Space

The True Price of Privatizing Space Travel

As NASA opens up the International Space Station to private astronauts, the romance of space will be within reach for those who can afford it.

  • By Rebecca Boyle, The Atlantic

‘Space Force’ Shrinks in House Proposal

A bipartisan amendment would trim several generals from the new space-focused component.

  • By Katie Bo Williams, Defense One

What If We Gave Up on the Stars?

The night sky is already dotted with shiny satellites and other artificial lights. One day, maybe that’s all there will be.

  • By Marina Koren

Space Force Clears Senate Committee After House Attempt to Stall

The Senate Armed Services Committee’s legislation “greatly increases the odds that we end up with some sort of a Space Force,” one expert says.

  • By Marcus Weisgerber, Defense One

House Panel Rejects Space Force

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

  • By Marcus A. Weisgerber, Defense One

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.

  • By Aaron Boyd

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.

  • By Marina Koren, The Atlantic

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.

  • By Marcus A. Weisgerber, Defense One

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.

  • By Nicole Javorsky, CityLab

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.

  • By Jack Corrigan

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.

  • By John Breeden II

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.

  • By Jack Corrigan

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.

  • By Robinson Meyer, The Atlantic

Scientists Predict Weak Sun Activity During Next Solar Cycle

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

  • By Frank Konkel

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.

  • By Patrick Tucker, Defense One

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.”

  • By Marina Koren, The Atlantic

The Original Sin of NASA Space Suits

They were never designed to fit everyone.

  • By Marina Koren, The Atlantic

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.

  • By Marcus A. Weisgerber, Defense One

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.”

  • By Marina Koren, The Atlantic

What Would a Dog Do on Mars?

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

  • By Marina Koren, The Atlantic

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.

  • By Marina Koren, The Atlantic