Space

Why German hypersonic researchers believe tapping into a tiny fraction of the global long-haul air passenger market could be a boost to low-cost access to space.

Launch deals follow agreement to jointly develop a dual-frequency synthetic aperture radar satellite.

Electric propulsion for satellites is efficient, but low-thrust. An infrastructure of power-generation satellites in orbit would help speed the time it takes to change orbits

ISS crewmembers have taken a first, small bite out of the problem of keeping astronauts fed on deep-space missions.

The cost of ballistic missile interceptors, and the chance of failure, is high, but lasers pose their own efficiency and cost challenges.

A project that will revolutionise e-commerce and maternity services in remote communities across Nigeria and Kenya through the delivery of reliable, space-based internet connectivity services has completed its installation stage and is ready to be rolled out.

The agency this week is issuing three concept development contracts for the new Multiple Object Kill Vehicle (MOKV) program, one each to Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Boeing.

A pair of new histories reveals little-known details about the interaction of the U.S. space program and the civil rights movement in the South.

Satellite operator Yahsat, has announced the completion of the Critical Design Review (CDR) on its Al Yah 3 satellite, which is now on course to provide Ka-band broadband coverage for Africa.

NASA has chosen Lunar IceCube for inclusion of secondary smallsat payloads on the the multibillion-dollar SLS-Orion test flight, which could provide potential encouragement for researchers to push deeper into space using CubeSat technologies.

At perihelion, the ESA mission will be able to glimpse the effect of that approach on the comet’s surface.

NASA funds further study of a propulsion system that could dramatically reduce the time required to explore the outer reaches of the Solar System and beyond.

Electric-aircraft challenge winner; NASA’s extreme-access flyers; blast-containing baggage container; TsAGI quiet supersonic idea.

The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) has announced that it will be signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Abu Dhabi Airports.

A year before its delayed first flight, the largest of China’s new family of space launchers is progressing through testing. The propulsion systems of the two core stages and the booster have now all been fired.

The NTSB’s aviation chief says recent accidents show cockpit videos are invaluable in determining crash causes.

The Harvard Business School Aerospace Alumni Group has announced late last week the official launch of its local chapter in Abu Dhabi at the opening of the Global Space and Satellite Forum, where the nation witnessed the official launch of the UAE Space Agency.

ESA’s Juice spacecraft will complement NASA’s Jupiter exploration, and look at whether its type of moons can harbor habitable environments.

In searching for life beyond Earth, scientists are continuing a human trait scientists believe was genetically set in ancient Africa.

While it sizes up high-value landing site candidates for its next Mars rover, NASA is developing strategies for protecting dozens of potential rock and soil samples cached on the red planet for harvest and return to Earth at some time in the future.

The design, test and procedural weaknesses unearthed in the SpaceShipTwo accident should ultimately improve commercial spaceflight safety.

Reaction Engines gets a boost from AFRL’s validation of its Sabre engine cycle concept.

Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson says the investigation will “help make the fledgling commercial space industry safer and better.”

Despite the failure of two cargo supply missions within a year, commercial space companies are full-speed ahead with their next experiments and payloads

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is expected to adopt findings that the co-pilot’s earlier-than-planned unlocking of the feathering tail mechanism on SpaceShipTwo was the probable cause of the fatal accident that struck the suborbital project on Oct 31, 2014.