Issues: Space development
Resources to help you understand the latest developments in making humanity a multi planetary civilisation, the changes developing space will work across the economy, and their potential benefits to the people of Earth.
- Nuclear rockets could make the Earth-Mars run in three months. [web page]
- China bets on ion thrusters for their new space station. [web page]
- Chinese void-cleaning sat spotted removing a dead satellite. Now, that's vacuum cleaning. [web page]
- A new fusion plasmoid thruster would revolutionise space travel. [web page]
- The first space mission with an all civilian crew prepared by SpaceX. [web page]
- If NASA is to seriously settle Mars, it will need nuclear-powered starships. [web page]
- To space by balloon - if you're a tourist. [web page]
- Half our galaxy's star systems could possess an Earth-like world. [web page]
- New research published in science journal Classical and Quantum Gravity suggests warp drives might not be unobtanium after all. [web page]
- Planetary scientists have begun to believe that SpaceX's new Starship rocket, with its unparalleled lift capabilities and possibly paradigm-shattering cheap costs, might usher in a new age of exploration in the Solar System. [web page]
- NASA wants to see if we can reach orbit with a space discus hurler. [web page]
- SpaceX picks up serious backing from NASA, and that's a bigger deal than many realise. [web page]
- There's riches in them thar' asteroids (to be mined). [web page]
- The spaceplane concept finds some new legs with Radian Aerospace. [web page]
- The first test flight of SpinLaunch's rocket-free kinetic launch mechanism has taken place. [web page]
- NASA’s Perseverance mission synthesises oxygen on Mars. [web page]
- Blue origin's plans for space development outlined. [video]
- In a regulated microgravity environment, chilli peppers flourished aboard the International Space Station. However, in order to create agriculture beyond Earth, NASA will need to think big. [web page]
- The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has successfully tested a more efficient kind of shock wave-driven rocket engine. It's a spinning detonation engine that lifted a 30-foot single-stage rocket in the test. [web page]
- Are direct fusion drives (DFDs) the future of space travel? [web page]
- SpaceX’s Starship is about to change the game. [web page]
- An oxygen-producing plasma reactor would work well in Mars' 100-times-thinner atmosphere. [web page]
- The first amateur civilian space flight launched by SpaceX. [web page]
- The United States Space Force needs to clean up space junk. [web page]
- The idea of orbital solar arrays for planet-bound power is coming back into the fore. [web page]
- A real life impulse drive, in the Mach Effects for In-Space Propulsion system. It's a long shot, but it just might work. [video]
- Hypersonic airliners will benefit from a reusable scramjet launch technology. [web page]
- NASA and many others in the USA are still failing to see the true potential of SpaceX and its Starship. [web page]
- NASA's 'Nuclear Option' may be critical in achieving the goal of sending humans to Mars. [web page]
- The cyanobacteria we need to colonise Mars. [web page]
- What the USA needs to make Moon mining a reality. [web page]
- Potential Martian habitats find an odd building material. [web page]
- US Space Force hones its rapid launch capacity. [web page]
- China plans to boost its space industry past US levels. [web page]
- Jeff Bezos resigned from Amazon to supercharge Blue Origin and bring the fight to SpaceX. [web page]
- Virgin Galactic pronounced fit to fly in the USA by their FAA. [web page]
- What is next for China's space plans? [web page]
- A plastic waste-powered rocket is launched in a test by a nuclear fusion firm. Sounds a little crazy, right? But it isn't. [web page]
- Cleaning up Earth's space junk is increasingly important. [web page]
- Lunar base to be joint project for China and Russia. [web page]
- Private space stations are being planned, and if a new business called Space Forge succeeds, orbital manufacturing will join them. [web page]
- A novel mineral, a clear crystal given the name Changesite-(Y), and a promising prospective fusion fuel have been verified by China's robotic Chang-E-5 Moon mission. [web page]
- The old science fiction dream of beaming energy from space to Earth gets a modest road test. [web page]
- Dawn Aerospace's spaceplane test flights all go swimmingly. [web page]
- By 2026, the United States aims to launch nuclear-powered spacecraft into orbit, which may cut voyages to Mars by months. [web page]
- The European Union is giving serious thought to making a sizable investment in solar power satellites.
