From the Magazine
NASA’s path to the moon leads through Congress. Good thing NASA’s No. 2 knows his way around Capitol Hill.
NASA Deputy Administrator Jim Morhard sat down with SpaceNews to talk about exploration, NASA’s prospects for getting funding to enable those exploration plans, and his first year on the job at NASA.
DARPA’s big bet on Blackjack
The pressure is on for Blackjack to deliver on its stated goal: deploy 20 satellites by 2022 to demonstrate that LEO systems can be a more resilient and affordable alternative to the Defense Department’s exquisite and costly geosynchronous satellites.
Op-ed | Why tapping the solar system’s far-flung resources would be better than building new ICBMs
The United States is on the verge of making a profound strategic mistake. The nation is preparing to spend $85 billion replacing working nuclear-armed Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles with a new “Ground Based Strategic Deterrent.” Like the old missiles, the new arsenal will consist of silo-based rockets with nuclear warheads.
NASA’s new human spaceflight chief is determined to make 2024 deadline
In this excerpt from a “fireside chat” at the third annual SpaceNews Awards for Excellence & Innovation Dec. 10, Doug Loverro discusses why he took on this new challenge and Jim Bridenstine explains why he believes Loverro is the right person for the job.
Foust Forward | How to succeed in spaceports without really launching
For most people, the term “spaceport” conjures up visions of launch pads and gantries, with rockets taking off vertically. But for some, spaceports are becoming a place where businesses, rather than rockets, take off.
Air Force rolls out red carpet, credit card to attract small business
David Shahady, who directs the Air Force Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer programs, spoke with SpaceNews about Air Force Space Pitch Day and about the Air Force’s SBIR program.
Diving and driving on icy moons: One strategy for exploring Enceladus and Europa
Over the past 60 years, NASA has explored the solar system from the sun to the Kuiper belt. While many of these missions, especially those beyond Saturn, have been one-shot flybys, others have charted many of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn extensively by repeated orbital passes.
On National Security | Government taking steps to better support commercial space industry
Live pitch events are one of several avenues the Air Force is pursuing to attract U.S.-owned startups and commercial businesses that are breaking new ground in space technology.
Luxembourg expands its space resources vision
Étienne Schneider is undaunted by early setbacks as he continues work to make Luxembourg a hotbed of entrepreneurial space, a scope that has expanded beyond, but has not abandoned, space resources.
Op-ed | Envisioning the next 50 years in space
New technologies, decreasing costs, foreign interests and the emergence of the private sector have heralded the forthcoming of the second space race and with it a hopeful future on the horizon.
Foust Forward | Voyager’s stellar achievement: A one-in-many-generations mission beyond the solar system
Given a taste of interstellar space, scientists are looking for ways to follow up on the Voyagers.
Why Cloud Constellation turned down $100 million
In December, Cloud Constellation was finalizing receipt of a $100 million investment that would help the startup deploy a ring of secure data-storage satellites in low Earth orbit. By spring, Cloud Constellation had walked away from the deal, citing a review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, as one of the reasons.
Space as a service takes root at RBC Signals
RBC Signals is expanding its global network of ground stations by combining excess capacity in existing antenna networks with its own antennas. CEO Ron Faith spoke with SpaceNews about the lessons he sees in the growth of cellular networks at the World Satellite Business Week conference in September.
Key enablers: Telespazio Vega’s cloud-based Enable aims to reduce cost of space operations
For Telespazio Vega Deutschland, a subsidiary of the spaceflight services company Telespazio of Rome, the challenges faced by a new generation of space companies present enticing opportunities.
The torture of CFIUS: A 2018 law is changing the way space industry startups raise money
The U.S. Treasury Department hasn’t issued final regulations implementing the 2018 Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act, but space industry entrepreneurs already feel the law’s effect.
French startup ThrustMe found fast route to orbit through China’s Spacety
French propulsion startup ThrustMe unexpectedly made it into orbit early this month with its innovative propulsion system placed aboard a Chinese cubesat.
