Science

COLORADO SPRINGS – The U.S. Space Force is working with allies to establish international norms of behavior for space activity and to share a common operating picture of activity occurring in space. “What’s lacking at the moment is the ability to then apply consequences,” Air Marshal Mel Hupfeld, Royal Australian Air Force chief, said during

Bruno: Amazon’s launch contracts will help ensure that the West is never again dependent on Russia for launch services COLORADO SPRINGS – Amazon’s record-breaking deal to purchase up to 83 launches from Arianespace, Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance is “a big deal” in the context of recent geopolitical developments, ULA’s CEO Tory Bruno said

Biggish bang: artist’s impression of neutron stars merging, producing gravitational waves and resulting in a kilonova explosion. (Courtesy: University of Warwick/Mark Garlick/CC BY 4.0) A massive and exotic type of neutron star could be formed by the merger of two neutron stars and avoid becoming a black hole – at least temporarily. That is the

Companies said they will ‘significantly increase the number of women and employees from underrepresented groups’ COLORADO SPRINGS – Top executives from the space industry on April 5 signed a pledge to advance diversity across the workforce.  During an event at the 37th Space Symposium, 23 executives committed to “diversity equity and inclusion,” a term used

Raymond: ‘We are going to focus on how to mature our partnerships’ COLORADO SPRINGS – The United States this week will host the third gathering of international military space chiefs in Colorado Springs.  “We are going to focus on how to mature our partnerships,” Chief of Space Operations of the U.S. Space Force Gen. John

Record breaking: artist’s impression of the decay of a lutetium-149 nucleus into a ytterbium-148 nucleus and a proton. (Courtesy: University of Jyväskylä) Physicists in Finland have created a pumpkin-shaped nucleus that has the shortest directly measured half-life of any ground-state proton emitter. The lutetium-149 nucleus is also the most oblate deformed proton emitter observed to

COLORADO SPRINGS — Telesat has upgraded a quarter of its planned low Earth orbit constellation as supply chain issues force it to consider ordering fewer satellites for the delayed broadband network. The Canadian company’s plan to double the antennas onboard Telesat Lightspeed’s first 78 satellites brings the constellation back to a single satellite design that,

DENVER — NASA called off the first attempt to fuel its Space Launch System rocket and go through a practice countdown April 3, citing a problem with the rocket’s mobile launcher. NASA announced shortly before 12 p.m. Eastern that it was scrubbing its wet dress rehearsal (WDR) for the SLS before crews started loading any

Maths prodigies: stingrays (left) and cichlids can add and subtract small numbers. (Courtesy: Vera Schlüssel/University of Bonn) It has longed been known that fish can count, at least to four, but new research shows they can apparently do much more. Researchers led by Vera Schluessel from the Institute of Zoology at the University of Bonn showed cichlids and

WASHINGTON — The first private mission to the International Space Station by an American vehicle is scheduled to launch this week to serve as a first step in one company’s plans to establish a commercial space station. Axiom Space is targeting April 6 for the launch of its Ax-1 mission on a SpaceX Crew Dragon

SAN FRANCISCO — More than 10,000 people are expected to attend the 37th Space Symposium in person at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs and online through a virtual platform. Roughly seven months after the 36th Space Symposium, which was rescheduled repeatedly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Space Foundation is preparing to welcome 275

Heart of the experiment: the optical cavity used to create the photon gas. (Courtesy: Volker Lannert/University of Bonn) A gas of photons with nearly infinite compressibility has been created by Julian Schmitt and colleagues at the University of Bonn in Germany. The experimental first was achieved in a nanostructured, dye-filled optical cavity where the team

The deal won by Slingshot is a U.S. Space Force Strategic Financing (STRATFI) contract WASHINGTON — Slingshot Aerospace announced March 31 it won a $25.2 million Space Force contract to develop a virtual replica of the space environment, a technology known as a digital twin.  The 39-month contract includes $16.8 million from the Space Force’s

WASHINGTON — SpaceX launched the fourth in its series of dedicated rideshare missions April 1, placing one relatively large satellite and dozens of smallsats into low Earth orbit. The Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 12:24 p.m. Eastern. SpaceX beat predictions of poor weather, with

Google’s Pedram Rousham explores the quest for elusive “time crystals”, Lia Li outlines her ambitions as tech start-up founder and Robert P Crease looks at how demons can help teach scienc Time crystals: in search of a new phase of matter If there’s one thing you can be sure of here at Physics World, it’s

WASHINGTON — NASA officials say they are still hopeful to complete a seat barter agreement with Russia in time to allow an exchange of seats on missions this fall despite the tensions between Russia and the West. At briefings March 31 about the upcoming Crew-4 Crew Dragon mission to the International Space Station, scheduled for

TAMPA, Fla. — The Philippines is set to become the first country in Southeast Asia to access SpaceX’s Starlink broadband services, its government announced March 31. Philippine Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez has committed to assist SpaceX’s expansion into the archipelago as it seeks to register services there, the country’s Department of Trade and Treasury said

Animal magic: Asteroids and meteoroids may only be classified in terms of a fixed range of animal sizes, but giraffes are excluded. (Courtesy: iStock/naeblys) A new system for classifying the sizes of small planetary objects using animals has been launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) in a bid to clear up misconceptions introduced after