Space

Neutron stars are some of the strangest things in the universe, but are they the source of the mysterious Fast Radio Bursts? Or is it aliens? Spoilers: probably not aliens. For special, curated artifacts of this universe, check out https://scishowfinds.com/ ———- Support SciShow by becoming a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scishow ———- Dooblydoo thanks go to

TAMPA, Fla. — Arianespace has successfully launched the heaviest satellite SES has ever ordered, marking a cornerstone for a multi-orbit network that is seeing surging demand from commercial aviation customers. Weighing roughly 6,400 kilograms, the all-electric SES-17 satellite lifted off from French Guiana Oct. 23 at 10:10 a.m. Eastern on an Ariane 5 rocket, which

DUBAI, U.A.E. — Small launch vehicle developer ABL Space Systems has raised an additional $200 million, just seven months after a $170 million round. ABL announced Oct. 25 it raised the additional funding as an extension of the $170 million Series B round it closed in March. The existing group of investors contributed to the

DUBAI, U.A.E. — Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has developed a small geostationary orbit communications satellite bus intended to provide a low-cost spacecraft with an advanced payload to customers that don’t require a larger satellite. The company announced its Mini Communications Satellite (MCS) design at the 72nd International Astronautical Congress here. The spacecraft, with a mass

We’ve seen this done in movies right? Well, why don’t spaceships have this technology? Hosted by Reid Reimers ———- Dooblydoo thanks go to the following Patreon supporters — we couldn’t make SciShow without them! Shout out to Justin Ove, John Szymakowski, Fatima Iqbal, Justin Lentz, David Campos, and Chris Peters. ———- Like SciShow? Want to

SAN FRANCISCO – York Space Systems is once again expanding manufacturing capacity to meet demand for its standard small satellites. After announcing plans in May to establish a facility in Denver to produce as many as 80 satellites at once, York recognized it would also need a near-term plan to expand production. As a result,

HELSINKI — China launched the Shijian-21 satellite from Xichang late Saturday with the stated aim of testing space debris mitigation technologies. A Long March 3B lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, southwest China, at 9:27 p.m. Eastern, Oct. 23, sending Shijian-21 into geosynchronous transfer orbit. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC)

DUBAI, U.A.E. — NASA officials said they’re now targeting no earlier than February for the Artemis 1 launch as the completed vehicle enters the final phase of launch preparations. In a call with reporters Oct. 22, agency officials said they had completed the installation of the Orion spacecraft on top of the Space Launch System’s

Light travels through space as fast as anything in the universe possibly can, but before scientists could figure out light’s speed, they had to figure out whether that speed was even finite. SciShow has a spinoff podcast! It’s called SciShow Tangents. Check it out at http://www.scishowtangents.org Host: Reid Reimers ———- Support SciShow by becoming a

Investors may be wary of backing nascent companies without a guarantee of future procurements by the government WASHINGTON — U.S. Space Force generals made headlines recently calling for the development of commercial services to clean up orbital debris. These statements convey a sense of urgency about the risk of collisions in space but the government’s

WASHINGTON — Space Adventures has dropped plans to fly space tourists on a high-altitude Crew Dragon flight but has not ruled out revisiting the mission concept in the future. Space Adventures announced in February 2020 that it has signed a contract with SpaceX for a Crew Dragon mission that would not go to the International

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force awarded L3Harris Technologies a $120.7 million contract to upgrade a ground-based communications jammer used to block adversaries’ satellite transmissions. The contract, announced Oct. 22, is for upgrades to the Counter Communications System Block 10.2 that currently operates at Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado; Vandenberg Space Force Base, California; Cape

Although science has provided astounding insights into the origins of the universe, we’re still not quite sure what happened in those very first few moments. Link to Electromagnetism: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMnsZuEE_m8 Link to Weak Force: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnL_nwmCLpY&list=PLsNB4peY6C6JDc1HcVKjjYzVB0BYEXexd&index=3 Link to Strong Force: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yv3EMq2Dgq8&list=PLsNB4peY6C6JDc1HcVKjjYzVB0BYEXexd&index=1 Link to Gravity: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhG_ArxmwRM&list=PLsNB4peY6C6JDc1HcVKjjYzVB0BYEXexd&index=4 Link to Take a Trip to Titan!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfiE5AVM7Zc Link to Has Stephen

Whether the Chinese tested a weapon or just a reusable space vehicle is impossible to know without seeing the test data, said an industry expert WASHINGTON — China’s reported tests of a hypersonic orbital glide vehicle have sparked alarm in the U.S. as it could further fuel an escalating arms race. The Chinese government said

WASHINGTON — SpaceX performed a static-fire test of a Starship vehicle Oct. 21 as debate continues about an environmental assessment of the company’s proposed launch operations in Texas. SpaceX performed two brief firings of a single Raptor engine mounted in a Starship vehicle called Ship 20 at its Boca Chica, Texas, test site. The tests

WASHINGTON — Nanoracks, its majority owner Voyager Space and Lockheed Martin, will collaborate on the development of a commercial space station as others in industry warn of a potential space station gap. Nanoracks said Oct. 21 that it was partnering with Lockheed Martin and Voyager Space on a commercial space station called Starlab. Nanoracks will

SciShow Space takes to you a world where the night is always dark, the tides are paltry — and the days are only 8 hours long. See how different Earth would be if there were no moon!

