SpaceNews Editor-in-Chief Brian Berger presents the winners of 2018 SpaceNews Awards for Excellence & Innovation. SpaceNews.com

China’s Chang’e-4 lander and rover spacecraft successfully entered lunar orbit Wednesday following a four-and-half-day flight to the moon. SpaceNews.com

Virgin Galactic plans to perform the next test flight of its SpaceShipTwo suborbital spaceplane as soon as Dec. 13, a flight that could be the first by the vehicle to reach at least one definition of space. SpaceNews.com

As a founder and chief strategy officer of ATLAS Space Operations, a satellite data communications company that has been doing this very same thing for the past four years, you might think I’d be a little nervous to see Amazon enter the industry. But I’m not. SpaceNews.com

With both the current Congress and his political career nearing their ends, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) said Dec. 10 he’s continuing to fight to extend operations of the International Space Station through the end of the next decade. SpaceNews.com

Aerospace CEO Isakowitz: The government traditionally buys a bus, payload and ground segment as a package, he said. That does not give you flexibility to swap out and change pieces. SpaceNews.com

As NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft enters interstellar space, project officials have high hopes that it and its twin spacecraft will continue to operate for as long as a decade. SpaceNews.com

Spacecraft manufacturers have complained of stress on their supplier base as operators purchase fewer traditional geostationary satellites. One company in France is bucking that trend, however. SpaceNews.com

A NASA spacecraft originally built as part of the previous effort to return humans to the moon is now playing a key role in the new effort at human lunar return, including aiding commercial landers. SpaceNews.com

Planet's employees, customers and investors paint a picture of a company growing steadily while seeking to dramatically expand the market for data captured via satellite. SpaceNews.com

Two consulting firms anticipate strong demand for commercial Earth observation products and services in the next decade as satellite constellations offer an increasing array of optical, radar, hyperspectral and video imagery and data. SpaceNews.com

In recent years, there has been a boom of announcements for satellite constellations comprising satellites weighing as little as 3 kilograms to address a growing market of machine-to-machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) via satellite. SpaceNews.com

In an interview, Axelspace Chief Business Development Officer Yasunori Yamazaki, said the funding will enable the company of 65 people to continue building a constellation called AxelGlobe, though the company hasn’t decided on a final size for the constellation. SpaceNews.com

With a two-week extension of the stopgap spending bill funding much of the federal government enacted, the outgoing chairman of the House appropriations subcommittee that funds NASA says he’s hopeful to get a final spending bill approved before that bill expires. SpaceNews.com

China launched its Chang’e-4 moon mission Dec. 7, successfully sending the lander and rover into a lunar transfer orbit ahead of an unprecedented attempt at a landing on the far side of the moon early in the New Year. SpaceNews.com

The new launch date, announced Dec. 7 by customer Iridium Communications, was driven by the additional two weeks SpaceX ended up needing to launch Spaceflight Industries’ “SmallSat Express” dedicated rideshare mission. SpaceNews.com

While a SpaceX commercial crew test flight might not launch on a date in early January previously announced NASA, both agency and company officials are optimistic the mission will still fly later in the month. SpaceNews.com

During a Q&A session at a U.S. Chamber of Commerce summit to promote the space industry as an engine of innovation and economic growth, Griffin said he does not know when or how a new military branch will be organized. SpaceNews.com

Maxar Technologies sold one of satellite manufacturer Space Systems Loral’s facilities in Silicon Valley for $70 million, the company announced today. SpaceNews.com

A test flight in Alaska of a small launch vehicle by a stealthy startup company ended in failure in late November, the FAA has revealed. SpaceNews.com