Manned Systems

Spacecraft

Latest Stories

INSIDER
Sensors/Data Acquisition

Designing Next-Generation Carbon Dioxide Removal Technology for Better Life in Space

The International Space Station (ISS) is made livable in great part thanks to a system that captures and removes carbon dioxide (CO2) from...

Feature Image

INSIDER
Aerospace

Stanford Engineers Conduct Groundbreaking In-Orbit Test of Satellite 'Swarm' Navigation

Someday, instead of large, expensive individual space satellites, teams of smaller satellites – known by scientists as a “swarm” – will work...

Feature Image

INSIDER
RF & Microwave Electronics

Starliner to Perform Uncrewed Return Flight From International Space Station This Week

Boeing's Starliner spacecraft is scheduled to make an uncrewed return flight to Earth on Friday, Sept. 6, while the two astronauts who flew the...

Feature Image

Articles
Software

Microchip’s New Microprocessor to Enable Generational Leap in Spaceflight Computing

Microchip is launching a new class of microprocessors that the company claims will provide a generational leap in the computational performance of spacecraft avionics. Read on to learn more about it.

Feature Image

INSIDER
Sensors/Data Acquisition

ESA to Test Canadian Startup's Diamond Quantum Sensors in Space

SBQuantum, a Sherbrooke, Canada-based startup developing quantum diamond magnetometers capable of providing accurate readings from space, announced a pair of new contracts...

Feature Image

INSIDER
Electronics & Computers

This Laser Clock Could Transform Satellite Navigation Accuracy

A new laser clock from the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) has achieved a record level of accuracy for optical clocks with gas...

Feature Image

Articles
RF & Microwave Electronics

Space Lasers: Aiming Towards Next Leap in Global Communications

Space lasers are transforming the world. Not the far-off future of science fiction, but the universe of how data and communications flow today — everywhere from deep space missions to countless applications here on earth, including consumer internet services, military operations, and banking transactions. Read on to learn more.

Feature Image

Application Briefs
Software

Space Docking and Satellite AI Research

Can electro adhesive forces help ease the process of docking in-orbit satellites? A team of industry and University of Colorado Boulder researchers is determined to find out.

Feature Image

INSIDER
Manufacturing & Prototyping

SpaceX to Develop ISS Deorbit Vehicle for NASA

NASA has selected SpaceX to develop and deliver the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle that will provide the capability to deorbit the International Space Station (ISS) and ensure avoidance of risk to...

Feature Image

INSIDER
Electronics & Computers

Space Lasers: Aiming Towards Next Leap in Global Communications

Space lasers are transforming the world. Not the far-off future of science fiction, but the universe of how data and communications flow today — everywhere from deep space...

Feature Image

INSIDER
Manufacturing & Prototyping

How Sandia’s New Digital Engineering Tool Helps Reimagine Design of Radar Systems

In a whirling geopolitical landscape of new nuclear weapons, hypersonic weapons, drones and satellites, the U.S. is hustling to test new kinds of radars...

Feature Image

Articles
Electronics & Computers

How SpaceVPX is Influencing the Design of Next Generation Spacecraft Avionics

SpaceVPX is an embedded computing standard based on bridging the VMEBus International Trade Association (VITA) OpenVPX standards to space applications. OpenVPX is a set of embedded computing system standards that are widely used in safety critical aerospace and defense platforms such as vehicles and weapons.

Feature Image

Application Briefs
Manned Systems

Final Delta IV Heavy Rocket Launched

This launch marks the end of an era as it is the final Delta IV Heavy rocket and the end of the Delta program. The NROL-70 mission puts into orbit a national security payload that will deliver critical space-based information to our nation’s warfighters, intelligence analysts, and decision makers.

Feature Image

Articles
RF & Microwave Electronics

NASA’s Optical Communications Demo Transmits Data Over 140 Million Miles

This achievement provides a glimpse into how spacecraft could use optical communications in the future, enabling higher-data-rate communications of complex scientific information as well as high-definition imagery and video in support of humanity’s next giant leap: sending humans to Mars.

