Science

Goldbug: the common woodlouse has shed light on how organisms take up metals from the environment. (Courtesy: Andrawaag/CC BY-SA 4.0) When I was a child I remember being fascinated by woodlice, some of which will roll-up into armoured, pea-sized balls when under threat. I grew up in Canada, and one thing that I noticed when

WASHINGTON — HawkEye 360 and Maxar Technologies have been awarded contract extensions by the National Reconnaissance Office for commercial radio-frequency (RF) data. The NRO also awarded similar contracts to Kleos Space and Spire Global. All four companies last year were selected for cooperative agreements that give the NRO access to their business operations and help

WASHINGTON — A new version of the U.S. military’s Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) satellite unveiled by Boeing on April 13 has a new payload that the company designed under a U.S. Space Force contract.  Boeing in 2019 received a $605 million contract to build the WGS-11, the 11th satellite in the WGS geostationary constellation that

Friday 14 April is World Quantum Day and to celebrate I am in conversation with two physicists working at the forefront of quantum science and technology. First up in this episode is Fermilab’s Anna Grassellino, who is director of the US Department of Energy’s Superconducting Quantum Materials and Systems Center (SQMS). She explains how the

WASHINGTON — Relativity Space has decided to retire its Terran 1 small launch vehicle after a single flight that failed to reach orbit, focusing its resources on a revised version of its larger Terran R rocket. Relativity said April 12 that, less than a month after the first launch of its Terran 1 rocket, which

Companies are striving to reduce the complexity of the satellite ground segment. Through packaged services, partnerships and APIs, ground segment providers aim to make communicating with satellites as easy as possible. That does not mean that operators can wait until the last minute to consider data delivery. “We’ve had experiences with customers who are about

Join the audience for a live webinar at 6 p.m. BST/1 p.m. EDT on 17 May 2023, to explore a real-world battery cell using a suite of state-of-the-art X-ray techniques Want to take part in this webinar? Lithium ion batteries (LIBs) are characterized by structural and chemical complexities across a broad range of length scales. It

WASHINGTON — In an effort to keep up with the ever-increasing demands of U.S. military services, the Space Force will propose a new plan to acquire high-capacity satellite communications.  Senior members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are set to be briefed on this plan in the coming weeks, said Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant, deputy

TAMPA, Fla. — A second pair of O3b mPower satellites for upgrading SES’ medium Earth orbit (MEO) broadband network are due to arrive at their SpaceX launchpad in Florida this week, Boeing announced April 11. The satellites set off via truck last week from Boeing’s manufacturing facilities in El Segundo, California, Boeing Satellite Systems International

Infalling matter: research suggests that information could be recovered from a black hole via gravitational waves. (Courtesy: Shutterstock/Rost9) Since they were first observed in 2015, gravitational waves have enabled scientists to detect large numbers of previously unseen black holes and work out some of the objects’ bulk properties – such as their masses and distances

WASHINGTON — The ground terminals used to operate U.S. military and intelligence satellites are running out of capacity and in dire need of upgrades, warns a new report from the Government Accountability Office. GAO auditors spent more than a year investigating the state of the Satellite Control Network, operated by the U.S. Space Force. The

“I don’t think I’ve ever worked with a cagier bunch who obfuscate and hide the true pricing of what they’re selling until the very last minute when the customer says, ‘Uncle’.” Matt Tirman, Satellogic chief commercial officer Pricing transparency is working for Ursa Space Systems. After most trade shows or conferences, a single customer signs

WASHINGTON — Northrop Grumman is developing a geostationary communications satellite that will compete against a Boeing design in a military procurement estimated to be worth $2.4 billion. Boeing and Northrop Grumman were selected in 2020 by the U.S. Space Force to develop Protected Tactical Satcom prototype payloads, known as PTS. Both payloads passed government design

HOUSTON — As preparations for the Artemis 2 mission ramp up, NASA has established a congressionally mandated office to oversee planning for that and future missions to the moon. NASA announced March 30 it had created the Moon to Mars Program Office within the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate. The office will focus on integrating

HELSINKI — China has invited Venezuela to join its lunar research station project as the country works to gain partners for the endeavor.  Venezuela would be the first country to join China and Russia in the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), which is planned to be constructed in the early 2030s using super heavy-lift launch

WASHINGTON — Loft Orbital has ordered an additional 15 satellite buses from Airbus OneWeb Satellites to meet growing demand for its standardized space platforms. Loft Orbital said April 6 that it ordered the buses, which it calls Longbow, from Airbus OneWeb Satellites, the joint venture of Airbus Defence and Space and OneWeb. The satellites will

WASHINGTON — True Anomaly, a startup based in Denver, is building two small satellites that it plans to launch into orbit later this year. One of the spacecraft will attempt to chase down an “uncooperative” object and take pictures up close.  This is the type of technology that the U.S. military needs to compete with

WASHINGTON — Thule Air Base, a U.S. military installation in Greenland where Space Force units conduct missile warning operations, has been renamed Pituffik Space Base.  Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman at the renaming ceremony April 6 said the new name acknowledges the “rich cultural heritage of Greenland and its people and how