Space

WASHINGTON — The British government released a highly anticipated space strategy Sept. 27 that outlines its plans to turn the country into a major global space power, but does away with a key metric it had been using to measure its progress. The National Space Strategy sets five general goals for the United Kingdom in

The agency has extended until Oct. 8 the deadline for proposals for the Transport Layer Tranche 1 WASHINGTON — The Space Development Agency revised a request for proposals that previously had sought bids for 144 satellites. It is now seeking proposals for 126 satellites, and will procure the other 18 at a later time. SDA

What was that giant swoop on Venus? And SpaceX continues to move forward. Learn more about Akatsuki: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsDj-KJe65s Learn more about the SpaceX Explosion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_avyRlTUOs 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

TAMPA, Fla. — New York-based RocketStar plans to launch its aerospike-powered rocket for the first time this fall, carrying a prototype satellite for resource-mapping startup Lunasonde on a brief suborbital trip. The 12-meter rocket that RocketStar calls Cowbell aims to reach 21,000 meters on its test flight, depending on final safety requirements from NASA for

Before we could set foot on the moon, the Surveyor missions were sent to give future astronauts some sure footing. Hosted by: Hank Green SciShow has a spinoff podcast! It’s called SciShow Tangents. Check it out at http://www.scishowtangents.org ———- Support SciShow Space by becoming a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SciShowSpace ———- Huge thanks go to the

The 4th Industrial Revolution, or Industry 4.0, is underway. The first industrial revolution involved machines powered by steam and water, the second began with the harnessing of electricity, the third was launched with advent of computers and supercomputing, and now the fourth encompasses the Internet of Things, machine-to-machine communications, 3D printing, Big Data analytics, autonomous

TAMPA, Fla. — Astranis said Sept. 23 that SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket will launch its first commercial satellite in a direct-inject mission to geostationary orbit (GEO) in spring 2022. The San Francisco-based startup, which is building and operating the Arcturus satellite for U.S.-based telco Pacific Dataport Inc (PDI), previously picked SpaceX’s Falcon 9 for a

WASHINGTON — Members of the House Science Committee asked the new administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to make more use of commercial satellite data and take action on space traffic management. At a Sept. 23 hearing of the committee’s environment subcommittee, Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.), ranking member of the full committee, questioned

SciShow Space gives you a blow by blow account of what’s going to happen to the sun — and Earth. Hosted by: Reid Reimers ———- 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 products over at

If the market grows large enough, a dedicated lunar-to-LEO tanker industry could evolve Trade. It enables, disseminates, and helps pay for new technologies and skills. It encourages sciences, the arts, and communications across oceans and cultures. It is a requirement for the evolution and supply of settlements and cities. Like technology and physical expansion, trade

The awards made by the Space Enterprise Consortium are for prototypes that will be jointly funded by the government and the contractors WASHINGTON — Blue Origin, Rocket Lab, SpaceX and United Launch Alliance were selected to participate in technology development projects to advance rocket engine testing and launch vehicle upper stages, the U.S. Space Force

The geostationary orbit tanker is being designed to carry more than 200 pounds of hydrazine WASHINGTON — Orbit Fab, a startup offering a refueling service in space, will launch a propellant tanker to geostationary orbit on a SpaceX Falcon 9 lunar lander mission projected for late 2022 or early 2023.  “Geostationary orbit is where most

WASHINGTON — The secretary-general of the United Nations lumped space tourism alongside corruption and loss of freedoms as part of a “malady of mistrust” facing the world, another sign of the backlash in some quarters to private human spaceflight. In an address to the United Nations General Assembly Sept. 21, Secretary-General António Guterres singled out

Space Logistics’ Mission Robotic Vehicle has a robotic payload developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. WASHINGTON — Northrop Grumman today has two Mission Extension Vehicles in orbit providing station-keeping services for two Intelsat geostationary satellites that were running low on fuel. The company meanwhile is preparing to launch a new servicing vehicle equipped

WASHINGTON — NASA needs to ensure that commercial space stations are ready before the International Space Station is retired to avoid a “space station gap” with geopolitical consequences, industry officials and other advisers warn. NASA’s low Earth orbit commercialization strategy calls for the development of one or more commercial space stations by late this decade,

Scientists have been searching for alien life by honing in on the existence of liquid water, but we might be overlooking some types of life out there that doesn’t need water at all. 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

Contract with propulsion startup Aliena powers September 2022 launch of OrbAstro’s first 12U microsat WASHINGTON — OrbAstro, a space-as-a-service startup with visions of flying “tiny satellites in large flocks,” is ready to launch its first half-dozen smallsats in 2022 With a January launch lined up in India, spots reserved on upcoming SpaceX rideshare missions and

