The 2024 SpaceNews Icon Awards honor extraordinary achievements that are driving humanity’s exploration of space and shaping the future of the industry. Chosen by the SpaceNews editorial team following an […]
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]]>On Nov. 19, SpaceX launched its Starship vehicle on its sixth test flight. While the flight showcased key technical advancements, such as a successful engine relight on the Starship upper […]
The post Starships, Space Policy and Power Plays appeared first on SpaceNews.
]]>In the complex world of military reorganization, few initiatives have generated as much debate in recent years as the U.S. Space Force, created during President-elect Donald Trump’s first term. When […]
The post Trump’s unfinished business: An independent Space Force appeared first on SpaceNews.
]]>Europe’s proposed sovereign broadband constellation is slowly chugging along, carrying with it the non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite upgrades that SES and Eutelsat will need to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink. The […]
The post Connecting The Dots | IRIS² anchors SES and Eutelsat next steps appeared first on SpaceNews.
]]>By the end of this year, NASA may have a new plan in place for returning samples from Mars. The agency announced in October that it had convened an outside […]
The post Foust Forward | Who gets the final word on Mars Sample Return? appeared first on SpaceNews.
]]>Expanding data storage in space is crucial for enabling more powerful artificial intelligence systems to process larger volumes of information directly from orbit. More capable hard drives would facilitate faster […]
The post Connecting the Dots | More data storage, more space AI appeared first on SpaceNews.
]]>The Pentagon is putting $13 billion behind its talk of embracing commercial space, committing serious money to low-Earth orbit satellite services. This marks a dramatic increase in spending on commercial […]
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]]>Enough commercial activity is heading to the moon in the next few months to create a traffic jam. Firefly Aerospace, ispace and Intuitive Machines are all launching commercial lunar lander […]
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]]>The newer generation of AI tools is specifically designed to navigate the complex world of government contracting, where security protocols are strict and the stakes are high, as a single proposal can make or break a company's fiscal year.
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]]>Space sustainability is attracting far more attention than in previous decades. “Historically, just getting people to think about it has been a problem,” said Marlon Sorge, executive director of the […]
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]]>AI-driven technologies are on the cusp of unlocking true autonomy in orbit, with the potential to enable spacecraft to operate independently and deliver more customized, intelligently managed data to Earth. […]
The post Improving Space AI: Ground-to-orbit efforts aim to advance satellite intelligence appeared first on SpaceNews.
]]>Almost no one thought SpaceX would make the catch, at least not on the first try. On the fifth integrated test flight of Starship, launched Oct. 13 from the company’s […]
The post Expending the Expendables: More launch companies are betting their future on reusability appeared first on SpaceNews.
]]>Nearly 12 hours after the successful Falcon 9 launch of a Crew Dragon mission on Sept. 28, SpaceX announced there had been “an off-nominal deorbit burn” by the upper stage […]
The post Foust Forward | Elon Musk, SpaceX and the perils of social media distractions appeared first on SpaceNews.
]]>The U.S. Space Force is mandated to “organize, train and equip” forces to protect American interests in space. That sounds straightforward on paper. In practice, however, the very definition of […]
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]]>Efforts to standardize satellite and terrestrial communications are moving beyond narrowband capabilities toward a universal broadband terminal for seamless, global connectivity. Geostationary operator Intelsat recently partnered with Softbank, a Japanese […]
The post Connecting the Dots | The next connectivity frontier: A universal 5G broadband terminal appeared first on SpaceNews.
]]>Before launching its own satellite, Peru purchased about 10 Earth observation images annually. Since the Airbus-built PeruSat-1 reached orbit in 2016, Peru has gathered and stored more than 500,000 satellite […]
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]]>As the boundaries of warfare continue to extend beyond traditional battlegrounds, the U.S. Army is making strides into the space domain. With satellite capabilities now vital to military operations, the […]
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]]>For the European space industry, the deafening rumble of the ascending rocket was a sigh of relief. On the afternoon of July 9, an Ariane 6 lifted off on a […]
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]]>Satellites are the defacto communications technology when disaster strikes because of their resilience, broad coverage and speed to deploy. Space-based connectivity serves as a critical lifeline when natural disasters disrupt […]
The post Backing the Backups: Ensuring satellites are ready to restore communications when ground systems fail appeared first on SpaceNews.
]]>Pressure is mounting on the Federal Communications Commission to do more to protect the environment from rising megaconstellations, even as a Supreme Court ruling casts uncertainty on its authority to […]
The post Connecting the dots | FCC’s space sustainability authority in question as need grows appeared first on SpaceNews.
]]>In the high-stakes arena of military space technology, the U.S. Space Force’s Space Development Agency is attempting to rewrite the rulebook with a mesh network of interconnected satellites in low-Earth […]
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]]>On Aug. 27, NASA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) released an audit of Mobile Launcher 2, the mobile launch platform the agency is building for the Block 1B version of […]
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]]>As geopolitical tensions extend beyond Earth’s atmosphere, the U.S. Space Force is sharpening its focus on dominating the electromagnetic spectrum. Space electronic warfare — the art and science of protecting […]
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]]>It won’t be easy for NASA to buy commercial services to support Mars exploration. The vast distance between Earth and the Red Planet poses a significant challenge, as do the […]
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