- Varda Space Industries and SpaceX working to develop a manufacturing base in space. [video]
- Reusability will be key to developing space. [web page]
- NASA's astronauts aren't prepared for deep space travel. [web page]
- First oxygen generator on Mars looks promising for human settlement of the Red Planet. [web page]
- Asteroid mining comes into view with research into metal-rich near-Earth asteroids. [web page]
- Space exploration as political science. [web page]
- Scientists are developing a laser guided device that might allow astronauts to visit Mars in as little as 45 days, drastically reducing the amount of time it takes to get there. [web page]
- Design for a growable artificial gravity space habitat. [web page]
- Eating your greens is important - especially for astronauts and would-be space settlers. [web page]
- The strange aircraft of Mars that will one day fly there. [web page]
- It's Mars or bust for Elon Musk. [web page]
- U.N. looking to create protocols for peace in space, not war. [web page]
- The year 2022 will be a watershed moment in the history of space exploration. [web page]
- Can future Moon missions make their own landing pads by mixing ceramic particles into the rocket engine's plumes while landing? [web page]
- Lunar comms system planned by NASA. [web page]
- Blue Origin and Sierra Space may now go on to the design stage thanks to NASA's positive assessment of the planned space station. [web page]
- China's starship development ambitions just got supersized. [web page]
- Starship shows off its final height, and it's looking good. [web page]
- How Jeff Bezos delayed the next Moon landing by NASA. [video]
- SpaceX is rolling out its new Starlink satellite network faster than people thought possible with its splendid reusable rocket system. [web page]
- Billionaires in space isn't a scandal... it's a wise investment. Would you rather they spent the money on castles and yachts? [web page]
- Growing veg on Lunar soil is a NASA-funded effort that breaks new ground in plant research. [web page]
- Space mining: enough to save the human race on Earth? [video]
- Fusion reactors go small and gets a (crazy?) accelerated development timetable for space. [web page]
- An expedition to Venus' clouds to look for life will be self-funded by Rocket Lab. [web page]
- UK to examine orbital solar station science. [web page]
- Recent research describes a biotechnological approach for making rocket fuel on Mars. [web page]
- SpinLaunch to develop the catapult space vehicle launched first featured in Stephen Hunt's scifi novel, The Rise of the Iron Moon. [web page]
- SpaceX is now being actively hindered by the old legacy players, tired of the new firm's innovation showing them up. [video]
- Space travel? There's a Rocket Lab for that, now! [web page]
- Blue Origin's slow development speed puts it at danger of losing out to SpaceX. [video]
- Meet the latest spin-off from the new space race: gobal internet access. [web page]
- NASA is now taking the possibility of a near FTL Mach Effect Thruster seriously. [video]
- Satellite imagery quality goes up a notch with Capella Space. [web page]
- To the Moon or bust for NASA. [web page]
- Nuclear engines will give spacecraft the zip they need to tear space to Mars. [web page]
- AstroForge aims to succeed where others have failed when it comes to asteroid mining. [web page]
- Will Scotland's rocket firms ever take flight now that it has entered the space race? [web page]
- Putting material into space is cheaper and cheaper - and that's a fine thing. [web page]
- SpaceX is planning to supercharge their Starship vehicle with extra power. [video]
- The creation of artificial gravity on the moon is a crazy idea proposed by Japan. [web page]
- Moon mission shot down for now by Bezos legal meddling. [web page]
- The future of international collaboration in space is dividing along the lines of power on the planet Earth, as shown in the formation of space blocs. [web page]
- Airbus, a European aerospace giant, has joined forces with the UK Space Energy Initiative to investigate the feasibility of beaming solar energy back to Earth. [web page]
- SpaceX plays nice with Axiom for their space tourism sector move. [web page]
- How to reach the Moon without using the Space Launch System or Starship. [video]
- SpaceX aims to pick up the pace of its Starship launch schedule. [web page]
- How the firm Relativity Space is planning to take on Blue Origin and the rest of the industry. [video]
- Are horizontal launch platforms the next big thing in space development? [video]
- Are horizontal launch platforms the next big thing in space development? [video]
- World's space agencies provide a solar system development plan. [video]
- NASA's Moon ambitions given a 2020 budget trim. [video]
- Space-based manufacturing using 3D printers could change everything. [video]
- There is no space race with billionaires, one is building canons, the others are playing with water pistols. [video]
