At the Space Flag exercise, guardians perform military operations that mimic a real-world conflict WASHINGTON — As satellites become military targets, the U.S. Space Force is training its operators to think on their feet, said officials who participated in a two-week exercise focused on space operations. “The threats have grown in both scope and complexity
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New rockets from ABL, Firefly and Relativity are ready to rumble Most of the enthusiasm about small launch vehicles has focused on the very smallest ones, those capable of placing a few hundred, and in some cases just a few dozen, kilograms into low Earth orbit. Some of them have been quite successful, like Rocket
WASHINGTON — NASA is requesting information from industry on its capabilities and interest in developing a spacecraft that would deorbit the International Space Station at the end of its life. NASA issued the request for information (RFI) late Aug. 19, asking companies to supply information about how they could develop a spacecraft that would be
TAMPA, Fla. — Intelsat said Aug. 19 it has lost control of its Galaxy 15 satellite after it was likely hit by a geomagnetic storm. High space weather activity likely knocked out onboard electronics needed to communicate with the satellite, Intelsat said, and keep it locked in its geostationary orbit slot at 133 degrees West.
An emerging trend toward consolidation of GEO and NGSO constellations by network operators reflects a shift in their thinking. Recent weeks and months have seen growing activity among satellite network operators keen to integrate the soon-to-be-available LEO-derived bandwidth with existing GEO services. The recent activity has ranged from shifts in strategy, encompassing new LEO services
WASHINGTON — The European Space Agency will seek funding this fall for a feasibility study of space-based solar power, the latest sign of support for a concept that still faces significant technical and financial challenges. Josef Aschbacher, ESA director general, tweeted Aug. 16 that he will ask member states at this November’s ministerial meeting to
Roasted chile is a culinary specialty of New Mexico that is made by roasting the red and green chilli peppers that are grown in the US state. Commercial production usually involves propane burners and has a significant carbon footprint. In this episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast we meet the engineer Ken Armijo, who
TAMPA, Fla. — Sky Perfect JSAT said Aug. 18 it has picked SpaceX’s Starship rocket to launch its Superbird-9 satellite in 2024. The Japanese satellite operator said it signed a contract for a mission on the super-heavy-lift vehicle SpaceX is developing in Boca Chica, Texas, but offered no further details about the agreement. “SKY Perfect
TAMPA, Fla. — Scottish startup R3-IoT rebranded as Krucial Aug. 18 amid plans to expand its connectivity solutions for remote sensors out of the aquaculture market. The venture launched a software platform called Krucial Connect to enable a wider variety of customers to tap into its gateways, which use satellites and cellular networks to transmit
Sharper image: the photon ring surrounding M87* (in orange) shown with the diffuse background light represented by contour lines. (Courtesy: Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics) A sharp ring of light created by photons racing around the back of a supermassive black hole has been spotted by researchers working on the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). The
The government can incentivize satellite developers by requiring all future satellites to incorporate hardware for space situational awareness and maneuverability. The concept of rapid movement to keep an enemy off-balance is as old as war itself. Known in military circles as “maneuver warfare,” this mode of fighting has occurred in every domain, from land to
When international regulators adopted deployment milestones in late 2019 to rein in a flood of proposed satellite constellations, they could not have foreseen the havoc a pandemic was about to wreak across the industry. COVID-19 jammed up satellite manufacturing supply chains, disrupted workforces and shook financial markets, piling on extra burdens and delays for satellite
Electrons flowing in vortices Top: Schematic experimental layout showing samples of Au (a) and WTe2 (b) together with the device used to measure current flow. Bottom: Normalized current densities measured experimentally in c) Au and d) WTe2 showing laminar and vortical flows. (Courtesy: A Aharon) An international team of physicists has observed electrons flowing in
A legislative proposal in the 2023 defense spending bill calling on DoD to leverage commercial space networks marks a victory of sorts for the SmallSat Alliance. As its name indicates, the alliance is an industry group that advocates for greater use of small satellites, particularly by the U.S. government. Its focus over the past few
Responsive space is a concept that the United States continues to pursue but has not yet achieved. As Russia and China continue to proliferate anti-satellite technology, and space increasingly becomes a warfighting domain, the ability to rapidly reconstitute our presence in space is emerging as a national security imperative. Numerous efforts in search of a
Schematic diagram of the method for directly visualizing defects in 2D semiconductors. (Courtesy: G Zhang) Directly visualizing structural defects in semiconductors on large scales is no easy task. The main microscopy techniques are limited to fields of view measuring just a few tens of nanometres, and they require ultrahigh vacuum, ultralow temperatures, complicated sample preparation
TAMPA, Fla. — Space logistics company D-Orbit said Aug. 12 it has canceled plans to go public by merging with Breeze Holdings Acquisition Corp, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). The Italian company had hoped to raise $185 million from the deal to expand staff and accelerate investments in ION Satellite Carrier, its orbital transfer
WASHINGTON — Virgin Orbit now expects to perform four launches this year, at the low end of earlier projections, but with a higher per-launch revenue. The company, in its second quarter earnings release Aug. 12, reported no revenue in the quarter and a net loss of $33.3 million. The company, though, said it recorded more