Commercial

Europe is getting into the space manufacturing race as the European Commission awards Airbus a €3-million (US$3.5-million) contract to study the potential for assembling spacecraft in low-Earth orbit using robotic systems.

NASA has awarded Astrobotic a US$199.5-million contract to deliver the space agency's VIPER to the Moon. The Pittsburgh-based lunar logistics company will provide end-to-end delivery of the unmanned water-prospecting rover under NASA's CLPS program.

A UK-based company has carried out the first static engine test of a space rocket in Britain in over half a century. The Skylark L rocket carried out a full-scale launch test while restrained to the ground at the Kildemorie Estate in North Scotland.

Ahead of its launch before the end of the year, Vauxhall has thrown the covers off the UK's only all-electric light commercial van that can tow a trailer. The Vivaro-e is a battery-electric delivery van with a range of up to 330 km (205 mi).

In a move emphasizing NASA's desire to focus on deep space exploration instead of low-Earth orbit (LEO) activities, the space agency is opening the International Space Station (ISS) to limited commercial use, including hosting private astronauts.

Groupe PSA, responsible for some 25 percent of all light commercial vehicle sales in the UK, has affirmed a commitment to electrification at the Birmingham Commercial Vehicle Show, showing a new Peugeot Boxer and Citroen Relay based on an electric platform.

NASA has selected a dozen science experiments and technology demonstrators that could land on the Moon as early as the end of 2019. Slated to fly on commercial lunar missions, the instruments and new technologies are intended to support later missions.

Commercial spaceflight looks set to produce tangible products for use on Earth after Space Tango announced that it is developing an autonomous, robotic orbital platform called ST-42 that will take advantage of the microgravity environment to produce items for various industries.

​Volkswagen has released a silent flurry of new electrics, including a commercial version of its popular I.D. Buzz electric Kombi van. The I.D. Buzz Cargo concept is a mobile workshop with integrated laptops, level 4 autonomy, automated inventory and a whopping 550-km (342 mi) range.

Stratolaunch has yet to send its first payload into orbit, but the company announced today that it is developing a new family of air-launched boosters that will enter service in 2020. The four rockets of various sizes will be carried by the world's largest aircraft, the Stratolaunch.

NASA is giving commercial spaceflight a boost by awarding six American companies ten contracts worth a total of US$44 million to develop what the space agency calls "tipping point" technologies.

Toyota has unveiled its second prototype of the Project Portal hydrogen fuel cell truck. This "Beta," as Toyota refers to it internally, is the second iteration of the truck, adding more range, more room in the cab, and better usability. This is a more commercially-viable truck, Toyota says.