TAMPA, Fla. — Intelsat CEO Stephen Spengler plans to retire after the satellite operator emerges from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. 62-year-old Spengler has spent more than 18 years at the company in various leadership roles, leading as CEO for the past six and a half years. His plans to retire from Intelsat — and professionally

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s first domestically built rocket reached its desired altitude Oct. 21, but failed to put a payload into its intended orbit due to the third-stage engine’s malfunction. “The flight of Nuri was completed. I’m very proud of this. Regrettably, it didn’t reach the goal it aimed at,” President Moon Jae-in

WASHINGTON — NASA officials are standing by their decision to retain the name of the James Webb Space Telescope despite criticism from some astronomers, including one who resigned from an advisory committee in protest. The agency said in a once-sentence statement in late September that a historical review turned up no evidence to back allegations

Tidally locked planets could be more common than Earth-like planets! And these “eyeball planets” might even be a promising place to look for unique lifeforms! Hosted by: Reid Reimers SciShow has a spinoff podcast! It’s called SciShow Tangents. Check it out at https://www.scishowtangents.org ———- Support SciShow by becoming a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scishow ———- Huge

Cybersecurity threats are a growing concern for day-to-day life on Earth. As thousands of satellites are launched to orbit, are there new risks to consider in the skies above? The vast majority of smallsats crowding low Earth orbit are ill-prepared for increasingly sophisticated security threats, according to Rob Spicer, CEO of launch integration and mission

WASHINGTON — Senate appropriators, frustrated with the lack of progress by the Commerce Department on space traffic management, are threatening to withhold other funding until it gets detailed plans from the agency. In the report accompanying its version of a commerce, justice and science spending bill for fiscal year 2022, released Oct. 18, Senate appropriators

WASHINGTON — NASA continues to stand behind Boeing as the company works to resolve a valve problem with its CST-100 Starliner that will push back operational missions of the commercial crew vehicle into 2023. NASA and Boeing officials provided an update Oct. 19 on the investigation into the stuck valves in the Starliner’s propulsion system

For more than 40 years, the Voyager probes have traveled through space sending back all kinds of fascinating data. But these probes were never meant to send us data forever – so how much longer will these amazing probes last? Hosted by: Reid Reimers SciShow has a spinoff podcast! It’s called SciShow Tangents. Check it

TAMPA, Fla. — German launch services provider Exolaunch is expanding to the U.S. in search of a greater share of the rapidly growing market, stepping up competition against Seattle-based rideshare broker Spaceflight. About half the nearly 100 satellites Exolaunch has already booked for launches next year are for U.S. customers, newly appointed Exolaunch USA CEO

Under the recently launched Polish Imaging Satellites (PIAST) project, a consortium formed by local space industry players will develop three nanosatellites to be operated by the country’s armed forces and placed into orbit in 2024. WARSAW, Poland — Under the recently launched Polish Imaging Satellites (PIAST) project, a consortium formed by local space industry players

WASHINGTON — NASA will develop a gamma-ray telescope intended to study the formation of chemical elements in the galaxy as its next small astrophysics mission. NASA announced Oct. 18 that it will proceed with development of the Compton Spectrometer and Imager (COSI) spacecraft as its next small Explorer, or SMEX, astrophysics mission. COSI, led by

SciShow Space takes you through perhaps the scariest part of every space mission — re-entry. How do astronauts survive the turbulent return to Earth’s atmosphere? Math, y’all! ———- Like SciShow? Want to help support us, and also get things to put on your walls, cover your torso and hold your liquids? Check out our awesome

SEOUL, South Korea — The U.S. Space Force’s top general expressed hope for deepening cooperation with South Korea’s military Oct. 18, saying “Katchi Kapshida,” which means “We go together” in Korean, a symbolic slogan of the long-standing Korea-U.S. alliance. Chief of U.S. Space Operations Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond cited the slogan during his video

SAN FRANCISCO – TrustPoint Inc., a startup developing a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), has raised $2 million in seed funding from venture capital firm DCVC. With the funding announced Oct. 18, TrustPoint plans to expand its engineering team, continue developing core technologies, including satellite payload testing, and extend key partnerships. Heavy global reliance on

