NASA launched its Double Asteroid Redirection Test mission on Nov. 24 via the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. DART is a planetary defense mission aimed at altering an asteroid’s trajectory through intentional kinetic impact. The goal is to obtain knowledge of how to deflect asteroids in the event […]
Space agency NASA is preparing to launch a new X-ray observatory into space to observe extreme cosmic objects. The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer will study pulsars, black holes and other objects that could reveal how the universe works. It will analyze polarized X-ray light to allow scientists to study celestial objects, their behaviors, the surrounding […]
The Air Force Research Laboratory is working with a team of U.S. and U.K.-based researchers to construct a high-powered Earth-based optical telescope in New Mexico. The Magdalena Ridge Observatory Interferometer will be built on a site managed by the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in the city of Socorro. NMT will work with […]
The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory and NASA are working together to investigate the origins of solar energetic particles, elements that could affect Navy satellites and harm personnel during future crewed missions. Researchers from both organizations will use the Ultraviolet Spectro-Coronagraph Pathfinder, an instrument designed to study how SEPs are generated close to the sun. The […]
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has issued a request for proposals for innovative technologies for a fission surface power system to be used for energizing future moon missions. The space agency is advancing the FSP project in hopes of using nuclear energy to power missions to the lunar surface and beyond as early as […]
Astra Space‘s Rocket 3.3 with serial number LV0007 reached orbit on Saturday, carrying with it a payload for the U.S. Space Force‘s Space Test Program. The launch took place at the Pacific Spaceport Complex on Kodiak Island, Alaska. The rocket reached an altitude of about 500 kilometers after the first and second stages fired successfully. […]
Battelle Energy Alliance, which manages the Idaho National Laboratory for the Department of Energy, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration have called on experts from the nuclear and space industry to develop innovative technologies for fission surface power systems for lunar applications. The FSP project aims to develop a durable, high-power, sun-independent power source […]
A member of the Space Force’s top brass on Saturday admitted that the United States is lagging behind China and Russia in the development of hypersonic missiles. Gen. David Thompson, the vice chief of space operations, said while all branches of the U.S. military have ongoing programs to develop their own hypersonic missiles, they must […]
Finnish satellite manufacturer Iceye has signed an agreement to explore how synthetic-aperture radar imagery and data can benefit the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Technical Center. Iceye and the SMDTC will look into how SAR satellite tasking, SAR data downlink, image processing and image dissemination can address requirements by the Army and the Department […]
The Air Force Research Laboratory’s Space Vehicles Directorate awarded an $8.4 million contract to Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems for equipment in support of the Precise flight experiment, which is scheduled for launch in 2024. Under the deal, California-based Tyvak will be providing the AFRL with a spacecraft capable of maneuvering between low Earth orbit and very […]
