From the Magazine
Op-ed | Turning technology inside our adversaries
If you asked a fighter pilot during World War II what he needed in a plane, he would say, “I want to turn inside the enemy,” or superior maneuverability. Today, as we have firmly moved to space as the high ground, this maxim has never been truer.
Op-ed | Mars mania is completely rational
However you choose to rationalize it, Mars exploration is completely justified.
Is the Earth-observation industry consolidating, or just evolving?
Do three events constitute a trend? For many in the Earth-observation industry, the answer seems to be yes.
Suborbital space race? Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin will get there when they get there
Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic are de facto competitors in an undeclared race to be the first to send private passengers into suborbital space, but both billionaire-led ventures are prioritizing safety over urgency.
‘What the hell happened?’: The rise and fall of suborbital space tourism companies
In 2004, Burt Rutan predicted a vibrant future for commercial suborbital spaceflight. Thirteen years after SpaceShipOne nabbed the Ansari X Prize, suborbital space tourism has yet to take off.
Trump’s right: A Mars mission by 2024 is possible
American should go to Mars, and the president and Congress should commit to launching that mission by sometime in 2024.
Air Force knocking down stovepipes to shore up space cybersecurity
The Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center faces unique challenges because it uses an extensive array of ground systems - some decades old - to communicate with individual satellites.
Mars traffic jams could overwhelm NASA’s Deep Space Network
The next wave of missions creates communications challenges for NASA’s Deep Space Network
The moon is the gateway to NASA’s exploration future
In recent weeks NASA had laid out more details about what an outpost orbiting the moon might look like and how it could be built - driven by the need to start planning payloads for the initial missions to develop it.
U.S. satellite rules are out of focus. It’s time for new vision.
American remote sensing startups want to stay in the United States, but they must plan for overseas operations due to uncertainty in the regulatory approval process.
More than just fixing the rules: regulating for innovation
A variety of new space technologies are emerging in the U.S. space industry, and policymakers should look for ways to facilitate this innovation and make these technologies more accessible to civil, commercial, and military space customers.
Who’s keeping satellites safe from cyberattacks?
IoT will present enormous challenges for people who offer satellite communications products and services because each connected device from refrigerators to tractors offers hackers a point of entry into the network and a way to target other elements of the network.
Will SmartSky’s ground game erode satellite’s in-flight connectivity high ground?
A six-year-old company headquartered near Charlotte, North Carolina’s busy international airport raised $66 million this February as it nears completion of an air-to-ground network of 250 cellular towers. When finished, those towers will point close to 20,000 beams at passenger planes crossing the continental United States.
A short history of lunar space tourism
SpaceX is not the first to announce a commercial mission to the moon. Other efforts have come and gone with no visible progress.
Commentary | Commercial space innovation needs more government certainty
After the election, the early signals from the Trump transition and beachhead teams across the various departments and agencies involved in space activities largely echoed that same message of support. However, at least two of the recent decisions made by the Trump White House put in place policies that, as currently formulated, could hinder continued growth in commercial space.
Experts weigh in on what a bigger Pentagon budget should mean for space
During his campaign, President Trump called for more airplanes, more ships and more soldiers, but said little about bolstering the space capabilities these forces rely upon.