SAN FRANCISCO – Exo-Space, a Los Angeles startup formed in 2020 to offer inexpensive easy-to-assemble cubesats, has pivoted in response to growing demand for on-orbit data processing. Exo-Space developed FeatherEdge, an image-analysis device that plugs into a satellite or balloon payload to provide onboard image processing. FeatherEdge will rely on machine vision algorithms to detect

WASHINGTON — Blue Origin is seeking to overturn NASA’s award of a lunar lander contract to SpaceX by arguing that SpaceX’s proposal failed to meet requirements for reviews that made it “unawardable.” The U.S. Court of Federal Claims released Sept. 22 a significantly redacted version of Blue Origin’s complaint filed with the court Aug. 13.

Andrew Cox: There is no way to have a fruitful discussion with industry if I can’t talk about the threat NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The first briefing with space and defense contractors planned by the Space Force’s Warfighting Analysis Center Oct. 27 will be at a classified facility in the Washington, D.C. area. The means

SAN FRANCISCO — Terran Orbital, the parent company of Tyvak and PredaSAR, has leased a new four-story facility in Irvine, California, to house satellite design, engineering and development. Terran Orbital will continue to manufacture satellites at a separate Irvine facility, which the company is expanding to support its “robust pipeline,” according to a Sept. 22

The Space Force and the National Reconnaissance Office lead a “program integration council” to coordinate efforts by multiple agencies NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The U.S. Space Force has an acquisitions arm called the Space Systems Command. A separate Space Rapid Capabilities Office that procures classified systems reports to the chief of the Space Force. The

What if we could grow buildings on other worlds? Researchers are looking to fungi to help us colonize the stars. SciShow has a spinoff podcast! It’s called SciShow Tangents. Check it out at http://www.scishowtangents.org ———- Support SciShow Space by becoming a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SciShowSpace ———- Huge thanks go to the following Patreon supporter for

Chief of Space Operations Gen. John Raymond unveiled the “Guardian Ideal” document Sept. 21 at the Air Force Association’s Air, Space & Cyber conference NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The U.S. Space Force in a new document calls for a different approach to recruiting and retaining skilled personnel, arguing that service members and civilian workers should

“We are in a national, strategic, long-term competition with a strategic adversary,” Kendall said. NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall in a keynote speech Sept. 20 warned that China’s rapid advances in nuclear and conventional weapons will challenge the United States both in the air and space domains. “While America is still

The Space Warfighting Analysis Center will brief industry representatives Oct. 27 on the results of its first “force design” study focused on space-based missile warning and missile tracking NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Chief of Space Operations Gen. John “Jay” Raymond said a new Space Force office called Space Warfighting Analysis Center (SWAC) will brief industry representatives

It’s not easy to find active plate tectonics on other worlds, but doing so may bring us one step closer to finding a planet that can support life. Hosted by: Reid Reimers SciShow has a spinoff podcast! It’s called SciShow Tangents. Check it out at http://www.scishowtangents.org ———- Support SciShow Space by becoming a patron on

WAILEA, Hawaii — Diplomats and other experts see signs of progress at the United Nations on addressing space sustainability but caution it may will take many years before any sort of binding agreement emerges. In presentations at the Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies, or AMOS, Conference here Sept. 17, officials said a United

KIHEI, Hawaii — A draft environmental assessment released by the Federal Aviation Administration suggests that SpaceX will be able to proceed with orbital Starship launches from Texas, but with a number of mitigations required. The release of the Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) by the FAA Sept. 17 starts a public comment period that will

WAILEA, Hawaii — The growing number of satellites in orbit is leading to calls to develop formal “right of way” rules, although there is no consensus on what those rules should be and how they should be established. Several close approaches of satellites in recent years, in some cases exacerbated by disagreements or communications breakdowns

One of the challenges in using commercial infrastructure is that the ground control systems developed for military satellites can’t talk to commercial antennas WASHINGTON — The ground stations and tracking antennas the U.S. military relies on to communicate with its satellites — known as the Satellite Control Network, or SCN — are decades old and

KIHEI, Hawaii — Turksat will launch its first domestically built communications satellite on a SpaceX Falcon 9, the Turkish government announced Sept. 17. The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure said it awarded SpaceX a contract for the launch of Turksat 6A, scheduled for the first quarter of 2023. The ministry did not disclose the terms

KIHEI, Hawaii — SpaceX’s first private crewed mission ended with the splashdown of the Crew Dragon spacecraft off the Florida coast Sept. 18. The Crew Dragon spacecraft Resilience splashed down off the coast from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 7:06 p.m. Eastern. The splashdown took place 50 minutes after the spacecraft started its deorbit burn. “Inspiration4,

