Tag: Space
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How AI and other trends in technology are starting to supercharge the space industry
The first mission for Blue Origin’s Blue Ring orbital maneuvering vehicle, scheduled for next year, serves as an example of multiple trends driving progress in the space industry. (Blue Origin Illustration) Artificial intelligence and other technological trends are smoothing the way for commercial space ventures ranging from multibillion-dollar companies to a new wave of startups.…
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After early struggles, NASA’s ambitious mission to Titan is “on track” for launch
A new independent report finds that although NASA’s ambitious mission to fly across the surface of Titan is delayed and over budget, the fault is due to the space agency’s management rather than the program itself. Released Tuesday by NASA’s Office of Inspector General, the report found that the mission’s budget has soared from an…
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Miniaturization in Space Technology: Rise of CubeSats and NanoSats
Miniaturization refers to the design and development of smaller, lighter and more power-efficient satellites and spacecraft systems without compromising their mission objectives. The approach provides advancements in microelectronics, materials science, and manufacturing techniques to pack significant functionality into compact designs. The miniaturization in space technology is a cost-saving trend and a strategic evolution, enabling faster…
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3D Printing in Space: Manufacturing on the Moon and Mars
3D printing in space, also known as Additive Manufacturing (AM), is emerging as a groundbreaking technology that enables astronauts to produce tools, spare parts and even habitat structures on demand. By reducing reliance on Earth-based supply chains and enabling the use of in-situ resources like lunar regolith and Martian soil, 3D printing technology is set…
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Starship’s heat shield appears to have performed quite well in test
One of the more curious aspects of the 10th flight of SpaceX’s Starship rocket on Tuesday was the striking orange discoloration of the second stage. This could be observed on video taken from a buoy near the landing site as the vehicle made a soft landing in the Indian Ocean. This color—so different from the…
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Russian space official: “We need to stop lying to ourselves” about health of industry
The chief of Russia’s main spacecraft manufacturer issued a dire warning this week, saying that his corporation has reached a “critical” condition and cannot continue in its present state. “The situation is critical: multi-million dollar debts, interest on loans that ‘eat up’ the budget, many processes that are ineffective, and a significant part of the…
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With recent Falcon 9 milestones, SpaceX vindicates its “dumb” approach to reuse
As SpaceX’s Starship vehicle gathered all of the attention this week, the company’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket continued to hit some impressive milestones. Both occurred during relatively anonymous launches of the company’s Starlink satellites but are nonetheless notable because they underscore the value of first-stage reuse, which SpaceX has pioneered over the last decade. The…
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Rocket Report: Pivotal Starship test on tap, Firefly wants to be big in Japan
Welcome to Edition 8.07 of the Rocket Report! It’s that time again: another test flight of SpaceX’s massive Starship vehicle. In this week’s report, we have a review of what went wrong on Flight 9 in May and a look at the stakes for the upcoming mission, which are rather high. The flight test is…
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SpaceX has built the machine to build the machine. But what about the machine?
STARBASE, Texas—I first visited SpaceX’s launch site in South Texas a decade ago. Driving down the pocked and barren two-lane road to its sandy terminus, I found only rolling dunes, a large mound of dirt, and a few satellite dishes that talked to Dragon spacecraft as they flew overhead. A few years later, in mid-2019,…
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After recent tests, China appears likely to beat the United States back to the Moon
In recent weeks, the secretive Chinese space program has reported some significant milestones in developing its program to land astronauts on the lunar surface by the year 2030. On August 6, the China Manned Space Agency successfully tested a high-fidelity mockup of its 26-ton “Lanyue” lunar lander. The test, conducted outside of Beijing, used giant…