Science

Bright idea: researchers in China have found a new way to accelerate electrons using pulses of light. (Courtesy: iStock/7io) A laser wakefield accelerator (LWFA) that guides its laser beams along curved channels while accelerating electrons has been created by Jie Zhang and colleagues at Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China. The new technique could be

TAMPA, Fla. — Telesat is preparing to resume demonstrations for its delayed low Earth orbit broadband constellation after Rocket Lab successfully launched the Canadian operator’s latest prototype satellite. The 30-kilogram LEO 3 spacecraft deployed solar arrays and passed initial health checks after launching July 17 on an Electron along with six smaller satellites, according to

TAMPA, Fla. — Young space companies made more acquisitions than their older peers over the last 12 months, according to analysis from British investment firm Seraphim Space. Satellite maker York Space Systems, launcher Firefly Aerospace, defense contractor Anduril, and other “NewSpace” ventures formed the bulk of the 28 mergers and acquisitions (M&A) Seraphim tracked over

Time machine: detailed near-infrared images of galaxies that existed when the universe was only 900 million years old. The images were taken by the JWST as part of a study of reionization in the early universe. Courtesy: NASA, ESA, CSA, Simon Lilly (ETH Zurich), Daichi Kashino (Nagoya University), Jorryt Matthee (ETH Zurich), Christina Eilers (MIT),

WASHINGTON — LightRidge Solutions, a company that owns space and airborne sensor businesses, announced July 17 it has acquired space electronics supplier Trident Systems. The value and terms of the deal were not disclosed. LightRidge is a portfolio company of ATL Partners, a private equity firm. Trident, based in Fairfax, Virginia, supplies space electronics, including

WASHINGTON — A United Kingdom Parliament committee is calling on the government to revise its approach for licensing launches, warning it could fall behind international competitors if it fails to do so. The House of Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Committee published a report July 14 that concluded that, based on the experience from the

Team player Lilly Liu has won several awards for her contributions to ceramics science and engineering and for her commitment to mentoring students and young professionals (Courtesy: Lilly Liu) What skills do you use every day in your job? I teach undergraduates and head up a team of more than 10 people – so managing,

How big the market could be for connecting satellites directly to standard smartphones remains up for debate even as initial services get underway for the space industry’s new poster child. Some see the capability — the confluence of evolving telecoms standards and increasingly capable and cheaper spacecraft — as the largest ever business opportunity for

SEOUL, South Korea — India successfully launched a robotic lunar lander July 14, setting up the nation for its second attempt to soft-land on the moon. The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft lifted off on an LVM-3 heavy-lift rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at 5:05 a.m. Eastern Friday as scheduled. Live footage showed the three-stage rocket with two strap-on

Waiting game: Scientists are frustrated over delays in the UK joining the €95bn Horizon Europe research programme. (Courtesy: iStock/MicroStockHub) Scientists have expressed their disappointment at the lack of progress in negotiations over the UK re-joining the €95bn Horizon Europe research programme. Reports last week had suggested that UK and European Union negotiators had agreed a

WASHINGTON — As the House Science Committee considers a commercial space bill, industry officials advocated for key topics they believe should be included in that legislation. A July 13 hearing by the committee offered the industry an opportunity to weigh in on topics they believe should be included in a commercial space package that the

WASHINGTON — House and Senate appropriators have drafted bills that would give NASA slightly less money in 2024 than it received in 2023, rather than the significant increase the administration requested. The Senate Appropriations Committee advanced a commerce, justice and science (CJS) spending bill for fiscal year 2024 on a 28–1 vote during a July

[embedded content] NASA tracks about 23,000 pieces of space debris bigger than a grapefruit orbiting Earth. This space junk is of human origin and includes defunct satellites, bits discarded by space missions, and pieces created by the fragmentation of the previous two categories. Furthermore, NASA estimates that there are millions of pieces in orbit that

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force on July 13 released a revised draft solicitation for the next round of national security launch contracts, known as National Security Space Launch Phase 3. In a major departure from the first draft request for proposals released in February, the Space Force is increasing the number of heavy-lift launch

SAN FRANCISCO – Maxar Technologies unveiled a platform to simplify and speed up access to high-resolution Earth imagery. The Maxar Geospatial Platform (MGP), demonstrated at the Esri User Conference in San Diego this week, offers access to archival and current imagery online and through an application programming interface. “It revolutionizes the way our customers can

Squid inspired: this flowery scene is overlaid by a disc of the elastomer material. On the left, the compressed material blocks light. On the right, the stretched material lets light through. (Courtesy: ACS Nano/DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.3c01836) Inspired by the colour-changing skin of squid, researchers in China have designed a material that can switch between being transparent

WASHINGTON — United Launch Alliance is now planning a first launch of its Vulcan Centaur rocket in the fourth quarter after the company completes modifications to and testing of the upper stage. In a call with reporters July 13, Tory Bruno, president and chief executive of ULA, said the changes to the Centaur upper stage

WASHINGTON — As India prepares to launch its second lunar lander mission, the fate of a second Israeli lander is in doubt after the organization developing it lost a major source of funding. India’s Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft is scheduled to launch July 14 on a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark 3, also known as LVM-3, from