Tag: Space
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Why would Elon Musk pivot from Mars to the Moon all of a sudden?
As more than 120 million people tuned in to the Super Bowl for kickoff on Sunday evening, SpaceX founder Elon Musk turned instead to his social network. There, he tapped out an extended message in which he revealed that SpaceX is pivoting from the settlement of Mars to building a “self-growing” city on the Moon.…
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Another Jeff Bezos company has announced plans to develop a megaconstellation
The announcement came out of the blue, from Blue, on Wednesday. The space company founded by Jeff Bezos, Blue Origin, said it was developing a new megaconstellation named TeraWave to deliver data speeds of up to 6Tbps anywhere on Earth. The constellation will consist of 5,408 optically interconnected satellites, with a majority in low-Earth orbit…
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Webb reveals a planetary nebula with phenomenal clarity, and it is spectacular
The Helix Nebula is one of the most well-known and commonly photographed planetary nebulae because it resembles the “Eye of Sauron.” It is also one of the closest bright nebulae to Earth, located approximately 655 light-years from our Solar System. You may not know what this particular nebula looks like when reading its name, but…
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The first commercial space station, Haven-1, is now undergoing assembly for launch
As Ars reported last week, NASA’s plan to replace the International Space Station with commercial space stations is running into a time crunch. The sprawling International Space Station is due to be decommissioned less than five years from now, and the US space agency has yet to formally publish rules and requirements for the follow-on…
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You can now reserve a hotel room on the Moon for $250,000
A company called GRU Space publicly announced its intent to construct a series of increasingly sophisticated habitats on the Moon, culminating in a hotel inspired by the Palace of the Fine Arts in San Francisco. On Monday, the company invited those interested in a berth to plunk down a deposit between $250,000 and $1 million,…
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Is Orion’s heat shield really safe? New NASA chief conducts final review on eve of flight.
WASHINGTON, DC—This week, NASA’s new administrator, Jared Isaacman, said he has “full confidence” in the space agency’s plans to use the existing heat shield to protect the Orion spacecraft during its upcoming lunar mission. Isaacman made the determination after briefings with senior leaders at the agency and a half-day review of NASA’s findings with outside…
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What is Payload Integration in CubeSats & Small Satellites?
A payload is the mission-specific equipment carried by a satellite to fulfill its primary objective. Unlike the satellite bus which provides power, communication, propulsion and control, the payload is the reason the satellite exists. The rapid growth of CubeSats and Small Satellites (SmallSats) has transformed access to space, enabling cost-effective missions for Earth observation, communications,…
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Our annual power ranking of US rocket companies has changes near the top and bottom
Which US rocket companies achieved the most during 2025? Once again, Ars Technica is here to provide some answers in the form of our annual power ranking of US launch companies. We began doing this in 2022 and have since put out a top-10 list every year (see 2023 and 2024). Our intent, as always,…
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Russia is about to do the most Russia thing ever with its next space station
For several years now, in discussing plans for its human spaceflight program beyond the International Space Station, Russian officials would proudly bring up the Russian Orbital Station, or ROS. The first elements of ROS were to launch in 2027 so it would be ready for human habitation in 2028. Upon completion in the mid-2030s, the…
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Two space startups prove you don’t need to break the bank to rendezvous in space
It may be happening quietly, but there is a revolution taking place with in-space transportation, and it opens up a world of possibilities. In January, a small spacecraft built by a California-based company called Impulse Space launched along with a stack of other satellites on a Falcon 9 rocket. Upon reaching orbit, the rocket’s upper…