WASHINGTON — Engineers are investigating why one of the two solar arrays on NASA’s Lucy spacecraft may have failed to lock into place when deployed after launch Oct. 16. In an Oct. 17 statement, NASA said that while the spacecraft is healthy, one of the two circular solar panels “may not be fully latched” after

How close could you get to the sun using today’s spacesuits or spaceships? Find out in today’s episode of SciShow Space! Annotation: Diving Into the Sun https://youtu.be/sZXj68iWjhA ———- Dooblydoo thanks go to the following Patreon supporters — we couldn’t make SciShow without them! Shout out to Justin Ove, Justin Lentz, David Campos, Chris Peters, Philippe

WASHINGTON — A Soyuz spacecraft carrying a cosmonaut and two spaceflight participants landed in Kazakhstan Oct. 17, nearly two days after that spacecraft caused the station to briefly lose attitude control. The Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft undocked from the station’sNauka module at 9:14 p.m. Eastern Oct. 16. It reentered and landed southeast of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, at

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Rocket Lab’s acquisition of an aerospace software company is one of a series of deals it is considering, enabled in part by going public. Rocket Lab announced Oct. 12 it has completed the purchase of Advanced Solutions, Inc. (ASI), a Colorado-based engineering company that develops flight software, simulation systems and guidance, navigation

Przybylski’s Star has been puzzling astronomers for decades, and it might contain elements or isotopes that scientists have never seen before! Hosted by: Reid Reimers For special, curated artifacts of this universe, check out https://scishowfinds.com/ ———- Support SciShow by becoming a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scishow ———- Dooblydoo thanks go to the following Patreon supporters: Lazarus

WASHINGTON — An agreement just announced between the U.S. Space Force and a venture capital firm is a pilot project intended to help government buyers understand how investors assess space industry startups.  The Space Force would like better insight into how venture investors gauge the potential of technologies developed by commercial businesses, said Gabe Mounce,

WASHINGTON — An Atlas 5 successfully a launched NASA spacecraft Oct. 16 on a mission to study distant asteroids that may hold clues to the early history of the solar system. The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 401 rocket lifted off on schedule from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 5:34 a.m.

HELSINKI — A second crew of three astronauts are heading for China’s Tianhe space station module after the successful launch of the Shenzhou-13 mission Friday. A Long March 2F lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert at 12:23 Eastern Oct. 15. The rocket, with four side boosters, two stages and

Can you make a black hole out of light? Learn about the strange theoretical object called the ‘Kugelblitz’. Hosted by: Hank Green ———- Support SciShow by becoming a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scishow ———- Dooblydoo thanks go to the following Patreon supporters — we couldn’t make SciShow without them! Shout out to Justin Ove, Andreas Heydeck,

The race for a place in space is one of the many things people love about the spirit of the United States — a country that dreams big, sets goals to make those dreams a reality, and then moves full speed ahead to achieve those goals. America blasts off toward those dreams with stars in

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner was within hours of launch on its second uncrewed test flight in early August when stuck valves in the spacecraft’s propulsion system forced a launch scrub that has turned into a delay that will extend well into next year. “It was a tough pill to swallow,” John Vollmer, vice

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Virgin Galactic will postpone a SpaceShipTwo suborbital spaceflight that had been scheduled for this month, electing to instead immediately begin an extended maintenance period for the spaceplane and its carrier aircraft that will further delay the start of commercial flights. The company said Oct. 14 that it decided to move directly intended

Start learning a new language today with Babbel for less than $5 per month! Get up to 65% when you sign up here: https://go.babbel.com/12m65-youtube-scishowspace-oct-2021/default When you think of a frozen object in space, you might think of Pluto, but stars themselves actually freeze. Hosted By: Hank Green SciShow is on TikTok! Check us out at

Kendall is asking Congress to amend the 2022 NDAA so a new assistant secretary for space acquisitions can be nominated and, if confirmed by the Senate, take office sooner than next October WASHINGTON — Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall is asking Congress to authorize a new assistant secretary for space acquisitions before the Oct. 1,

AFRL will ‘review Orbit Fab’s refueling technologies, advise on requirements and designs, and make available its facilities’ WASHINGTON — Orbit Fab, a venture-funded startup offering a refueling service in space, has signed a technology sharing agreement with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, the company announced Oct. 13.  Under the cooperative research and development agreement,

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — The launch of a NASA cubesat mission that will test the orbit to be used by the lunar Gateway has slipped to next March, the result of broader launch delays Rocket Lab has suffered because of the pandemic. NASA’s Ames Research Center tweeted Oct. 13 that it was now targeting March 2022

SAN FRANCISCO – SpaceLink has awarded OHB System AG a contract with an anticipated value of more than $300 million to manufacture four satellites for its commercial space data relay constellation. After reviewing proposals from multiple satellite manufacturers, SpaceLink selected OHB based on a number of factors including the German company’s experience building Galileo navigation