Science

WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission has partially approved SpaceX’s application for the second generation of its Starlink constellation, allowing the company to launch up to a quarter of the proposed 30,000 satellites while deferring action on the rest. In a Dec. 1 order, the FCC granted permission to SpaceX to launch 7,500 satellites of

Satzman: The value of space “has been proven out” WASHINGTON — The war in Ukraine has put on display military forces’ growing reliance on satellites and has created incentives to disrupt opponents’ access to space systems, Gen. B. Chance Saltzman, chief of space operations of the U.S. Space Force, said Dec. 3. “I think this

In this episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast, collision expert Michael Hall explains how Newtonian physics is used to piece together what happened in motor vehicle accidents, sometimes revealing insurance fraud. Hall is a physicist and head of research at GBB – a company in Preston, UK, that provides impartial scientific, forensic and engineering

TAMPA, Fla. — OneWeb said SpaceX is slated to launch 40 of its satellites as early as Dec. 6 to complete almost 80% of its low Earth orbit broadband (LEO) constellation. All 40 satellites have been encapsulated for a Falcon 9 launch no earlier than 5:37 p.m. Eastern from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, OneWeb said

U.S. Space Forces-Central will be based at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida WASHINGTON — United States Central Command, responsible for military operations in the Middle East and South Asia, on Dec. 2 activated a Space Force component known as U.S. Space Forces-Central The Space Force unit will be based at U.S. Central Command headquarters at

Starshield will leverage the Starlink internet constellation to develop new products for the military market WASHINGTON — SpaceX on Dec. 2 revealed a new business segment called Starshield aimed at U.S. national security government agencies. This sector of SpaceX intends to leverage the Starlink internet constellation in low Earth orbit to develop products  and services

Bovine powerhouse: researchers in China are developed a self-powered “smart watch” for cows. (Courtesy: iStock/Gerard-Koudenburg) Are you one of those people who tracks all their activities with a smart watch to ensure that they are getting enough exercise. I am borderline obsessive in that way and cows might be next – if researchers at Southwest

WASHINGTON — NASA’s Orion spacecraft started its trip back to Earth Dec. 1 with the first of two maneuvers that will put the spacecraft on course for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean in a week and a half. The main engine in Orion’s service module fired at 4:53 p.m. Eastern for 1 minute at

WASHINGTON — Rocket Lab,  a launch services company and space hardware manufacturer, announced Dec. 1 it is creating a separate entity to focus on U.S. defense and intelligence agency customers. The new business sector, called Rocket Lab National Security, also will work with U.S. allies, the company said. Rocket Lab, which went public in August

MycelioTronics Fungal-grown mycelium skins provide a biodegradable substrate for electronic sensors and batteries. (Courtesy: Soft Matter Physics Division, Johannes Kepler University Linz. Images taken by Doris Danninger) Fungal mycelium skins can be used as substrates for electronic devices, physicists and materials scientists in Austria have shown. The team used the thin skins to create autonomous

WASHINGTON — The French government said Nov. 29 it will join the United States and several other countries in a pledge not to conduct anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons tests that can leave hazardous debris in orbit. In a statement, France’s foreign and defense ministries jointly announced that the country would not carry out destructive direct-ascent ASAT

WFOV will operate as an early warning satellite to detect ballistic missile launches WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force has received initial images from a new missile-warning satellite launched in July, Millennium Space Systems announced Nov. 29. The Boeing-owned company is the manufacturer of the Wide Field of View (WFOV), a mid-sized spacecraft equipped with

Teleporting qubits: artist’s impression a wormhole created in a quantum processor. (Courtesy: A Mueller/Caltech) The equivalent to a wormhole in spacetime has been created on a quantum processor. Researchers in the US used an advanced quantum teleportation protocol to open the wormhole and send quantum signals through it. By studying the dynamics of the transmitted

WASHINGTON — The European Commission awarded a contract to Arianespace Nov. 29 for launches of five Copernicus Earth observation spacecraft on Vega C rockets between 2024 and 2026. The contract, Arianespace Chief Executive Stéphane Israël said in a press conference, secures the position of the European Commission, which operates both Copernicus and the Galileo navigation

HELSINKI — China has six astronauts aboard its recently-completed space station for the first time following the arrival of three crew members aboard Shenzhou-15. Shenzhou-15 launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert at 10:08 a.m. Eastern Nov. 29. Rendezvous and docking with the Tiangong space station was completed at 4:42 p.m.,

Setting the pace: artist’s rendering shows how the new pacemaker envelops the heart. (Courtesy: Philipp Gutruff) A wireless-powered implant that can detect and painlessly correct irregular heartbeats has been unveiled by researchers in the US. Led by Philipp Gutruf at the University of Arizona, the team based their design on a flexible mesh that surrounds

The Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission is scheduled to launch in 2023 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force announced Nov. 28 it delivered the second and final military communications payloads that will launch in 2023 on Space Norway’s Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission known as ASBM.

Millennium Space and Raytheon in May 2021 were selected to design separate MEO satellite concepts WASHINGTON — Millennium Space Systems announced Nov. 23 its proposed satellite design for a U.S. Space Force missile-warning constellation passed a critical review. The company, a subsidiary of the Boeing Co., is developing a sensor satellite for a constellation that