Science

Chip off the old block: Intel’s Tunnel Falls chip is based on silicon spin qubits, which are about a million times smaller than other qubit types (Courtesy: Intel Corporation) Intel – the world’s biggest computer-chip maker – has released its newest quantum chip and has begun shipping it to quantum scientists and engineers to use

Brendan Curry is a space policy consultant with 25 years of experience in Washington operations for the Planetary Society, Space Foundation and former Florida congressman Dave Weldon. With the loss of the submersible Titan and her five passengers garnering round-the-clock media attention since it went missing June 18, those working in the emergent private space

WASHINGTON — Cybersecurity specialist SpiderOak reported successful on-orbit testing June 22 of its OrbitSecure software running on a Ball Aerospace payload. “This is the first time a zero-trust application has been performed in space,” Charles Beames, SpiderOak executive chairman, told SpaceNews. Zero-trust is important, Beames said, because it offers security at the data level. Each

Threat from above The US State Department wants to ensure the responsible stewardship of outer space. (Courtesy: NASA/Bill Ingalls) The US has released its first strategic framework for space diplomacy. The 37-page document, issued by the US Department of State, outlines the intention to “build international partnerships for civil and national security space”. It calls for

WASHINGTON — Ecuador joined the growing roster of countries backing the Artemis Accords for safe and sustainable space exploration June 21. In a ceremony at Ecuador’s embassy in Washington, Gustavo Manrique Miranda, Ecuador’s foreign affairs minister, sign the accords in the presence of officials with the U.S. State Department and NASA. Ecuador is the 26th

WASHINGTON — Scout Space, a startup developing technologies for space situational awareness, announced June 21 it has secured undisclosed funding from the venture capital firm Decisive Point and from government contractor Noblis. Noblis Ventures is the majority investor in Scout’s recently closed seed round led by Decisive Point, the company said.  Scout Space said it

Glacier surfaces in certain parts of the world contain concerning amounts of toxic radioactive materials, a result of weapons testing and nuclear accidents such as the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. Fallout radionuclides accumulate within cryoconite – a granular sediment found in holes on glacier surfaces – and there is a risk of this material entering

WASHINGTON — The Federal Aviation Administration has started to reduce the amount of airspace it closes for launches from Cape Canaveral as part of efforts to limit the impact of growing launch activity on commercial aviation. The FAA recently introduced a revised zone of restricted airspace around and extending offshore for many launches from Cape

WASHINGTON — SpaceLogistics, a satellite-servicing firm owned by Northrop Grumman, announced June 20 it has three confirmed orders for its Mission Extension Pods that will fly to orbit on servicing missions in 2025. Intelsat ordered the third and last pod available on the debut mission of the company’s new servicing spacecraft, called Mission Robotic Vehicle

Access denied: previously the public was able to freely drive or cycle around Fermilab’s ground to watch its herd of bison or fish in its ponds (courtesy: Ryan Postel, Fermilab) Located on prairie land near Batavia, Illinois, the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory has long been renowned as a place that’s friendly to users and visitors

TAMPA, Fla. — Indonesia’s Satria-1 broadband satellite deployed its solar panels after launching on a SpaceX Falcon 9 to geosynchronous transfer orbit over the weekend, manufacturer Thales Alenia Space said June 19. It will take about five months for Indonesia’s first very high throughput (VHTS) satellite to reach its 146 degrees East orbital slot via

SAN FRANCISCO – Finland’s Kuva Space won a 5 million euro ($5.47 million) European Commission contract to supply hyperspectral data to the Copernicus Contributing Mission program. Under the five-year contract announced June 19, Kuva Space will provide data for monitoring farms, forests, methane emissions, harmful algal blooms and other applications. “We are building a novel

Quantum cash: The fund will be used to support projects in position, navigation and timing as well as quantum-enabled positioning, navigation and timing systems (courtesy: iStock_matejmo) A £45m package to support universities and businesses working in the UK’s quantum technologies sector has been unveiled by the UK science minister George Freeman. The investments, which were

WASHINGTON — Firefly Aerospace has agreed to buy Virgin Orbit’s remaining assets — inventory at two company production facilities — as part of Virgin Orbit’s bankruptcy proceedings. In June 15 filings with the federal bankruptcy court in Delaware overseeing Virgin Orbit’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, representatives of the companies said that Firefly agreed to buy

WASHINGTON — Operating under a veil of secrecy pierced only by the ignition of the rocket’s engines, Rocket Lab launched the first suborbital variant of its Electron vehicle June 17. The vehicle, called Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron (HASTE), lifted off from Launch Complex 2 at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, Virginia, at

Acid rain: A Hubble Space Telescope ultraviolet-light image of the planet Venus, showing the sulphuric-acid-rich clouds that cover its surface. (Courtesy: L. Esposito/University of Colorado, Boulder and NASA/ESA) For a planet sometimes known as “Earth’s twin”, Venus is astoundingly inhospitable. Its surface temperature of 735 K is hot enough to melt lead. Its surface pressure

WASHINGTON — Members of the House Armed Services Committee in a report last week expressed support for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s use of commercial satellite data. They also asked NGA for details on its plans to integrate commercial data and services into “base programs of record.” “The committee notes that the domestic commercial satellite imagery

WASHINGTON — The Space Force awarded data analytics company Palantir $110.3 million in contract extensions for the company’s cloud-based data services. The Space Systems Command announced June 15 it has added one more year to Palantir’s existing contracts for data-as-a-service. Under a project called Warp Core, the Space Force since 2021 has used the company’s