Space

MOUNTAIN VIEW, California – For nine years, Made In Space executives and engineers have shared their vision for a future when satellites, solar arrays and large antennas are manufactured in orbit. During an Aug. 26 tour, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine clearly endorsed that vision.  “As an agency, we have always had constraints when it comes

WASHINGTON — NASA’s inspector general says the agency could save nearly $1 billion if Congress gives it the ability to choose the best launch vehicle for a mission to Jupiter’s moon Europa, rather than mandating the use of the Space Launch System. In an Aug. 27 letter to the chairs and ranking members of both

After what SpaceX’s founder Elon Musk called an “embarrassing” glitch with Starhopper, an experimental rocket ship, the company pulled off an impressive launch and landing on Tuesday. “Congrats SpaceX team!!” Musk tweeted shortly after the attempt. “One day Starship will land on the rusty sands of Mars.” Starhopper is a roughly 60-foot-tall (18 meters) vehicle

This article originally appeared in the Aug. 19, 2019 issue of SpaceNews magazine. When the Aerospace Corp. launched the Optical Communications and Sensor Demonstration in 2017, one mission objective was to test water-fueled thrusters. At the time, the idea was fairly novel. Two years later, water-based propulsion is moving rapidly into the mainstream. Capella Space’s

Three new exoplanets have been found orbiting a nearby star, and one of them is ranked pretty highly for potential habitability. All three are rocky, and within the vicinity of Earth-sized – and the outermost is orbiting the star in the habitable zone, where temperatures are compatible with the possibility of liquid water on the

WASHINGTON — An uncrewed Soyuz spacecraft successfully docked with the International Space Station Aug. 26, nearly 72 hours after aborting its original attempt to dock with the station. The Soyuz MS-14 spacecraft docked with the aft port on the Zvezda service module at 11:08 p.m. Eastern. Flight controllers reported no issues with the automated docking

An uncrewed, solar-powered military plane has just broken its spaceflight-duration record, having now spent more than 719 days in orbit around Earth. Known as the X-37B, the space plane belongs to the US Air Force, and this is its fifth mission, Orbital Test Vehicle 5 (OTV-5). However, exactly what it’s achieving on its missions remains

WASHINGTON — A Florida senator is asking the White House to revise existing policy regarding the launch of government hosted payloads on commercial satellites, a move some in the industry fear could further restrict the use of such payloads. In an Aug. 23 letter to Vice President Mike Pence, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) asked that

WASHINGTON — Small GEO builder and operator Astranis has selected SpaceX to launch its first satellite.  Astranis CEO John Gedmark said in an Aug. 26 blog post that the company reserved a Falcon 9 launch in the fourth quarter of 2020 from Cape Canaveral, Florida.  Gedmark told SpaceNews by email that Astranis’ satellite will be

This op-ed originally appeared in the Aug. 19, 2019 issue of SpaceNews magazine. Earlier this year, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on the topic of Streamlined Launch and Reentry Licensing Requirements. Although I recognize that a lot of time and effort has gone into preparation of the

Saturday 24 August 2019 marked a vexing anniversary for planetary scientists. It was 13 years to the day that Pluto’s official definition changed – what was once numbered among the planets of the Solar System was now but a humble dwarf planet. But not everyone agreed with the International Astronomical Union’s ruling – and now

In the digital age, connectivity and bandwidth are important, even if you’re in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). And when you’re performing research and experiments that could help pave the way for future missions to the Moon, to Mars, and other deep-space destinations, it’s especially important. Hence why NASA recently upgraded the ISS’ connection, effectively doubling

The consortium manages the development of pre-production prototypes of space systems, including satellites, payloads and ground systems. WASHINGTON — The Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center is looking to make changes in the management of its fast growing Space Enterprise Consortium. In a Request for Information posted Aug. 20, SMC announced it is “performing

Astronomers are planning a hunt for the relics of long-dead planets. They just found a big clue in that search: The cores of dead planets can “broadcast” radio waves for up to a billion years, according to a new study published by the Royal Astronomical Society. The waves are caused by interactions between a dead

“We’re not against doing another SSO-A type mission. If the market demands that, we know how to do it.” This article originally appeared in the August 19, 2019 issue of SpaceNews magazine under the title “Herding cubesats: Spaceflight’s SSO-A mission a logistical headache.” The concept of large-scale rideshare missions, where dozens of cubesats or other

The study of exoplanets has matured considerably in the last 10 years. During this time, the majority of the over 4,000 exoplanets that are currently known to us were discovered. It was also during this time that the process has started to shift from the process of discovery to characterization. What’s more, next-generation instruments will

WASHINGTON — Radio astronomers say OneWeb has not, until recently, paid attention to their concerns about interference, but that it is not too late to avoid a spectrum conflict.  OneWeb has resumed conversations about potential interference from its planned megaconstellation after talks stalled out three years ago, according to the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), which

WASHINGTON — A rare uncrewed flight of a Soyuz spacecraft took another twist Aug. 24 when the spacecraft failed to make an automated docking with the International Space Station. The Soyuz MS-14 spacecraft was scheduled to dock with the station’s Poisk module at about 1:30 a.m. Eastern. While the spacecraft’s initial approach to the station

WASHINGTON — Swedish company Ovzon left a contract with SpaceX for a Falcon Heavy launch in favor of an Ariane 5 mission from European launch provider Arianespace.  In an earnings report Aug. 23, Ovzon said it had “recently contracted Arianespace to launch our satellite in 2021.”  “[W]e have thus left the preliminary agreements we had,”

From where we stand here on Earth, it’s easy to forget our planet is in constant motion. Most traditional time lapses of the Milky Way make it look as though the night sky is rotating around us – but it’s actually the other way around. A dazzling video from astro-photographer Aryeh Nirenberg corrects that perspective, making