Russia
Advances in Nuclear Reactors Could Power NASA Missions on Moon, Mars and Transform Life on Earth
After a decades-long hibernation, nuclear fission power has come back into fashion for NASA and other agencies as a way to deliver power to remote locations and drive spacecraft at speeds other fuels cannot deliver.
Strikes in Ukraine Spotlight U.S., European Deficits in Hypersonic Arms Race
Russia’s use of hypersonic weapons in Ukraine is the latest escalation in a growing arms race for missiles that can travel through the atmosphere at more than Mach 5. The U.S. and its allies are accelerating spending on hypersonic weapons development, but haven’t fielded one to date, prompting leaders to fear a missile gap. . .
State of Space 2022
The Space economy hit $447 billion in 2021 and the pace of growth was expected to accelerate in 2022.
Insurers Finish 2021 in Black Despite Growing Debris, Congestion Worries
While increased congestion and debris from a Russian anti-satellite weapons test roiled insurance markets for some spacecraft in low Earth orbit, increases in launch reliability and a booming marketplace with historic numbers of satellites . . .
Spacecraft Mission Segment Shares by Nation
2021 analysis shows how strongly communications spacecraft deployments continued to dominate payload launches.
Launch Attempts by Country and Mission Sector, 2021
This interactive chart tracks 2021 launch attempts and shows that commercial launches have become the largest mission sector in the United States.
Global Orbital Launch Attempts, 2021
Seven nations conducted orbital launches in 2021, with China, the United States and Russia continuing a years-long lead in launch activity.
2021 TSRQ4 – Commercial Spacecraft Boost Payload Deployment to New High
Unprecedented numbers of spacecraft were deployed during 2021. For the year, space operators successfully deployed 1,730 spacecraft, an increase of 29% from 2020’s deployments of 1,340. Companies and operators from 33 nations took part. . .
2021 TSRQ4 – Asteroid Mining: Potential Develops, but so do Regulatory, Technical Issues
Mankind could soon be able to exploit asteroids to obtain natural resources for use on Earth, gather ingredients for missions in space, and support habitation on the Moon and Mars.
2021 TSRQ4 – Launch Analysis: 2021 Sets Record for Successful Orbital Launches
Successful launches soared past annual records in 2021 with 134, beating out the previous record of 128 launches, last met in 1984. Chinese launches grew by. . .