Science

Steering committee: Prasad Iyer (right) and Igal Brener with some of the optical equipment they used for beam steering experiments at Sandia National Laboratory. (Courtesy: Craig Fritz/Sandia National Laboratories) Drawing from the latest advances in metasurfaces and nanophotonics, researchers in the US have designed a new light source that can steer beams of incoherent light

WASHINGTON — The United States and South Korea signed an agreement April 25 to enhance cooperation on space activities ranging from lunar exploration to Earth science, while providing few specific about those efforts. The agreement, formally called the Joint Statement of Intent for Cooperation on Space Exploration and Science, was signed during a visit by

TAMPA, Fla. — AST SpaceMobile announced April 25 it made the first voice call last week with a standard smartphone using its BlueWalker 3 test satellite in low Earth orbit (LEO). An unmodified Samsung Galaxy S22 using mobile spectrum from AT&T directly connected to the satellite April 20 from Midland, Texas, for a brief chat

Exotic photonic states Artist’s impression of photons bound together after interaction with a quantum dot. (Courtesy: The University of Basel) Researchers have succeeded in observing individual photons and a pair of bound photons interacting with a single quantum dot in a different way. The feat could pave the way to the manipulation of exotic photonic

WASHINGTON — Quantum Space is accelerating work on a transfer vehicle designed to take payloads to both geostationary orbit and cislunar space to support growing demand from commercial and government customers. The Rockville, Maryland-based company, established last year to develop spacecraft called Scouts to provide services such as space domain awareness and communications between the

WASHINGTON — Rocket propulsion startup Ursa Major announced April 24 that Astra Space selected the company’s Hadley liquid engine to power the upper stage of its new Rocket 4 launch vehicle. Ursa Major is a Colorado-based manufacturer of liquid engines for small space launchers and hypersonic vehicles. The company said it is producing about 30

Metalworks: artistic impression of a supernova. (Courtesy: NASA/ESA/G Bacon (STScI)) Machine learning has been used to characterize the heavy elements that the first stars in the universe passed on to their immediate successors after they exploded in supernovae. This cosmic inheritance of elements was studied by researchers affiliated with the Kavli Institute for the Physics

WASHINGTON — Virgin Orbit says it is moving ahead with plans to return its LauncherOne rocket to flight later this year even though there is no certainty the company will emerge from bankruptcy. The company announced April 19 that it completed an investigation into the failure of its previous LauncherOne mission Jan. 9. On that

HELSINKI — China is sharpening the details of its Tianwen-3 mission to collect samples from Mars and deliver them to Earth. New mission details and defined objectives were revealed in presentations made at the International Conference of Deep Space Sciences in Hefei, Anhui province, April 22. The mission will use a pair of Long March

Technology advances: the energy density of lithium-ion batteries has increased from 80 Wh/kg to around 300 Wh/kg since the beginning of the 1990s. (Courtesy: B Wang) Researchers have succeeded in making rechargeable pouch-type lithium batteries with a record-breaking energy density of over 700 Wh/kg. The new design comprises a high-capacity lithium-rich manganese-based cathode and a

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force in its 2024 budget allocated $59 million to buy satellite communications services from SES’ new broadband constellation in medium Earth orbit known as O3b mPower. The purchase was made under a NATO contracting vehicle established last year for countries to acquire commercial satcom services. Both the U.S. and Luxembourg

WASHINGTON — Astra Space won a task order worth $11.5 million to launch experimental payloads for the Defense Department’s Space Test Program. Astra, a small satellite launch company based in Alameda, California, was awarded the contract under the U.S. Space Force’s Orbital Services Program OSP-4, the Space Systems Command announced April 21. The OSP-4 program

Tongtong Zhu is founder and chief executive of UK start-up Porotech, which makes micro-scale light-emitting diodes for full-colour displays. He talks to Margaret Harris about the technology’s development, the role of material defects, and the transition from academia to industry Academia to industry Tongtong Zhu was doing research in materials science at the University of

TAMPA, Fla. — Inmarsat has restored maritime and aviation safety capabilities on its I-4 F1 satellite over Asia Pacific but is still trying to recover services for L-band phones that have been down for nearly a week. All services on the spacecraft have been restored following the outage except for its Global Satellite Phone Service

DENVER — A Swedish astronaut may fly to the International Space Station on a commercial mission within the next year under an agreement signed this week. The letter of intent, signed by the Swedish National Space Agency, European Space Agency and Axiom Space, would allow an ESA astronaut, most likely from Sweden, to go to

The original: Woolsthorpe Manor is seen in the background of this photo of what is believed to be the apple tree that inspired Isaac Newton. (Courtesy: Bs0u10e01/CC BY-SA 4.0) Do you fancy getting your hands on a descendant of the very tree that inspired Sir Isaac Newton to come up with his theory of gravity?

TAMPA, Fla. — The Federal Communications Commission adopted new rules April 20 governing how fixed-satellite service operators in non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) share spectrum amid an unprecedented flood of proposed constellations. In the first item taken up by the regulator’s recently established Space Bureau, the rules clarify how operators awarded licenses in different FCC application processing

One year ago on the space industry’s largest stage – Space Symposium – the leaders of two dozen space companies pledged to support Space Workforce 2030, a new, collaborative effort to advance diversity, equity and inclusion in our industry over the long-term. This effort was born of the recognition that our success at this pivotal