Science

SAN FRANCISCO – Telespazio intends to play a key role in the future in-orbit servicing market, providing customers seeking satellite relocation, refueling, repair or removal with the necessary space and ground-based capabilities. “There is an industrial role that Telespazio can definitely play on the basis of 61 years of experience in providing operational service,” Marco

One priority for Frank Calvelli, assistant secretary of the Air Force for space acquisition and integration, is to impose discipline in procurement programs WASHINGTON — The Space Force’s new acquisition executive Frank Calvelli says there is no quick fix for problems that for years have plagued defense procurements, such as cost overruns and schedule delays. 

Anomaly localization: Lung scans from patients with COVID-19 infection (rows 1–3) and healthy controls (rows 4–5). From left to right: original CT image; attention maps generated by four example latent distributions (warmer colours indicate regions of anomalies); aggregated attention map; segmentation mask; and ground truth infection mask. (Courtesy: Q Zhou et al Comput. Methods Programs

Space Delta 18 will run the National Space Intelligence Center at Wright Patterson Air Force Base WASHINGTON — The Space Force on June 24 established a new unit, Space Delta 18, responsible for providing “quality intelligence” to U.S. policy makers about the space domain, Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting, commander of Space Operations Command, said at

WASHINGTON — OneWeb, the broadband megaconstellation company whose launch plans were disrupted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, expects to resume launches late this year, an executive said June 23. Speaking at the Fourth Summit for Space Sustainability by the Secure World Foundation and the U.K. Space Agency, Maurizio Vanotti, vice president of space infrastructure development

Taken from the June 2022 issue of Physics World. Members of the Institute of Physics can enjoy the full issue via the Physics World app.

Why a good-enough STM approach is better than perfect Whatever space traffic management framework emerges — assuming something more formal ever does — it will be far from perfect. No traffic management framework in any domain eliminates accidents. Unintentional collisions in space will happen. Space traffic management (STM) should be about mitigating risk, not eliminating

SAN FRANCISCO – Propulsion startup Plasmos is testing its first rocket engine thanks to a $250,000 in-kind investment from Velo3D, a metal additive manufacturing startup known for its work with SpaceX. Benny Buller, Velo3D founder and CEO, decided to make the investment after meeting Ali Baghchehsara, Plasmos founder and CEO. “I was for two years

Ever shrinking: a study of the interface between silicon and silicon dioxide could lead to smaller transistors. (Courtesy: iStock/Quardia) Two researchers in China have shown how unwanted quantum tunnelling in field-effect transistors (FETs) could be suppressed by controlling the lattice orientations of materials used in the devices. Using machine learning to analyse thousands of candidate

To keep peace on Earth, we must keep peace in space. The time has come for America to confront the reality that space has been weaponized by our adversaries. Space has long been a peaceful environment for research and commerce on Earth with conditions that deny tyrants the luxury of concealment, the advantage of surprise,

SAN FRANCISCO – The SmallSat Alliance is inviting U.S. university students to propose space-related solutions for formidable technical and policy challenges as part of the Collegiate Space Competition. The first of what is expected to become an annual competition focuses on two topics: Earth science and environmental monitoring as well as space congestion and orbital

Glass technologies have shaped the modern world. This video explores the cultural legacy of glass and some of its latest applications. From bottles and windows, to spectacles, camera lenses and the fibre optics that underpin the Internet – glass influences many aspects of our lives. Yet despite its familiarity, glass still contains mysteries. Where exactly

Appropriators raised red flags about missile-warning satellite programs, for which the Space Force requested $4.5 billion in 2023 WASHINGTON — The House Appropriations Committee in a report accompanying the fiscal year 2023 defense appropriations bill warned about schedule and cost risks in Space Force acquisition programs.  “The Space Force’s ambitious plans for new architectures, programs

SAN FRANCISCO – NASA approved a demonstration flight for DiskSat, the thin round satellite designed by the Aerospace Corp. Aerospace Corp. engineers are building four DiskSats and a DiskSat dispenser, which they plan to send to low-Earth orbit in 2024 to validate the technology. “People ask me, ‘Can you really fly that? Can you keep

Soaking it up: the new polymer gel can harvest moisture from relatively dry air. (Courtesy: University of Texas at Austin) Researchers in the US have designed a sustainable polymer gel that can harvest large quantities of water from the surrounding air, even in low-humidity conditions. Created by Youhong Guo and colleagues at the University of

HASC Chairman Adam Smith in the 2023 NDAA continues to press DoD to fund a program known as “tactically responsive space” WASHINGTON — House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) in the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act proposes adding $75 million to the Pentagon’s budget for “tactically responsive space,” a program that funds