From the Magazine

Almost Ready: SpaceX has work to do before Dragon is ready to carry crew

by Jeff Foust — March 21, 2019

Even before the launch, NASA officials said there was already work identified before the Demo-1 flight that needed to get done before the agency would consider flying astronauts on board.

From the Magazine Commercial CrewCrew DragonDemo-1Demo-2SpaceX

Op-ed | Commercializing Space: Before a commercial LEO market can flourish, the ISS must be retired

by George Sowers — March 19, 2019

I’m a firm believer that the commercialization of space is absolutely essential for the growth of the space economy and achieving all of the goals we espouse for human activities in space.

From the Magazine Commercial spaceISS

Ruag revises strategy to win constellation orders

by Debra Werner — March 19, 2019

Long before Ruag began producing structures for OneWeb communications satellites, the Swiss aerospace equipment supplier noted the market shift toward large constellations and began investing in automation.

From the Magazine OneWebRuag

What Airbus learned from building satellites with OneWeb

by Caleb Henry — March 19, 2019

Regardless of whether the Airbus-OneWeb joint venture gearing up to crank out dozens of satellites a month ultimately builds just 648 satellites or closer to the 900 originally envisioned, OneWeb’s constellation is the first such project large enough to truly incorporate aviation-style mass production procedures for spacecraft.

From the Magazine AirbusOneWeb

How OneWeb plans to make sure its first satellites aren’t its last

by Caleb Henry — March 18, 2019

OneWeb’s dream of blanketing the globe in affordable, abundant broadband took an important step toward reality Feb. 27 when a Russian rocket lifted off from South America to deliver six French-built satellites into low Earth orbit.

From the Magazine MegaconstellationsOneWebSoyuz

Air Force experiment NTS-3 could point the way to the next generation of GPS

by Sandra Erwin — March 16, 2019

The Air Force Research Laboratory in 2022 will launch an experimental PNT satellite called NTS-3, short for Navigation Technology Satellite 3.

From the Magazine GPSNTS-3

Op-ed | Protecting low Earth orbit from becoming the new Wild West

by Scott Kordella — March 16, 2019

If outer space is the "final frontier," the private commercialization of low Earth orbit — about 100-1,200 miles up — could become the new Wild West if we're not careful.

From the Magazine Commercial spaceLEO

Are small satellites the solution for space weather monitoring?

by Debra Werner — March 6, 2019

With key space weather satellites expected to fail before U.S. and European agencies launch replacements, “small satellites may be the only way of averting a bleak future,” said Daniel Baker, director of the University of Colorado’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics.

From the Magazine cubesatSpace Weather

The cosmic vision of Jeff Bezos

by Jeff Foust — March 5, 2019

Blue Origin’s founder explains how New Shepard and New Glenn enable humanity’s future in the solar system.

From the Magazine Blue OriginJeff BezosNew GlennNew Shepard

On National Security | The SpaceX-ULA proxy war is heating up

by Sandra Erwin — March 4, 2019

Reviews of SpaceX and ULA, regardless of whether or how they might be connected, are a reminder of the dog-eat-dog world of military space launch.

From the Magazine SpaceXULA

Foust Forward | The government shutdown’s shadow on commercial space

by Jeff Foust — March 1, 2019

The shutdown created plenty of more figurative messes that NASA and other government agencies had to clean up after the 35-day shutdown ended in late January.

From the Magazine government shutdownNASA

GEO satellite orders continued to underwhelm in 2018

by Caleb Henry — February 4, 2019

Last year’s poor harvest of five commercial orders for large geostationary communications satellites proved even worse than 2017’s surprise low of just seven orders.

From the Magazine GEO satellites

Op-ed | Time to give H.R. 4945 another look?

by Richard Parker — January 31, 2019

As space commerce evolves to include new types of assets and activities, insurance continues to be an essential part of the financing for any commercial space venture and acts as the due diligence agent of technology.

From the Magazine space insurance

Pentagon space procurement and R&D budget is on an upward trend. How long can this last?

by Sandra Erwin — January 31, 2019

In the appropriations bill that Congress passed in September to fund the Defense Department for 2019, lawmakers gave the Pentagon what it asked for: $8.1 billion for investments in space systems.

From the Magazine Defense spendingPentagon budget

The long road to Vostochny: Inside Russia’s newest launch facility

by Matthew Bodner — January 30, 2019

Since construction began in 2007, the Vostochny Cosmodrome has been closed to Western journalists. But Dec. 24 — Christmas Eve — Roscosmos granted SpaceNews access to the cosmodrome as part of a revealing, though highly restricted and tightly controlled press tour

From the Magazine RussiaVostochny

The future of space-based astronomy may depend on two large ground-based telescopes

by Jeff Foust — January 28, 2019

A new generation of what are known as extremely large telescopes, or ELTs, are under development and expected to enter service in the 2020s.

From the Magazine government shutdownJames Webb Space TelescopeNASA

Load More arrow