Parallax

Antimatter Responds to Gravity, Study Finds

Forget your dreams of harnessing the awesome power of antimatter to hover and float through the air in the science-fiction world of the future. As it turns out, that approach would leave you in the lurch. For the first time, researchers at the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN) have experimentally demonstrated that, just like […]

LaunchOpinion

Opinion: Space Launch Could Falter…Big Time

This opinion piece is written by Nicholas Francoeur, an active-duty officer in the US Space Force. Most recently, he was the director of LEO and GEO operations, and was previously a senior range operations commander at Cape Canaveral. These views are his own, and do not represent the views of Payload or the military.  It’s […]

Policy

Congress Considers Learning Period Extension Alongside CR

Congress is considering a stopgap funding bill that would also buy it more time to figure out whether to extend the moratorium on establishing regulations for commercial spaceflight.  The Senate’s continuing resolution introduced Tuesday by Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, would keep the government funded through Nov. 17. It would […]

MilitaryTechnology

Xage Pulls $17M USSF Contract for Cybersecurity

The Space Force is making strides toward protecting its critical assets in space with the award of a $17M contract to develop a zero-trust system that can keep space assets safe and sound. Xage Security Gov, the federal-focused arm of a startup building a zero-trust cybersecurity platform, announced this morning that it’s clinched the contract […]

VC/PE

Sierra Space Closes $290M Series B

Sierra Space raked in a $290M Series B funding round at a $5.3B valuation, the company announced yesterday.  That brings the company’s total fundraise to $1.7B across two funding rounds. Japanese investors MUFG Bank, Kanematsu, and Tokio Marine led the round, highlighting the company’s growing relationship with Japan. Sierra Space is also considering selecting Japan’s […]

PolarisQ&A

Rep. Eric Sorensen on Space Travel, Safety and Shuttle Ties

A space leader on Capitol Hill is looking at how to eliminate gaps between the agencies that oversee human spaceflight over concerns about maintaining the highest safety standards. Rep. Eric Sorensen (D-IL), the ranking member of the House space subcommittee, pointed out the multitude of groups that have a hand in regulating spaceflight, from the […]

Civil

KASA Establishment Slips to 2024

South Korea has been trying to establish its space agency since March, but the plan keeps running into legislative woes. Now, it’s not looking like the Korean government will be able to welcome KASA into the world before the end of the year. The country’s Democratic Party holds that the new agency should be an […]

Civil

US Considers Space Hotline with China

Hotline bling in space?  The US is thinking about setting up a hotline with China to be able to quickly get in touch with officials in Beijing during emergencies in orbit, Reuters reported on Monday.  “What we have talked about on the US side at least is opening up a line of communication to make […]

Science

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Delivers Asteroid Samples to Earth

Asteroid bits from millions of miles away have been safely delivered to Earth’s doorstep.  After its seven-year journey, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft flew by Earth yesterday, tossing down a capsule carrying an estimated 250 grams of extraterrestrial regolith.  The capsule parachuted down to the DoD’s Utah Test and Training Range and safely landed right-side up. The […]

CivilDeep Space

Independent Review Board Finds Mars Sample Return Unrealistic

On Thursday, an independent review board at NASA deemed the Mars Sample Return (MSR) program ineffectively designed and managed, problems that will force the ambitious mission to miss its budget and schedule targets.  Down to Earth: NASA’s plan to return samples from the Red Planet for analysis on Earth is already underway. The agency’s Perseverance […]

LaunchPolicy

FCC Opens Spectrum For Commercial Launch

The FCC adopted a new rule on Thursday that will ensure commercial launchers have access to the spectrum they need to communicate with the rocket during and after liftoff. The successful vote to approve the rule represents the conclusion of a multi-year push to set aside specific spectrum bands for commercial launch after FCC Chairwoman […]