Science

WASHINGTON — A European small launch vehicle startup has successfully tested a small version of an aerospike engine powered by methane and liquid oxygen it plans to scale up for use in an orbital vehicle. Barcelona-based Pangea Aerospace announced Nov. 16 that it completed a series of tests of the aerospike engine, called Demo P1,

Transforming CT: Naeotom Alpha is the world’s first photon-counting CT scanner. (Courtesy: Siemens Healthineers) Computed tomography, or CT, is a ubiquitous X-ray imaging technique used to perform more than 300 million medical imaging exams globally each year. Use of the technique continues to grow, with CT increasingly employed as a first-line diagnostic tool for conditions

WASHINGTON — Astra Space’s Rocket 3.3 successfully reached orbit on a Nov. 20 launch, the fourth orbital launch attempt by the small launch vehicle startup. The Rocket 3.3 vehicle, with the serial number LV0007, lifted off at 1:16 a.m. Eastern from Pacific Spaceport Complex Alaska on Kodiak Island. Astra scrubbed a launch attempt the previous

WASHINGTON — The member states of the European Space Agency have endorsed a strategy to support work on terrestrial and space safety issues while also planning for future space exploration projects. A resolution approved by ESA’s Council of Ministers at its Intermediate Ministerial Meeting Nov. 19 backed a plan, published by the agency in October,

[embedded content] Have you ever thought about what happens when you snap your fingers? Raghav Acharya, Elio Challita, Mark Ilton and Saad Bhamla have looked deeply into the physics of the finger snap and published a paper about their surprising findings in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface. Based at the Georgia Institute of

ArianeGroup is preparing final tests for the upgraded heavy-lift Ariane 6 rocket it hopes to launch for the first time next year. The inaugural launch will mark the culmination of years of joint efforts from several European space organizations to give Arianespace, ArianeGroup’s subsidiary in charge of operating and marketing the Ariane family of rockets,

LAS VEGAS — While mergers involving special purpose acquisition corporations (SPACs) dominated the space industry for much of the year, one expert sees warning signs of waning interest in this way of taking companies public. Speaking at the ASCEND conference by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics here Nov. 16, Phil Ingle, a managing

Owls mostly hunt at night when background noise levels can be low and potential prey have a better chance of hearing danger approaching. As a result, the birds have evolved structures on their wings that greatly reduce the noise owls make while flying. In this episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast, the engineer and

NASA’s Bill Nelson and Space Force chief Gen. Raymond: ‘We believe strong engagement from across government, industry and academia is essential to meet this moment’ WASHINGTON — U.S. national security space organizations released a report Nov. 18 proposing ways to boost the nation’s space economy and technology base. The 92-page “State of the Space Industrial

LAS VEGAS — SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk said he expects this first orbital flight of his company’s Starship vehicle to take place as soon as January, pending regulatory approvals. Musk, speaking at a joint meeting of the National Academies’ Space Studies Board and Board on Physics and Astronomy Nov. 17, said the company was

Crystal chain: Artist’s impression of the discrete time crystal made at QuTech. A chain of connected spins is locked in a phase in which they periodically invert their state. (Courtesy: Joe Randall and Tim Taminiau/QuTech) Time crystals are special quantum systems that exhibit periodicity in time, just as crystalline materials are periodic in space. Since

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s foreign ministry expressed concern over the “numerous pieces of debris” created in low Earth orbit when Russia destroyed a Soviet-era satellite with a missile strike earlier this week but stopped short of criticizing Russia. In a Nov. 17 text message sent to reporters, the ministry said “we are concerned

SAN FRANCISCO – Fleet Space Technologies raised $26.4 million in a Series B investment round that puts a value of $126 million on the Australian startup establishing an internet-of-things satellite constellation. The Series B funding round was led by existing Fleet Space investors Artesian Venture Partners, Blackbird Ventures, Grok and Horizons Ventures. New investors including

In the lab: David Allemeier, PhD student and first author on the paper describing the microcavities, stands in front of the vacuum evaporator deposition system. He is admiring a new bottle of NPB, which is used as the hole transport layer in the OLEDs. (Courtesy: Matthew White) A photonic crystal emitter has been fabricated by

BREMEN, Germany — German launch services provider Exolaunch has signed a multi-launch agreement for more capacity on SpaceX Transporter rideshare missions over the next two years. The new deal greatly boosts capacity available to Exolaunch and follows big demand for its services demonstrated by previous and upcoming missions. Exolaunch has already signed agreements for four

SAN FRANCISCO – The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is eager to tap into unclassified commercial data services as part of its ongoing effort to track activity around world. Rather than fusing commercial data with government information or analysis to create new classified data products and services, though, the NGA is interested in keeping datasets unclassified. “So

The latest release of LAP’s RadCalc QA software majors on customization, intelligent automation and 3D EPID-based functionality for measurement-based patient QA Safety first: The RadCalc software platform provides medical physics teams with independent patient QA at more than 2300 cancer centres worldwide. (Courtesy: LAP) Customer-driven innovation and continuous improvement are once again front-and-centre in the

Since it burst onto the scene with Bitcoin, blockchain has been linked with other cryptocurrencies, digital artwork and extraordinary energy consumption. The heart of blockchain, though, is a distributed ledger with important applications for the space sector. Space companies, academic researchers and government agencies are exploring how distributed ledgers can make supply chains more efficient,