Science

WASHINGTON — Axiom Space’s second private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, commanded by a former NASA astronaut and including two Saudi astronauts, is scheduled to launch as soon as May 8. Axiom announced April 6 that its Ax-2 mission to the station, flying on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, is scheduled for launch

WASHINGTON — SpaceX offered its strongest signals yet that it is nearing the first full-scale launch of its Starship vehicle, now expected for later this month. The company tweeted April 6 that it was planning a launch rehearsal for the vehicle, now fully stacked on the pad at its Starbase facility at Boca Chica, Texas,

A comparison of two recent wargames reveals that the United States’ current course of action to ensure space resilience may not adequately deter and defend against emerging new Chinese space threats beginning around the mid-2020s. However, these wargames suggest a practical way forward for timely space resilience in the 2020s and beyond. On Jan. 10,

TAMPA, Fla. — SpaceX successfully launched Intelsat’s IS-40e communications satellite April 7, which will help the operator meet growing demand for connectivity on planes while also carrying its first hosted payload for NASA. The satellite deployed solar arrays and is receiving and sending signals in geosynchronous transfer orbit following its 12:30 a.m. Eastern launch, its

WASHINGTON — In-space transportation company Momentus announced March 31 it has successfully started tests of the propulsion system on its Vigoride tug launched earlier this year. The company said it completed an initial test sequence of the Microwave Electrothermal Thruster (MET) on its Vigoride-5 vehicle launched in January on SpaceX’s Transporter-6 rideshare mission. The MET

WASHINGTON — A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off April 2 at 10:29 a.m. Eastern from Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, carrying 10 military satellites, including two built by SpaceX.  The mission to low Earth orbit is the first launch of a new military communications and missile tracking constellation built

Queen’s University Belfast team Kevin Prise, Shannon Thompson and Stephen McMahon are modelling laser-accelerated proton delivery to investigate the potential contribution of inter-track interactions in ultrahigh-dose rate proton therapy. (Courtesy: Shannon Thompson) Laser-accelerated proton (LAP) beams may offer a delivery mechanism for proton therapy that has a smaller physical and financial footprint than cyclotron accelerators.

WASHINGTON — Astra is still planning to conduct a first launch of its Rocket 4 vehicle before the end of the year as it scales up production of spacecraft electric propulsion systems. Astra said in a March 30 earnings call that it was making steady progress on the new vehicle, development of which it accelerated

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea will spend 874.2 billion won ($674 million) on space programs this year to expand its domestic space industry, develop a next-generation launch vehicle, and bolster space defense capabilities. It is a 19.5 percent increase from the previous year, and the most South Korea has ever budgeted for space. Details

Sidney Perkowitz explores what everyone’s favourite new talk partner has to say about physics Tread carefully ChatGPT has lots of answers – but they’re not always right. (Courtesy: iStock/Thapana Onphalai) The art of conversation may be dead, but you wouldn’t know it from the attention being paid to ChatGPT. It’s not a person with sparkling

TAMPA, Fla. — The launch of the first commercial satellites in AST SpaceMobile’s cellphone-compatible broadband constellation has slipped into 2024, the company said March 31 as it disclosed rising costs for developing the network. AST SpaceMobile had planned to launch the first five BlueBird satellites it is building in-house on a SpaceX Falcon 9 before

WASHINGTON — Lunar rover developer Astrolab has signed an agreement with SpaceX to transport its first rover to the moon on a future Starship flight. Astrolab said it has arranged to fly the Flexible Logistics and Exploration (FLEX) rover it is developing as a payload on a Starship lunar lander mission scheduled for as soon

[embedded content] Ever wondered what helium or iron sound like? Well, now you can find out thanks to Walker Smith from Indiana University and colleagues, who have used a technique called data sonification to convert the visible light given off by the elements into audio. They did this by building a computer code that converted

WASHINGTON — Virgin Orbit announced late March 30 it was laying off the vast majority of its employees after failing to raise additional funding, putting the launch company’s future in jeopardy. In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Virgin Orbit announced it was laying off approximately 675 employees, or 85% of its workforce. The company

HELSINKI — A major Chinese state-owned defense contractor is preparing to launch the first satellite for a very low Earth orbit constellation.  The China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) told Chinese state media in early March that its first satellite for a constellation of very-low Earth orbit (VLEO) satellites will launch in September. VLEO

Quantum science and technology have been developing by leaps and bounds over the past few decades, so it is not surprising that quantum experiments are now being done in space. In this episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast Lisa Wörner and Jan-Michael Mol of the Institute of Quantum Technologies of the German Aerospace Center

WASHINGTON — NASA and Boeing have pushed back the first crewed launch of the company’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft with astronauts on board until at least late July because of certification paperwork that has taken longer than expected to complete. In a call with reporters March 29, officials said they had rescheduled the Crew Flight Test

TAMPA, Fla. — SES confirmed March 29 it is in talks about potentially merging with rival satellite operator Intelsat.  “At this stage, there can be no certainty that a transaction would materialise,” SES said in a brief statement. Both companies have previously acknowledged paying close attention to a wave of consolidation sweeping across their industry.