Tag: Space
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It appears that Roscosmos really is recruiting soldiers for the Ukraine War
A new report in the Financial Times appears to confirm that the main Russian space corporation, Roscosmos, is recruiting and training a militia to join the country’s war effort against Ukraine. The “Uran” battalion, which translates to Uranus, is to be made up of employees of Roscosmos, as well as those from its dozens of…
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Rocket Report: China addresses falling rocket debris, Vulcan launch slipping
Welcome to Edition 5.42 of the Rocket Report! Sorry for missing last week, but I had to attend a family reunion. On a completely unrelated note, be sure to check back right here next week for an exciting announcement about the future of space coverage at Ars Technica. No, I’m not going anywhere—rather we’re going…
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Vulcan aces engine test, but upper stage anomaly will delay launch for a while
The Vulcan rocket took a critical step toward its much-anticipated debut launch last week with a successful engine-firing test. However, one critical issue remains unresolved before the large booster can lift off. This final hurdle involves modifications to the rocket’s Centaur V upper stage, which exploded during a test at the end of March. On…
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Testing antibacterial surfaces on the International Space Station
On June 5, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off to the International Space Station with new supplies, including equipment for scientific research. Among the new scientific gear that has arrived at the ISS are four tablets covered with extremely thin films that could play a crucial role in the development of materials for future…
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With 7,000+ satellites and growing, is space sustainable? An Ars Frontiers recap
The space industry has seen a dramatic uptick in the number of satellites launched into low-Earth orbit in recent years. Much of this growth, but not all of it, has been driven by the rapid expansion of SpaceX’s Starlink megaconstellation, which is now populated by more than 4,000 satellites. In our space panel for Ars…
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Game on—the most metal of asteroid missions is back on the menu
One year after NASA announced an indefinite delay of a much-anticipated mission to visit a metal-rich asteroid, the agency said Monday that the Psyche spacecraft is back on track. The Psyche mission is now scheduled to launch in four months on a Falcon Heavy rocket, and everyone involved in the project feels good about that…
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To keep Starliner flying, Boeing must make some hard choices
In September 2009, Boeing announced that it would participate in NASA’s new “commercial crew” program. The aerospace industry leader vowed to bring its long experience in supporting the space agency and leverage its human spaceflight experience to make the program successful. “Boeing has a lot to offer NASA in this new field of commercial crew…
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Rocket Report: SpaceX pushing ahead on Starbase, North Korea launch failure
Welcome to Edition 5.41 of the Rocket Report! Not for the first time this year, the next three launches on the global calendar are all Falcon 9 missions. The cadence of that rocket’s ability to launch continues to astound me—as does its reliability record. Read more about that below. As always, we welcome reader submissions,…
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Boeing finds two serious problems with Starliner just weeks before launch
A Boeing official said Thursday that the company was “standing down” from an attempt to launch the Starliner spacecraft on July 21 to focus on recently discovered issues with the vehicle. Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager for Starliner, said two spacecraft problems were discovered before Memorial Day weekend and that the company spent…
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NASA panel: No convincing evidence for extraterrestrial life connected with UAPs
On Wednesday, members of the NASA advisory board tasked with studying unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) held its first public meeting, debuting its plan for how it would proceed with a report it is scheduled to write this year. Among many topics discussed, several of its members (and NASA officials) stressed that they were not specifically…