NASA announced Jan. 22 that it is replacing an astronaut who was scheduled to fly on a commercial crew test flight later this year because of a medical issue. SpaceNews.com

Small launch vehicle developer Rocket Lab will launch an experimental satellite for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in February, the first of a planned dozen launches in 2019. SpaceNews.com

ESA has awarded a contract to a group that includes Europe’s largest launch services provider and a former Google Lunar X Prize competitor to study a concept for a mission to mine lunar regolith. SpaceNews.com

The United Arab Emirates will seek to encourage both investment in space ventures in the country as well as investment by domestic funds into the broader space industry. SpaceNews.com

Griffin: “We think the best approach is a network of satellites in low orbit. How many, what orbit, all that is to be determined.” SpaceNews.com

Stratolaunch, the company founded by the late billionaire Paul Allen, said Jan. 18 that it is ending work on a launch vehicle that would be flown on the company’s giant aircraft. SpaceNews.com

QuadSat, a Danish company focused on testing and calibrating satellite antennas with quadcopters drones, plans to recruit satellite engineers with 700,000 euros ($796,000) raised in a seed investment round announced Jan. 16. SpaceNews.com

Blue Origin has rescheduled a test flight of its New Shepard suborbital vehicle for Jan. 21 as the company edges closer to flying people into space. SpaceNews.com

With the maiden flight of the Ariane 6 now 18 months away (in July 2020), Arianespace CEO Stéphane Israël said the company had anticipated signing a manufacturing contract with ArianeGroup in the second part of last year to begin production beyond the first rocket. SpaceNews.com

A new appropriations bill the House plans to vote on next week would provide $21.5 billion for NASA in 2019 but warns that any further problems with the James Webb Space Telescope could lead to its cancellation. SpaceNews.com

In an interview, Isotropic founder and CEO John Finney said Boeing and Isotropic agreed to several “strategic elements” that go beyond the cash investment. SpaceNews.com

Trump: Space ultimately is “going to be a very big part of our defense and offense." SpaceNews.com

The U.S. Air Force has obligated about $7 million of its $20 million budget for commercial satellite weather data. SpaceNews.com

Amid difficulties for the European launch industry, and with Brexit looming on the horizon, European Space Agency executives face a challenging year ahead. SpaceNews.com

Relativity, the startup developing a small launch vehicle using additive manufacturing technologies, announced Jan. 17 it has won approval from the U.S. Air Force to build a launch site at Cape Canaveral. SpaceNews.com

The White House has once again nominated Barry Myers to be administrator of NOAA, as well as four people to serve on the board of the Export-Import Bank. SpaceNews.com

Aireon said it signed the credit facility Dec. 21, and that it used the new funds to pay satellite operator Iridium $35 million before the end of 2018 for hosting its sensor payloads on the Iridium Next constellation. SpaceNews.com

Less than a week after laying off 10 percent of its employees, SpaceX said Jan. 16 that it plans to shift work on at least prototypes of its next-generation launch system from Los Angeles to Texas. SpaceNews.com

DIA report: U.S communications, reconnaissance, navigation and early warning satellites could be among the targets of China's counterspace weapons. SpaceNews.com

Move fast and break things, the mantra of Silicon Valley startups, has now spread to the space sector with Swarm Technologies going as far as breaking the law. SpaceNews.com