Tag: Space
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What would happen if Trump retaliated against Musk’s companies?
A remarkable schoolyard brawl erupted online Thursday between President Donald Trump and his former “First Buddy” Elon Musk during which the pair traded insults and barbs. The war of words reached a crescendo during the afternoon when Trump threatened Musk’s federal contracts. “The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of…
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Senate response to White House budget for NASA: Keep SLS, nix science
Negotiations over the US federal budget for fiscal year 2026 are in the beginning stages, but when it comes to space, the fault lines are already solidifying in the Senate. The Trump White House released its budget request last Friday, and this included detailed information about its plans for NASA. On Thursday, just days later,…
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Jared Isaacman speaks out, and it’s clear that NASA lost a visionary leader
In a revealing interview published by the All-In Podcast on Wednesday, the private astronaut nominated to lead NASA, Jared Isaacman, spoke at length on what he thought about the nomination process, how he would have led NASA, and the factors that led to the abrupt rescission of his nomination by President Trump. “I got a…
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An in-space propulsion company just raised a staggering amount of money
This week an in-space propulsion company, Impulse Space, announced that it had raised a significant amount of money, $300 million. This follows a fundraising round just last year in which the Southern California-based company raised $150 million. This is one of the largest capital raises in space in a while, especially for a non-launch company.…
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MIL-STD-981 Explained: Quality Standards for Electromagnetic Devices in Space Applications
MIL-STD-981, officially titled “Military Standard: Design, Construction, and Test Requirements for Custom Magnetics for Space Applications”, is a critical United States military standard that governs the design, construction, qualification, and quality assurance of electromagnetic components specifically custom magnetics such as inductors, transformers, chokes, and filters used in space systems and other high-reliability aerospace applications. Space…
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Tuesday Telescope: A time-lapse from orbit reveals treasures below
Welcome to the Tuesday Telescope. There is a little too much darkness in this world and not enough light—a little too much pseudoscience and not enough science. We’ll let other publications offer you a daily horoscope. At Ars Technica, we’ll take a different route, finding inspiration from very real images of a universe that is…
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Ars Live: Three space journos pick apart NASA’s Mars plans
I’m incredibly excited, as part of the Ars Live series, to host a conversation with some of the very best space reporters in the business this afternoon, May 29, at 3 pm EDT about the future of NASA and its deep space exploration ambitions. You can watch Ars Live here. Joining me in a virtual…
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Rocket Report: Northrop backs Firefly and names its rocket; Xodiac will fly no more
Welcome to Edition 7.46 of the Rocket Report! As I write this, the date is May 29. From a meteorological standpoint, “spring” ends in fewer than three days. Summer lasts from June 1 through August 31. Consider this a public service announcement for launch companies targeting “spring” and “summer” launches for various missions. As always,…
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What is Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) in Space?
Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) components refer to hardware or software products that were originally designed for commercial, industrial, or consumer markets not for space or military environments. These parts are typically mass-produced, standardized, and widely available, making them attractive alternatives to custom-developed aerospace hardware. COTS components used in space are often repurposed or qualified through tailored…
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Elon Musk: There is an 80 percent chance Starship’s engine bay issues are solved
On Tuesday afternoon, just a few hours before a launch attempt of the ninth flight test of SpaceX’s Starship vehicle, Elon Musk spoke with Ars Technica Senior Space Editor Eric Berger to talk about where his space company goes from here. In recent weeks, Musk has dialed back his focus on politics and said he…