telescope captured the blast, which could be seen by the naked eye on Earth, on March 17th, 2013. The object was the size of a small boulder and may be part of a meteor swarm that also flew past Earth.