By Victoria Samson, Published by The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, 17 January 2022 ABSTRACT National security in space has long focused on the threat posed by potentially offensive capabilities or behavior of nation-states. However, there is a huge shift in the type of dominant actor in space and this may
By Henry Sokolski, Published by Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 17 January 2022 Mention military space operations and most people, even sophisticates in Washington, conjure up images of Star Wars: Laser-powered firearms, star fighters and battleships, and cosmic fireball explosions that propel space rubble to infinity and beyond. What’s presumed
By John Mecklin, Published by Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, 17 January 2022 Since the launch of Sputnik and the so-called missile gap of the late 1950s, the United States and the Soviet Union (and later, Russia) have vied for space supremacy. Through much of the competition, prestige and propaganda value
By Doug Messier, Published by Parabolic Arc, 17 January 2022 ESG Hound’s latest look SpaceX’s plan to launch Super Heavy/Starship boosters from its Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas suggests the entire effort might need to be scrapped. (The US Department of Interior Drops the Gauntlet on SpaceX and the
By Jeff Foust, Published by SpaceNews, 15 January 2022 WASHINGTON — The size of NASA’s astronaut corps may soon fall below the minimum level the agency needs to support space station and Artemis missions and other activities, the agency’s inspector general warns. A Jan. 11 report by NASA’s Office of
By Northumbria University, Published by Scitechdaily, 15 January 2022 The UK Space Agency has awarded almost £650,000 to Northumbria University to continue world-leading work to develop the first commercially available laser-based inter-satellite communications system. Currently satellites use radio frequency to transmit data, but this is limited in terms of speed,
By Andrew Jones, Published by Space News, 12 January 2022 HELSINKI — A group leading China’s national low Earth orbit communications megaconstellation has founded two new firms to help develop the project, but overall plans remain vague. China Satellite Network Application Co., Ltd. and Chongqing Satellite Network System Research Institute
By Brian Weedon and Victoria Samson, Published by Scientific American, 14 January 2022 In November, Russia ignited an international uproar with a weapon test that launched an interceptor against a defunct military satellite. When it hit, that deliberate collision shattered the satellite into more than 1,500 trackable pieces of debris.
