Glass technologies have shaped the modern world. This video explores the cultural legacy of glass and some of its latest applications. From bottles and windows, to spectacles, camera lenses and the fibre optics that underpin the Internet – glass influences many aspects of our lives. Yet despite its familiarity, glass still contains mysteries. Where exactly
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Appropriators raised red flags about missile-warning satellite programs, for which the Space Force requested $4.5 billion in 2023 WASHINGTON — The House Appropriations Committee in a report accompanying the fiscal year 2023 defense appropriations bill warned about schedule and cost risks in Space Force acquisition programs. “The Space Force’s ambitious plans for new architectures, programs
SAN FRANCISCO – NASA approved a demonstration flight for DiskSat, the thin round satellite designed by the Aerospace Corp. Aerospace Corp. engineers are building four DiskSats and a DiskSat dispenser, which they plan to send to low-Earth orbit in 2024 to validate the technology. “People ask me, ‘Can you really fly that? Can you keep
Soaking it up: the new polymer gel can harvest moisture from relatively dry air. (Courtesy: University of Texas at Austin) Researchers in the US have designed a sustainable polymer gel that can harvest large quantities of water from the surrounding air, even in low-humidity conditions. Created by Youhong Guo and colleagues at the University of
HASC Chairman Adam Smith in the 2023 NDAA continues to press DoD to fund a program known as “tactically responsive space” WASHINGTON — House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) in the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act proposes adding $75 million to the Pentagon’s budget for “tactically responsive space,” a program that funds
PASADENA, Calif. — As SpaceX gears up for another launch of Starlink satellites, astronomers are concerned the company maybe backsliding in its efforts to reduce the brightness of those satellites. A Falcon 9 is scheduled to lift off at 12:08 p.m. Eastern June 17 from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A, placing 53 Starlink satellites
Cataclysm: Artist’s illustration of two merging neutron stars. (Courtesy: NSF/LIGO/Sonoma State University/A. Simonnet) Physicists have created a framework for better understanding the super-dense matter inside neutron stars by combining observations from gravitational-wave detectors and conventional telescopes with experimental results from particle accelerators. The results, from a team led by Sabrina Huth of Technische Universität Darmstadt
WASHINGTON — SpaceX completed a surge of three successful launches in a little more than 36 hours early June 19, days after an open letter within the company critical of founder Elon Musk led to the firing of several employees. The stretch of launches started June 17 with a Falcon 9 launch from Kennedy Space
Investors are funding orbital solutions for tracking space objects Keeping close tabs on satellites and their increasingly crowded orbits requires exquisite spatial data that multiple startups say can only be gained from space. At least eight early-stage companies in North America, Europe, and Australia have secured funds for space-based systems they say will be needed
Continuous BEC: the experimental setup at the University of Amsterdam. (Courtesy: Florian Schreck) A continuous Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) has been produced by researchers in the Netherlands. Claimed as a first, the achievement has been sought for years and could lead to continuous-wave atom lasers and a more fundamental understanding of the physics of condensed matter.
SEOUL, South Korea — The second launch of South Korea’s first domestically built rocket is set for June 21, a delay of a week due to strong winds and a technical glitch. “We convened a meeting of the launch management committee and decided to pursue the second launch on June 21,” Kwon Hyun-joon, a senior science ministry official, said
TAMPA, Fla. — Remote communications provider Speedcast is preparing to buy another sizable chunk of satellite capacity as demand soars beyond pre-pandemic levels. Speedcast added 13 gigabits per second (Gbps) of capacity from satellite operators to its international network in late May, giving it a record 30 Gbps of bandwidth to primarily serve cruise and
Sure sign of spring: cherry blossoms in Japan. (Courtesy: Yae Yamamoto/CC BY-SA 4.0) Around the world from Kyoto to Washington DC, people enjoy the blossoming of cherry trees as a rite of spring. In some places – notably Japan and South Korea – blossom festivals are vital for local economies, so it is important that
PASADENA, Calif. — In-space transportation company Impulse Space Propulsion, which raised $20 million in a seed round earlier this year, announced June 17 it raised another $10 million to help accelerate work on orbital transfer vehicles. Impulse Space said it raised $10 million from venture fund Lux Capital, which invests in “frontier technologies” like space.
The chairman’s mark brings up concerns about creating opportunities for new players to compete in the National Security Space Launch program WASHINGTON — House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) in a draft version of the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act pushes for changes in military launch services procurement, calling on the Space
In this episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast the physicist and entrepreneur Daniel Shaddock explains how building gravitational-wave detectors inspired him to co-found a company that takes a novel approach to creating test and measurement equipment. Shaddock is CEO of Liquid Instruments, and he explains how the firm uses field programmable gate arrays to
SAN FRANCISCO – Euroconsult forecasts 120 orbital transport vehicles to be in operation by 2031, according to the consulting firm’s latest Space Logistics Markets report. “We anticipate constellations to be the most likely customers, accounting for three-quarters of the demand for satellites in the 200- to 350-kilogram mass range,” said Maxime Puteaux, Euroconsult principal advisor and
SAN FRANCISCO – Space logistics company D-Orbit announced a $2 million contract June 9 with the European Space Agency to upgrade production of its ION Satellite Carrier. It was the latest win for the Italian firm with ambitious plans to offer a wide range of satellite services from active debris removal to space-based cloud computing.