US Space Force gives Rocket Lab $397 million to build threat-tracking ‘Flatellites’
US Space Force gives Rocket Lab $397 million to build threat-tracking ‘Flatellites’

The U.S. Space Force has awarded Rocket Lab $397 million to manufacture a new fleet of “Flatellites” designed to detect and track airborne threats from space.

New private ‘Perceptor’ probes will keep an eye on satellites high above Earth
New private ‘Perceptor’ probes will keep an eye on satellites high above Earth

Astranis’ newly announced Perceptor spacecraft will monitor satellite activity in geostationary orbit, a distant and increasingly contested domain.

Exploring ‘very low Earth orbit’: The world’s 1st air-breathing satellite thruster could soon get a test run
Exploring ‘very low Earth orbit’: The world’s 1st air-breathing satellite thruster could soon get a test run

Air-breathing electric propulsion could help satellites explore a new frontier, one that lies quite close to our planet.

AI is ready to run spacecraft. Is the space industry ready for it? (op-ed)
AI is ready to run spacecraft. Is the space industry ready for it? (op-ed)

Satellite constellations are getting bigger and increasingly difficult for human operators to manage. Artificial intelligence will soon be able to help, but will the space industry let it happen?

Private companies could ruin the night sky for the entire world, and international law can’t stop them
Private companies could ruin the night sky for the entire world, and international law can’t stop them

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) can single-handedly approve space projects that will change the night sky around the world. The international community can do very little against it.

If space war erupts, ‘none of us will be able to avoid the war zone,’ warns outgoing Space Force chief in final public speech

The outgoing head of the U.S. Space Force had some stark words in his last public speech, stating that “none of us will be able to avoid the war zone” should conflict extend to space.

Space Force orders 36 more Golden Dome missile-tracking satellites, for $1.75 billion
Space Force orders 36 more Golden Dome missile-tracking satellites, for $1.75 billion

The Space Development Agency announced partnerships with two companies worth up to $1.75 billion total, to develop 36 satellites for the Trump administration’s Golden Dome missile-defense initiative.

An artificial ‘Saturn’s ring’ of satellites could soon fill the sky, astronomers warn
An artificial ‘Saturn’s ring’ of satellites could soon fill the sky, astronomers warn

A bright Saturn’s ring of satellites will encircle Earth if plans to launch a million orbiting data centers and tens of thousands of space mirrors will come to pass.

This Graduate Student Equips NASA’s Robots With Assembly Skills
This Graduate Student Equips NASA’s Robots With Assembly Skills

Like many engineers, Sarah Downs says she knew she wanted to pursue a STEM career from a young age. As a teenager, she discovered robotics through her Tulsa, Okla., middle school’s First Lego League team, and she fell in love with the field, she says….

Every SpaceX Starlink satellite has to dodge a collision almost weekly, and experts fear the worst
Every SpaceX Starlink satellite has to dodge a collision almost weekly, and experts fear the worst

SpaceX’s Starlink satellites made over 355,000 collision avoidance maneuvers over the past year with each satellite now dodging other objects almost weekly.