Science

CLEVELAND — Three months after rolling out the first phase of its architecture for human exploration of the moon and Mars, NASA is heading into a second phase that will focus on Mars. NASA released its first architecture definition document in April for its overall “Moon to Mars” campaign of human exploration. That 150-page document

Our guest in this episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast is Emily Grubert, who is a civil engineer and environmental sociologist at the University of Notre Dame in the US. In a wide ranging interview, she chats about her research, which focuses on justice and deep decarbonization. Much of Gubert’s work explores how we

WASHINGTON — The Space Force is using a software platform developed by Anduril Industries to integrate data from a decades-old network of space surveillance sensors.  DoD announced July 12 that Anduril won an $8 million contract extension to field its mesh networking software at Space Surveillance Network sites through December 2024. The software autonomously analyzes

WASHINGTON — The European Space Agency is in the final stages of performing an “assisted reentry” of an Earth science spacecraft, an effort that will attempt to bring the satellite down over the ocean in a little more than a week. A series of maneuvers will lower the perigee of the Aeolus spacecraft to enable

Hydrogen and helium: An artist’s impression of the two-faced white dwarf star. (Courtesy: K Miller, Caltech/IPAC) A rapidly rotating white dwarf star that contains two opposing hemispheres – one covered by hydrogen and the other by helium – has astronomers scratching their heads over how it got that way. The star, nicknamed “Janus” after the

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force last week announced plans to increase the number of providers in the national security launch program. Officials said July 19 the decision was driven by a projected growth in demand for satellite launches and concerns about a shortage of heavy-lift rockets later this decade. “The manifest is growing. So

CLEVELAND — The potential failure of a Viasat broadband satellite could result in a massive claim and a “huge hit” for the space insurance sector, one insurer warns. Viasat announced July 12 that it had encountered an “unexpected event” during the deployment of the large reflector on its ViaSat-3 Americas satellite after its April 30

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