By Jon Kelvey
November 1, 2023
The U.S. Office of Space Commerce is facing a deadline of late 2024 to have in place the initial software and people to take over tracking of debris and civilian spacecraft from the military. Is OSC moving fast enough? Jon Kelvey tells the story.
By Paul Marks
April 1, 2023
The emergence of SpaceX’s massive and reusable Starship rocket, alongside advances in robotic spacecraft assembly, could finally fuel the sci-fi dream of spacecraft collecting all the solar energy humanity will ever need and beaming it down to Earth in the form of microwaves for conversion into limitless carbon-free electricity. Paul Marks spoke to the developers hoping to make this dream reality.
By Karen Kwon
April 1, 2023
Companies in the U.S. and abroad have big plans to extend the lives of existing multimillion-dollar geosynchronous satellites and equip new ones from the start for servicing. Standardization and regulatory bodies are figuring out how to make servicing a normal part of business. Karen Kwon has the story.
February 1, 2022
Every do-it-yourselfer knows how hard it can be to declare a project complete. Will another turn of the bolt or brushstroke make things better or worse? That was roughly the choice NASA faced a year before the Dec. 25 launch of the James Webb Space Telescope. Would more testing close more technical risks in the nearly $10 billion project or create new ones? In the end, NASA decided against more testing. NASA’s Jesse Leitner and Tupper Hyde describe the assessment they performed.
By Keith Button
February 1, 2022
By Moriba Jah
April 1, 2021
By Cat Hofacker
October 1, 2020
By Amanda Miller
July 1, 2018
If all goes as Sierra Nevada Corp. hopes, you’ll soon be hearing a lot more about Dream Chaser, the spacecraft with a history of ups and downs. Amanda Miller toured the new Colorado facility where the first spaceflight version of Dream Chaser will be built.
May 31, 2018
Thirty-five thousand kilometers is a long way up, and that’s the home of nearly 400 satellites that do anything from sending and receiving telephone, internet and television signals to spotting missile launches. Today, those satellites can’t be repaired, upgraded, refueled or rescued if their propulsion fails.
April 30, 2018
A cadre of technologists and entrepreneurs think asteroids could be the linchpin for establishing an entire economy in space
By Tom Risen
March 30, 2018
By Tom Risen
March 30, 2018
NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON
By Tom Risen
March 30, 2018
The White House wants to steer the launch of NASA’s proposed Europa Clipper spacecraft to a commercial rocket
By Amanda Miller
March 30, 2018
The Trump budget would cancel development of the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope
By Tom Risen
February 28, 2018
Johann “Jan” Wörner
By Amanda Miller
February 28, 2018
The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite aims to find Earth-like worlds
By Adam Hadhazy
February 1, 2018
By Debra Werner
January 2, 2018
NOAA's newest weather satellites could extend forecasts to 7 days for hurricanes that threaten U.S.
By Tom Risen
September 28, 2017
MAJ. GEN. DAVID THOMPSON, SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE COMMANDER OF AIR FORCE SPACE COMMAND
By Debra Werner
September 28, 2017
Space station experiment may reveal future for satellite solar arrays
By Adam Hadhazy
September 28, 2017
Managers of proposed mission hope to protect Earth from giant space rocks
By Debra Werner
August 31, 2017
Jordi Puig-Suari
May 17, 2017
2 leading aerospace journalists analyze the most important decisions facing President Donald Trump's administration
May 1, 2017
It's time for an alternative approach to space debris
By Tom Risen
May 1, 2017
Scientists and policymakers talk about the best path ahead for human space exploration
By Tom Risen
April 17, 2017
The concept of spreading technology across many small satellites has proved hard to sell
By Leonard David
March 6, 2017
February 9, 2017
It drew over 3,700 people from government, academia and industry
By Ben Iannotta
November 22, 2016
Smith College aero-vehicle designer
By Ben Iannotta
November 22, 2016
Michael Watkins, director of the NASA-funded Jet Propulsion Lab
