Space

For the second time this year, NASA’s JPL center cuts its workforce

“This reduction is spread across essentially all areas of the Lab including our technical, project, business, and support areas,” Leshin wrote. “We have taken seriously the need to re-size our workforce, whether direct-funded (project) or funded on overhead (burden). With…

There are some things the Crew-8 astronauts aren’t ready to talk about

Once the leak stabilized, the astronauts closed the hatch and began repressurizing the airlock. “Getting the airlock closed was kind of me grabbing her legs and using her as an end effector to lever that thing closed, and she just…

Russia: Fine, I guess we should have a Grasshopper rocket project, too

Like a lot of competitors in the global launch industry, Russia for a long time dismissed the prospects of a reusable first stage for a rocket. As late as 2016, an official with the Russian agency that develops strategy for…

Space policy is about to get pretty wild, y’all

The global space community awoke to a new reality on Wednesday morning. The founder of this century’s most innovative space company, Elon Musk, successfully used his fortune, time, and energy to help elect Donald Trump to president of the United…

Rocket Report: Australia says yes to the launch; Russia delivers for Iran

North Korea tests new missile. North Korea apparently completed a successful test of its most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile on October 31, lofting it nearly 4,800 miles (7,700 kilometers) into space before the projectile fell back to Earth, Ars reports. This solid-fueled,…

Nearly three years since launch, Webb is a hit among astronomers

From its halo-like orbit nearly a million miles from Earth, the James Webb Space Telescope is seeing farther than human eyes have ever seen. In May, astronomers announced that Webb detected the most distant galaxy found so far, a fuzzy…

The next Starship launch may occur in less than two weeks

The company will also use Starship’s next flight to assess new tiles and other elements of the vehicle’s heat shield. “Several thermal protection experiments and operational changes will test the limits of Starship’s capabilities and generate flight data to inform…

NRO chief: “You can’t hide” from our new swarm of SpaceX-built spy satellites

The current generation of Starlink satellites launch in batches of 20 to 23 spacecraft on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. They’re flat-packed one on top of the other inside the Falcon 9’s payload shroud, then released all at once in orbit….

After 31 cargo missions, NASA finds Dragon still has some new tricks

A Cargo Dragon spacecraft docked to the International Space Station on Tuesday morning, less than a day after lifting off from Florida. As space missions go, this one was fairly routine, ferrying about 6,000 pounds (2,700 kg) of cargo and…

China’s long-term lunar plans now depend on developing its own Starship

When Chinese space officials unveiled the design for the country’s first super heavy lift rocket nearly a decade ago, it looked like a fairly conventional booster. The rocket was fully expendable, with three stages and solid motors strapped onto its…