Policy

House Panel Rejects Space Force

The Pentagon’s arguments are unconvincing, a House Appropriations Committee subcommittee says.

Emerging Tech

NRO Is Offering $500K For Experimental Surveillance Tech

The National Reconnaissance Office revealed six areas for the 2019 cohort of the Director’s Innovation Initiative.

Digital Government

Even Astronauts Binge-Watch TV While in Space

In a cramped and isolated environment like a space station, leisure activities are extra important for maintaining mental health.

Policy

CBO: Space Force Could Cost $3B Up Front, $1.3B Annually

The new independent analysis comes as lawmakers weigh the creation of a new branch of the military.

Emerging Tech

How Humans Will Design the First Full-Time Habitat on the Moon

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM), in partnership with the ESA and MIT, wants to accommodate research and maybe even tourism on the moon.

Emerging Tech

The Pentagon is Investing in Space Robots to Repair Satellites

The robots would service military, government and commercial spacecraft more than 22,000 miles above the Earth.

Ideas

New Technology May Soon Require a Dedicated Space Force

Whether a Space Force exists or not, the Pentagon's research arm is looking at space strategically.

Emerging Tech

IARPA is Investing in AI That Constantly Analyzes Worldwide Satellite Images

The IC envisions a system that can stitch together archived and real-time data from satellites, and link it to footage from planes, drones and other aircraft.

Digital Government

What Spy-Satellite Companies Can Teach NASA About Climate Change

The space agency is exploring what three Earth-observation start-ups can teach it about the planet.

Digital Government

Senators wonder why we need Space Force

Lawmakers are worried about more bureaucracy and overlap, and some missing pieces to the Space Force plan.

Emerging Tech

Scientists Predict Weak Sun Activity During Next Solar Cycle

Low solar activity should mean relatively calm space weather for the next 11 years.

Emerging Tech

Another Launch Startup Gets Work from the Air Force

New Zealand-based Rocket Lab will orbit a trio of satellites as Pentagon hunts for cheap ways to put sensors in space.

Emerging Tech

Why Trump Wants to Go to the Moon So Badly

The administration has vowed to return Americans to the lunar surface in 2024 “by any means necessary.”

Digital Government

Space Force’s Projected Size Drifts Upward, Drawing Concern on Capitol Hill

Despite “lean” pledges, aides are skeptical about the size of the proposed branch and the number of generals who will lead it.

Emerging Tech

The Mysterious Exploding Asteroid

A NASA spacecraft reached a space rock and found it orbited by tiny moons—a phenomenon that “has never been seen before in any solar-system object.”

Emerging Tech

What Would a Dog Do on Mars?

New art from NASA imagines a rosy but unrealistic future of canines on the distant planet.

Emerging Tech

NASA Could Go to the Moon Next Year

The agency is willing to ditch its own billion-dollar rocket in favor of a commercial one, to meet a very tight deadline.

Emerging Tech

On the Brink of a New Era of Spaceflight

After years of relying on Russia to get to space, NASA astronauts might soon fly on American-made launch systems.

Digital Government

NOAA Celebrates Weather Satellite Removal From GAO’s High Risk List

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration successfully navigated a major challenge to one of its weather satellite systems that could have derailed U.S. weather forecasting.