Digital Government
Senators wonder why we need Space Force
Lawmakers are worried about more bureaucracy and overlap, and some missing pieces to the Space Force plan.
Emerging Tech
Scientists Predict Weak Sun Activity During Next Solar Cycle
Low solar activity should mean relatively calm space weather for the next 11 years.
Emerging Tech
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.
Emerging Tech
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.”
Digital Government
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.
Emerging Tech
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.”
Emerging Tech
What Would a Dog Do on Mars?
New art from NASA imagines a rosy but unrealistic future of canines on the distant planet.
Emerging Tech
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.
Emerging Tech
On the Brink of a New Era of Spaceflight
After years of relying on Russia to get to space, NASA astronauts might soon fly on American-made launch systems.
Digital Government
NOAA Celebrates Weather Satellite Removal From GAO’s High Risk List
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration successfully navigated a major challenge to one of its weather satellite systems that could have derailed U.S. weather forecasting.
Emerging Tech
What’s So Special About the Next SpaceX Launch
Elon Musk’s company is on the edge of a new era in American human spaceflight.
Policy
Legislative Hurdle Delays U.S. Space Command Stand-Up
Pentagon can’t move ahead until Congress repeals a provision in the 2019 defense authorization act.
Emerging Tech
Pentagon Wants Satellites That Can Dodge Incoming Fire
As China and Russia move to weaponize space, the U.S. military is working to give its constellations a “fighting chance.”
Policy
Trump Officially Directs Pentagon to Create Space Force, Within Air Force
If Congress approves, Space Force would exist like the Marine Corps within the Navy Department.
Emerging Tech
Space Exploration, Radicalization and Other R&D Highlights in the Spending Bill
Here are some of the interesting projects Congress funded at civilian agencies.
Emerging Tech
The U.S. Air Force Has Won Control of the Space Force
Six months ago, service leaders said they were being cut out of the planning process. Now they’re being put in charge of it.
Digital Government
Next-Gen Weather Satellite Operational Over Western U.S.
GOES-17 is operational and monitoring weather in the Pacific and western United States.
Emerging Tech
A Space Nerd’s Reading of Ariana Grande’s ‘NASA’ Song
The singer says she’s a star. But what kind?
Emerging Tech