Science

HELSINKI — China is preparing to launch three astronauts to its Tiangong space station to oversee a crucial phase of construction of the orbital outpost. The Long March 2F rocket was rolled out to the pad at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert early on May 29. The 62-meter-long rocket was transferred vertically

WASHINGTON — NASA is starting a study to reexamine the viability of space-based solar power, a long-touted solution to providing power from space that may be getting new interest thanks to technological advances and pushes for clean energy. In a presentation at the National Space Society’s International Space Development Conference May 27, Nikolai Joseph of

Nanoparticles trapped between mirrors might be a promising platform for quantum sensors. Courtesy: IQOQI Innsbruck The motional fluctuations of nanoparticles trapped between mirrors in optical cavities could form the basis for a new type of high-precision quantum sensor, according to calculations by researchers at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the University of Innsbruck in Austria

TAMPA, Fla. — British small satellite startup Open Cosmos said May 27 it has secured European Space Agency funding to develop plans for a space weather monitoring constellation. ESA awarded a 5.2 million euro ($5.6 million) contract to Open Cosmos, which is the technical lead for a European consortium comprising engineering, research and academic organizations

SAN FRANCISCO – Ball Aerospace and Raytheon Intelligence & Space will begin developing ocean color sensors for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s next generation of geostationary weather satellites under contracts announced May 26. Under the firm-fixed-price contracts awarded by NASA, NOAA’s partner for the acquisition, each company will receive approximately $5.2 million to perform

Sounds good: a healthy coral reef in Sulawesi, Indonesia. (Courtesy: Tim Lamont) Many people around the world enjoy doing crosswords, taking a few moments out of their day to test their knowledge and wordplay by answering clues to find words that complete the crossword grid. Crosswords are a puzzle that humans particularly excel at, so

WASHINGTON — SpaceX will replace the heat shield on the next Crew Dragon spacecraft flying to the International Space Station after it failed inspections, but NASA says there is no risk of a similar problem for the spacecraft currently at the station. In a May 24 statement to reporters, NASA said that a heat shield

General Dynamics’ partners in this contract include Iridium, KSAT and Raytheon WASHINGTON — General Dynamics Mission Systems won a $324.5 million contract to operate the ground systems and manage network operations of the Space Development Agency’s low Earth orbit constellation, the agency announced May 26. The seven-year contract is for $162.9 million, with $161.5 million

Exploring cause and effect: A photo of the Sagnac interferometer used to generate polarization-entangled photon pairs during a basis measurement. (Courtesy: Davide Poderini/Sapienza University of Rome) Cause-and-effect explanations like “catnip causes cats to be happy”, “jokes cause laughter” and “exciting research causes Physics World articles” are a useful way to organize knowledge about the world.

LONG BEACH, Calif. –  A panel of space logistics experts underscored the importance of open standards to encourage the growth of the market. Over the long term, open standards are necessary “if we really want to build infrastructure in space,” Karol Janik, technology manager for the Manufacturing Technology Centre, an independent U.K. research and technology

TAMPA, Fla. — Gogo is planning to use OneWeb satellites in a partnership that could see it take on Starlink in an emerging business aviation market for low Earth orbit services.  Gogo announced plans May 22 to use OneWeb’s LEO network to connect business jets that are currently too small to use commercial high-speed satellite

Teleportation in progress Researchers at QuTech in the Netherlands with their quantum teleportation experiment. (Courtesy: QuTech)”> Teleportation in progress Researchers at QuTech in the Netherlands with their quantum teleportation experiment. (Courtesy: QuTech) Physicists in the Netherlands have shown for the first time that quantum information can be reliably teleported between network nodes that are not

LONG BEACH, Calif. — Supply chain disruptions continue to pose a challenge for the space industry, but some see those disruptions as an opportunity for new approaches and innovation. During a panel discussion on supply chain issues at Space Tech Expo here May 24, government and industry officials said the industry continued to feel the

TAMPA, Fla. — Amazon Web Services announced May 24 it has picked 10 startups to join its second annual space accelerator program, which helps early-stage companies learn how to grow their businesses with cloud and analytic technologies.  The startups come from across the Earth observation, space situational awareness (SSA), launch, propulsion and space exploration markets.

Andromeda: this image of the galaxy was taken with a small telescope and includes two dwarf galaxies. (Courtesy: David (Deddy) Dayag/CC BY-SA 4.0) New physics, in the form of a “fifth force”, could be responsible for the odd and unexplained arrangement of dwarf galaxies orbiting the Milky Way and other large galaxies – according to

LONG BEACH, Calif. – Benchmark Space Systems announced plans May 24 to produce engines in the United Kingdom and to work with U.K. startup Space Forge to develop reusable chemical propulsion systems. Space Forge of Cardiff, Wales, intends to produce high-value materials in orbit to bring to Earth. Under the contract announced May 24, Benchmark

SEOUL, South Korea —U.S. President Joe Biden promised to expand space cooperation with Japan and South Korea during back-to-back summits with the leaders of two East Asian allies. During a May 23 summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo, Biden agreed to work to put the first Japanese astronaut on the moon as