Science

WASHINGTON — Rocket Lab performed its long-awaited first Electron launch from Virginia Jan. 24, placing three HawkEye 360 satellites into orbit. The Electron rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 2 at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, Virginia, at 6 p.m. Eastern. The two-stage Electron placed a kick stage into orbit a little more

Calvelli said DoD should stop designing bespoke satellites buses and use commercial products CHANTILLY, Va. — The era of massive satellites needs to be in the rear view mirror for the Department of Defense, the head of military space acquisitions told government and industry executives Jan. 24. Frank Calvelli, assistant secretary of the Air Force

Born 125 years ago, the Hungarian-born physicist Leo Szilard is best remembered for being the first scientist to call for atomic bombs to be developed – before later demanding they be stopped. But as Istvan Hargittai explains, this was not the only occasion when his views evolved in unexpected directions Safety in numbers Photographed after

SAN FRANCISCO – Charter Space, a London startup offering program management software for satellite missions, is the product of sheer frustration. While managing a satellite mission for Anchor Orbital, a former U.K. startup developing electrodynamic tethers, Yuk Chi Chan, Charter co-founder and CEO, found himself “stymied and bogged down by inefficient tooling and processes” at

WASHINGTON — The Canadian government announced plans Jan. 20 to set up a regulatory framework to allow commercial launches from the country as part of an effort to expand Canada’s space industry. In a briefing at the headquarters of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) outside Montréal, officials with Transport Canada, CSA and Canadian industry announced

TAMPA, Fla. — The satellite behind Europe’s next flagship space mission is ready to be sent to French Guiana for an April launch to explore three of Jupiter’s largest icy moons, manufacturer Airbus announced Jan. 20. The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) has been undergoing final assembly and testing for nearly a year and a

WASHINGTON — NASA is suspending efforts, at least until late next year, to try to fully deploy a solar array on its Lucy spacecraft, citing diminishing returns as the spacecraft heads away from the sun. In a statement quietly posted on NASA’s website Jan. 19, the agency said the latest effort to latch one of

The company developed a satellite-based augmentation system that leverages both GPS and Europe’s Galileo WASHINGTON — The availability of a new GPS navigation signal for civilian users is creating market opportunities in so-called satellite-based augmentation systems — known as SBAS — that countries around the world are developing or upgrading to support transportation and other

WASHINGTON — The United States and Israel are finalizing an agreement that would see NASA contribute to an upcoming Israeli astrophysics mission. The focus of the agreement, which could be signed as soon as later this month, involves a mission called Ultrasat under development by Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science with support from the Israel

A Partner in the True North On the global stage of mature space powers, Canada has earned its place, though it does not always receive the public acclaim it is due. For those in the space community, however, Canada is not only an important stakeholder but also a vital partner. As Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield

Scaling back facilities, canceling travel and keeping staff lean helps startups stretch every dollar raised Credit: SpaceNews Midjourney illustration If it was easier to raise money, Plasmos might have a dedicated facility for testing rocket engines. Instead, the propulsion startup rented a speedboat restoration shop east of Los Angeles. There, “we managed to test something,

WASHINGTON — The European Space Agency is grappling with multiple issues that could leave Europe temporarily without its own access to space by this summer. In a Jan. 23 press briefing, ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher said that space transportation issues, including the December failure of a Vega C and the delayed introduction of the

SDA said the rebranding does not reflect any change to the mission WASHINGTON — The Space Development Agency is renaming its planned network of military satellites “Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture,” the agency announced Jan. 23. SDA, a former Defense Department agency that is now part of the U.S. Space Force, previously used the name “National

Upright radiotherapy Leo Cancer Care’s Eve patient positioning system is installed at the Centre Léon Bérard in Lyon, France. The system uses standard immobilization devices to ensure patient stability and comfort. (Courtesy: Leo Cancer Care) Cancer patients typically lie in a supine position (on their back) during radiotherapy. But for some malignancies, including thoracic, pelvic

Jessica James, who is managing director at Commerzbank AG in London, UK, has spent almost 30 years in the world of finance after originally doing a PhD in theoretical atomic physics at the University of Oxford in the early 1990s. (Courtesy: Commerzbank) What skills do you use every day in your job? I am glad

The US National Ignition Facility’s historic demonstration of ignition is stimulating renewed optimism for laser fusion, including from private investors, as Edwin Cartlidge reports  Big gains The demonstration of energy breakeven at the National Ignition Facility last year has inspired some companies to accelerate their plans to commercialize fusion energy. (Courtesy: Damien Jemison/LLNL) For well

Join the audience for a live webinar at 6 p.m. GMT/1 p.m. EST on 22 February 2023 exploring the emerging concept of electrochemical carbon capture Want to take part in this webinar? Carbon capture is considered a critical means for climate-change mitigation. Unfortunately, conventional thermochemical methods suffer from high energy consumption, motivating the search for

[embedded content] The 2021 Nobel Prize for Physics was shared by Syukuro Manabe, Klaus Hasselmann and Giorgio Parisi “for groundbreaking contributions to our understanding of complex physical systems”. Now the Journal of Physics: Complexity has put together a special collection of open-access papers to celebrate this milestone in the history of this fascinating field. The