A ship in the Pacific Ocean carrying a high-power laser takes aim at a U.S. spy satellite, blinding its sensors and denying the United States critical eyes in the sky. This is one scenario that military officials and civilian leaders fear could lead to escalation and wider conflict as rival nations like China and Russia

TAMPA, Fla. — CesiumAstro expects to be building satellites mostly by itself in two years to house the active phased arrays it has been developing, aiming to shift the paradigm for electronically steered antennas with commercial-like industrialization processes that lower costs and speed up production. Austin, Texas-based CesiumAstro bought parts from small satellite manufacturers for

WAILEA, Hawaii — SpaceX’s first private Crew Dragon mission is set to end with a splashdown off the Florida coast Sept. 18, three days after liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center. At the end of a live video session with the four-person Inspiration4 mission Sept. 17, SpaceX said they were planning a splashdown at 7:06

WAILEA, Hawaii — The U.S. military will take space sustainability factors into account should it have to respond to an attack on its satellites, a Space Force official said Sept. 16. Speaking at the Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies, or AMOS, Conference here, Col. Scott D. Brodeur, director of the National Space Defense

HELSINKI — Three Chinese astronauts safely returned to Earth Sept. 17 after completing the first crewed mission aboard the Tianhe space station module. Commander Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo touched down inside the designated landing zone near Dongfeng in the Gobi Desert, Inner Mongolia, at around 1:34 a.m. Eastern Friday. The main, 1,200-square-meter

The classified facility will be used for engineering, integration, testing and program management WASHINGTON — L3Harris Technologies on Sept. 16 opened a classified facility in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where the company will assemble and test satellites for U.S. missile-defense programs. A dedication ceremony on Thursday was attended by Indiana lawmakers and Defense Department officials Derek Tournear, director

Start building your ideal daily routine with Fabulous. The first 100 people who click on the link will get a FREE week trial and 25% OFF Fabulous Premium: https://thefab.co/scishowspace2 The extreme mass of neutron stars leads to enormous gravitational pulls, resulting in nearly perfect spheres. But those imperfections, or mountains, might be able to help

KIHEI, Hawaii — Small launch vehicle developer ABL Space Systems has won a contract to launch a NASA technology demonstration spacecraft in 2023. ABL Space Systems said Sept. 16 it will launch the NASA Cryogenic Demonstration Mission spacecraft on its RS1 rocket in 2023. NASA selected a team led by Lockheed Martin in 2020 to

WAILEA, Hawaii — A Space Force general endorsed the development of commercial systems for removing space debris, saying they can address congestion in Earth orbit without the policy concerns a government-run alternative might have. Maj. Gen. DeAnna Burt, vice commander of the Space Force’s Space Operations Command, told an audience of space traffic management experts

The rocket went sideways, so the stock went down. Astra Space made its third orbital launch attempt from Kodiak, Alaska, Aug. 28, using an upgraded version of its small launch vehicle known as Rocket 3.3. The launch was the first of two under a U.S. Space Force contract, carrying a test payload designed to monitor

KIHEI, Hawaii — SpaceX’s first fully commercial Crew Dragon mission is being closely watched by both NASA and other companies in the commercial human spaceflight sector, who see it as a pathfinder for future missions but not necessity a model for them. SpaceX is scheduled to launch the Inspiration4 mission on a Falcon 9 from

TAMPA, Fla. — OneWeb is about halfway through deploying its low Earth orbit constellation, after Arianespace successfully launched another 34 satellites for the broadband operator Sept. 14. The satellites launched on a Soyuz rocket at 2:07 p.m. Eastern from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, expanding OneWeb’s network to 322 satellites of a planned 648-strong constellation. Arianespace said

SAN FRANCISCO – Capella Space announced plans Sept. 14 to share synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) data gathered by its satellite constellation with researchers, nonprofit organizations, application developers and disaster response organizations. Capella launched its Open Data Program by providing 60 high-resolution SAR scenes of sites on every continent, showing agriculture and aquaculture, energy and natural resources,

To discuss the project DARPA is hosting a virtual conference with potential bidders Sept. 22 WASHINGTON — The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is asking for ideas on how to make optical inter-satellite links that can connect government and commercial space communications systems in low Earth orbit. DARPA’s Strategic Technology Office announced Sept. 13 it

WASHINGTON — SpaceX launched its first dedicated polar Starlink mission Sept. 13 as the company moves into the next phase of deployment of its broadband satellite constellation. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 11:55 p.m. Eastern. The rocket’s payload of 51 Starlink satellites