News & Map

Commercial space station developers make their business case to NASA

Last month, NASA proposed major changes to its program supporting the development of commercial space stations, arguing ...

When the orbital layer is the kill chain

Experts have debated the role that artificial intelligence has played in the ongoing conflict with Iran. Bharath Gopalas...

Anduril, Palantir and SpaceX are changing how America wages war

The Trump administration is cosying up to a new clique of “neo-primes”

Artemis 2, Apollo 8, and the problem with history

Artemis 2 has drawn parallels to Apollo 8 not just because of the profile of the missions but also because of geopolitic...

Opening the path to the lunar surface

The splashdown of Artemis 2 Friday marked both the successful end of the mission and the completion of a key step in NAS...

Strategic celestography and lunar competition: Artemis, CLEP, and the struggle for positional advantage

As the United States and China race to the Moon, both countries are considering bases in the same south polar region. Gl...

A tale of two Martian cities

What is the right governance model for future Martian settlements? Thomas Gangale examines two very models for how peopl...

Artemis eclipses

Artemis 2 successfully launched last week, with the Orion spacecraft flying around the Moon on the first crewed lunar mi...

Ownership without oversight: Australia's on-orbit supervision gap

The recent sale of an imaging satellite already in orbit to an Australian company has uncovered a gap in how the country...

Igniting a new vision for NASA

At a day-long event last week, NASA leadership announced major changes to its exploration, science, and technology progr...

From advantage to arena: space power 1991-2026

The conflict in the Middle East has demonstrated how space capabilities have become essential to modern warfare. Bharath...

Artemis 2, Project Hail Mary, and the risks and benefits of human spaceflight

The impending Artemis 2 launch comes as the movie Project Hail Mary hits theaters. Scott Solomon discusses how they both...

The science of Artemis 2

Artemis 2 is back on the pad for a launch as soon as next week. Jeff Foust reports that while the mission is primarily a...

NavIC: India's "jinxed" navigational program, or a cornerstone of India's misplaced space priorities?

A recent in-orbit failure has deprived India of a functioning navigation satellite system. Ajey Lele says what appears t...

The legal aspects of outer space settlers and settlements

Any future with humans living permanently in space raises some key legal issues. Dennis O'Brien explores those issues, f...

If China returns to the Moon first, will Americans care?

Many in the space community believe the United States is in a race with China to land the next humans on the Moon, with ...

The next phase of space ambitions in Texas

The state of Texas is seeking to expand its space industry with a grant program and a new space institute. Jeff Foust re...

Artemis via the ISS? A breakout opportunity for kickstarting a sustainable cislunar economy

NASA's plans for the Artemis lunar exploration campaign are largely separate from the planned transition from the Intern...

Golden domes, fragile firms: the business risks of AI-enabled space infrastructure

Space companies are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence to manage their satellite operations. Bharath Gopala...

China schedules next moonshot this year: developer

Reforging Vulcan

This was supposed to be the year that United Launch Alliance finally ramped up launches of its Vulcan rocket to serve go...

Big wing bird: NASA's WB-57 gets grounded

A NASA WB-57 aircraft was damaged in a gear-up landing at a Houston airport in January. Dwayne Day examines the long and...

China's astronaut center addresses challenges of long-term human survival on exoplanets: political advisor and China's first female taikonaut to enter space station

Accelerating Artemis

On Friday, NASA shook up its Artemis lunar exploration plans with changes to planned missions and to the Space Launch Sy...

The ghost in the orbit: how hybrid surveillance reshapes risks

The US military recently announced plans to commercially procure satellites to monitor other spacecraft in geosynchronou...

Gala time! The Chinese New Year narratives of the space program

China marked the Lunar New Year last month with a televised gala. Krzysztof Karwowski discusses how space played a role ...

"We failed them": NASA grapples with Starliner

Last week, on very short notice, NASA released an independent report on the flawed Starliner crewed test flight in 2024....

Prometheus bound: The legacy of the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter

More than 20 years ago, NASA embarked on an effort to develop a massive nuclear-powered mission to the moons of Jupiter....

We can build cities on the MoonÑbut who will govern them?

As companies follow the lead of countries in returning humans to the Moon, it raises new questions of governance of thos...

When Iran took the Internet hostage, Elon Musk held the keys

Protestors in Iran turned to Starlink to maintain connection with the outside world when the government restricted Inter...

AI and Army astronauts: A judge advocate's solution to protecting the soldier-astronaut

As astronauts, including those from the military, go deeper into space, they will face medical challenges that can't be ...

Musk's Moon mania

Elon Musk and SpaceX have long been associated with establishing a human presence on Mars, but that appears to be changi...

Seattle's lessons for rocket reusability

While reuse of the first stage of launch vehicle has long been proven by SpaceX, reusing a rocket's upper stage is more ...

Tame the wolf, release the panda: The case for US-China space cooperation

For 15 years, the Wolf Amendment has severely restricted US-China civil space cooperation. Jimin Park makes the case tha...

The dominance of Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg

There are more than a dozen licensed spaceports in the United States and even more prospective ones, yet nearly all the ...

Breaking dishes: the space facility at Yevpatoriya

Last year the Ukrainian military attacked a satellite tracking station in Russian-occupied Crimea. Dwayne Day examines t...

The Solar System Internet: Envisioning a networked future beyond Earth

Networking protocols used on Earth today don't work well in space, given distances and other challenges. Scott Pace and ...

Much needed cargo for the Moon

Plans for lunar outposts, like the one included in an executive order by the White House in December, will require large...

High Jump: the JUMPSEAT signals intelligence satellite

Last week the National Reconnaissance Office announced it had declassified information about a signals intelligence sate...

Normalization of deviance

Ahead of the launch of Artemis 2, some have raised concerns about the Orion spacecraft's heat shield. Robert Oler says N...