Officials today frequently discuss how intelligence satellites are vulnerable to attack. Dwayne Day discusses how a report in the 1970s examined threats to reconnaissance satellites and ways to address those threats.
The centerpiece of NASA's new lunar exploration plans is a lunar base announced at an event in March. Jeff Foust reports there is strong interest in developing the base despite uncertainties about what infrastructure will be needed and how the base will be used.
Regulation of space activities aways appears to lag their technical and economic feasibility. G. Theresa Quitto-Dickerson explains this structural issue and how the industry can overcome it.
Many have hailed the "Overview Effect" people say they feel during spaceflight as a way of way of erasing political boundaries that divide humanity. Christopher Stone argues that experience does little to change the realities of geopolitics.
NASA's plans to return to the Moon and establish a base there depend in large part on the ability of companies to develop lunar landers. Jeff Foust reviews a book that goes behind the scenes at one lunar lander company as part of a broader examination of the future of spaceflight.
Blue Origin's New Glenn suffered a failure on its third launch last week when an upper stage malfunction placed its payload in the wrong orbit. Jeff Foust reports this is a problem not just for Blue Origin but the broader launch industry, as multiple failures reduce launch capacity as demand for launches surges.
During much of the development of the International Space Station, one Russian contribution was a module that would have provided power and lab space. Maks Skiendzielewski charts the long history of the Science Power Platform, which never made it to orbit yet influenced the station's design.
Cislunar space is evolving from one of primarily scientific interest to one with more strategic importance. Alan Dugger examines one approach to better monitor the activities taking place in this region.
The role of space in diplomacy is changing as countries shift from seeking technical dominance to influence over governance. Elif Yuksel discusses that shift and how it affects on emerging country in space.
One of the driving goals of astrophysics is to be able to observe an Earthlike planet orbiting another star. Sherine Ahmed El Baradei discusses one mission concept under study that could so for a relatively modest price.
