Emerging Tech
NASA wants you to help kick some tires — on the moon
The Rock and Roll with NASA Challenge offers $155,000 in prizes for top designs that can handle the punishing surface of the moon.
Emerging Tech
US risks losing space dominance to China without NASA support, experts say
Continuing the space agency’s programs “is a matter of national security,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said during a congressional hearing.
Emerging Tech
A new lunar benchmark: NIST’s moonlight data brings satellites into focus
NIST is releasing the first set of what it’s calling the Moonlight Radiometric Reference Dataset, a trove of data so precise that it could change the way we see our own planet.
Defense
Secret spaceplane heading back up to test new tech
The Boeing-built X-37B will go on its eighth mission in August.
Emerging Tech
New NSF telescope aims to discover unknowns in space
The Legacy Survey of Space and Time telescope at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory leverages novel technological systems to search for interstellar objects and study dark matter.
Emerging Tech
Star Wars gets a step closer with new Space Force satellite jamming capabilities
In a world where code can neutralize a threat before the first missile is even launched, Space Force is betting big on systems to keep the upper hand in space without ever leaving the ground.
Policy
US urging allies to cease talks with Chinese satellite industry
Internal talking points also give State Department officials guidance on how to respond to allies’ concerns about SpaceX’s Starlink.
Defense
Trump’s ‘Iron Dome for America’ plan would put weapons in space, at a big cost
It’s a Cold War concept for a mission whose threats and tools have long since changed.
Emerging Tech
Trump, Musk set sights on Mars
NASA is still developing technologies necessary to send humans to Mars.
Cybersecurity
Space companies say cyber threat intelligence is often overclassified, unactionable
Space and aerospace industry feedback from a series of government-run workshops noted that such threat intelligence is difficult to translate into actionable cyber efforts.
Emerging Tech
Global space economy tracking toward $944B by 2033: report
Emerging tech, government investment to fuel space spending.
Emerging Tech
NOAA awards key contract for space situational awareness system
Slingshot Aerospace, Inc. nabbed a contract worth up to $13.3 million to provide a “presentation layer” for the Traffic Coordination System for Space.
Emerging Tech
Four Ways to Accommodate the Massive Growth in Space Launches
One suggestion: expand the number of launch sites.
Emerging Tech
MetTel becomes first authorized Starlink partner to offer satellite SD-WAN services
The news makes MetTel the first Starlink authorized reseller for both commercial and government organizations.
Emerging Tech
Who tells satellites where to take pictures? Increasingly, it’ll be robots, Maxar says
Automated scans of low-res imagery will cue high-res passes, while simulations will help manage ever-growing queues for service.
Defense
Industry ‘hamstrung’ by Space Force-intel community’s turf war
Commercial firms say NGA-centric acquisition can’t move fast enough to help combatant commands or foster innovation.
Digital Government
Commerce launches initial phase of its space traffic coordination system
The new system will provide conjunction data messages “for approximately 1,000 space objects six times a day” during phase 1.0.
Emerging Tech
What time is it on the moon? NIST proposes an answer
The establishment of universal moon time would support lunar GPS for future missions.
Modernization
Space missions rely on private sector engagement, NASA official says
The space agency needs to work more closely with its commercial providers to meet critical flight requirements.
Defense