NASA

WASHINGTON — The X Prize Foundation is considering a prize competition focused on removal of space debris to spur technological innovation in the field. During a panel discussion at the Fourth Summit for Space Sustainability by the Secure World Foundation and the U.K. Space Agency June 23, Anousheh Ansari, chief executive of the X Prize Foundation, said her organization was studying several potential ways to run a prize to support development of active debris removal systems. That work is still in its early stages. “This one is challenging,” she said. “We haven’t finished the design right now.” The foundation is looking at three options for a debris removal prize. One would be to remove rocket bodies, which constitute the largest and potentially most dangerous pieces of debris ...

May 26 6 P.M. CT Skylab to Gateway: Living in Space, presented by UTMB From our first venture living in space with Skylab to building a permanent presence aboard the International Space Station; ingenuity, training and teamwork are essential to the success of any program. Now, as we return to the Moon with Gateway, our new pathway to deep space exploration, these skills will unearth new discoveries that will transform our everyday lives. Learn about space history and humanity’s quest for knowledge in the May Thought Leader Series “Skylab to Gateway: Living in Space,” presented by UTMB. About the panel Panelists for this discussion include Dr. Joe Kerwin, retired Physician, and former NASA astronaut; Frank Buzzard, Adjunct Professor at the University of Colorado and President o...

To keep peace on Earth, we must keep peace in space. The time has come for America to confront the reality that space has been weaponized by our adversaries. Space has long been a peaceful environment for research and commerce on Earth with conditions that deny tyrants the luxury of concealment, the advantage of surprise, and establishes parity on the battlefield.   But all of this has changed.  China and Russia have carefully studied how the United States is uniquely advantaged by, and dependent upon, space. For the last 20 years, they have invested heavily in developing anti-satellite weapons, deploying them here on Earth and in orbit. There’s a purpose for this — to enable aggression on Earth by denying America and her allies the advantages of space. Allies fight as one force...

SEOUL, South Korea — The second launch of South Korea’s first domestically built rocket is set for June 21, a delay of a week due to strong winds and a technical glitch. “We convened a meeting of the launch management committee and decided to pursue the second launch on June 21,” Kwon Hyun-joon, a senior science ministry official, said June 17 in a live-streamed media briefing.  Kwon said the kerosene and liquid oxygen-fueled three-stage rocket KSLV-2 was lying horizontally in a hangar at the Naro Space Center, after a malfunctioning sensor in the first-stage booster was replaced with a new one.  The rocket will be rolled back to the launch pad June 20, he said. KSLV-2’s second launch was initially set for June 15, with a backup launch window spanning June 16-23.  However, it w...

Our Space Launch System (SLS) rocket is coming together at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida this summer. Our mighty SLS rocket is set to power the Artemis I mission to send our Orion spacecraft around the Moon. But, before it heads to the Moon, NASA puts it together right here on Earth.Read on for more on how our Moon rocket for Artemis I will come together this summer:How do crews assemble a rocket and spacecraft as tall as a skyscraper? The process all starts inside the iconic Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy with the mobile launcher. Recognized as a Florida Space Coast landmark, the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB, houses special cranes, lifts, and equipment to move and connect the spaceflight hardware together. Orion and all five of the major parts of the Artemis I ro...