Browsing: Space

“There’s a tremendous amount at stake if we lose access to space,” said Lieutenant General David Julazadeh, reflecting the high risks involved in space defense. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine marked the beginning of a new era of warfare, with private U.S. companies stepping in to provide satellite imagery of enemy movements and internet services for civilians. NATO recognized the importance of space as a defense frontier in 2019 and is working to strengthen its capabilities, but it relies heavily on both governments and private companies like SpaceX. Last week, NATO hosted its first-ever space defense symposium in Toulouse, France, bringing…

Jared Isaacman and his crew returned to Earth on Sunday, concluding a five-day space mission that took them higher than anyone has traveled since NASA’s moon missions. The SpaceX capsule, carrying the billionaire tech entrepreneur, two SpaceX engineers, and a former Air Force Thunderbird pilot, splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico near the Dry Tortugas in the early morning darkness. During their mission, they achieved the first-ever private spacewalk, orbiting at an altitude of nearly 740 kilometers—higher than both the International Space Station and the Hubble Space Telescope. Their spacecraft reached a peak altitude of 1,408 kilometers after launching…

Astronomers are eagerly anticipating the explosion of T Coronae Borealis, a nova located 3,000 light-years away, for the first time in nearly 80 years. Known as the Blaze Star, T Coronae Borealis is a binary star system consisting of a white dwarf that siphons energy from a nearby red giant. This energy transfer will eventually trigger a thermonuclear explosion, an event that occurs roughly every 80 years. During this “nova,” the star will brighten and become visible to the naked eye for about one to two weeks before fading once more. However, this explosion is not a supernova, which marks…

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s second term will introduce the first-ever commissioner for defence and space, but analysts and industry experts argue that the mission and support for this new role fall short of the recognition seen at the policy level. Andrius Kubilius, the Lithuanian commissioner-designate, has been assigned this newly created portfolio, responsible for both EU defence and space. However, concerns are growing that space will be treated as a secondary priority, with limited ambition, despite the significant challenges it faces. Reinhilde Veugelers, a senior fellow at the Brussels-based think tank Bruegel, expressed her concerns to Euronews:…

A U.S. House committee announced on Monday that it is investigating the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) decision to deny SpaceX’s Starlink $885.5 million in rural broadband subsidies. The FCC reaffirmed in December that its decision was based on Starlink’s failure to meet the basic requirements of the program and its inability to demonstrate it could deliver the promised service, following SpaceX’s challenge of the 2022 ruling. House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, a Republican, sent a letter to the FCC on Monday requesting documents related to the decision by October 21. The committee aims to ensure that the FCC “followed…