Feature Image

INSIDER
Manned Systems

ESA’s Future Low Earth Orbit Cargo Return Service Spacecraft

The European Space Agency (ESA) has signed a new €25 million contract with Thales Alenia Space to demonstrate a complete cargo delivery service to and from space stations...

Feature Image

INSIDER
RF & Microwave Electronics

Boeing Starliner Launch Delayed to Test Helium Leak Repair

Boeing, NASA and United Launch Alliance (ULA) are targeting a May 21 launch date for the crewed flight test of the Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station...

Feature Image

INSIDER
Manned Systems

Three Companies to Lead Development of Artemis Lunar Terrain Vehicles

NASA has selected three different companies to lead the development of capabilities for the lunar terrain vehicle (LTV) that astronauts intend to use to travel around...

Feature Image

INSIDER
Aerospace

Three Companies to Build New Multi-Orbit Logistics Prototype Spacecraft

Utilizing commercial technology to facilitate greater in-space mobility for the Department of Defense (DoD), the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) is working with three...

Feature Image

INSIDER
Robotics, Automation & Control

This Avionics Computer Enables Image Data Processing, Payload Control for NASA IM-1 Mission

Aitech provided a complete avionics computer system to Intuitive Machines for the IM-1 Mission, that successfully landed on the Moon on February...

Feature Image

INSIDER
Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Virgin Galactic Reports on Pin Detachment From Recent Spaceflight

During a routine postflight review of its most recent space flight, “Galactic 06,” Virgin Galactic determined that an alignment pin detached from the launch pylon of...

Feature Image

INSIDER
Manufacturing & Prototyping

Peregrine Spacecraft Suffers Propellant Leak After Successful Rocket Launch

Astrobotic's Peregrine lunar lander suffered a failure within its propulsion system after deploying from the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan Centaur rocket...

Feature Image

Articles
Materials

How to Select the Right Silicone for Space Applications

Selecting the right silicone manufacturer with a proven track record of extensive experience in the application and customization of space-grade silicones is as important as considering the materials’ function, purity and process requirements when choosing a silicone for space applications.

Feature Image

Application Briefs
Power

RS-25 Rocket Engines

Aerojet Rocketdyne, an L3Harris Technologies company, recently completed installation of all four RS-25 main engines on the core stage of NASA’s second Space Launch System (SLS) exploration rocket, binding them to a common destiny: launching humans beyond low Earth orbit for the first time in more than five decades.

Feature Image

Application Briefs
Aerospace

Air Force Receives First Joby eVTOL

The U.S. Air Force received its first electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft from Joby Aviation six months ahead of the expected 2024 delivery date. The delivery was completed during a September ceremony at Edwards Air Force Base.

Feature Image

INSIDER
Test & Measurement

RAMFIRE Project Develops, Tests 3D-Printed Aluminum Rocket Engine Nozzle

NASA recently built and tested an additively-manufactured – or 3D printed – rocket engine nozzle made of aluminum, making it lighter than conventional nozzles...

Feature Image

INSIDER
Aerospace

Spaceflight Operators Seek Learning Period Extension, More Flight Testing

Commercial spaceflight operations need an extension of the Federal Aviation Administration's moratorium on new regulations for space travel that expires at the...

Feature Image

INSIDER
Sensors/Data Acquisition

Quantum Sensing Enters DoD Landscape in First-of-a-Kind Gyroscope Space Demonstration

The Defense Science Board identified three areas of quantum technology that will be most relevant to the Department of Defense's (DoD) technological...

Feature Image

INSIDER
Mechanical & Fluid Systems

New Report Finds Engine Nozzle Failure Caused Blue Origin Crash

Blue Origin's New Shepard (NS-23) must remain grounded for now, after a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) investigation found that the suborbital rocket system's Sept....

Feature Image

Application Briefs
Communications

Multi-Orbit Space Relay Communications

The Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles Directorate selected Viasat to provide on-orbit space relay connectivity for its ARBALEST program, which aims to support a future space-based demonstration of operational capabilities for the Department of Defense.

Feature Image