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Spy Agency Uses Data from Space, Experience on the Ground to Win Battles, Save Lives with Maps

The National Geospatial Intelligence Agency uses maps fused with Intelligence data to give leaders a clearer picture of global events. Credit: NGA

Seizing the high ground to see what lies ahead, a skill as old as warfare itself, has never been more important. Now, the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, the intelligence community’s mapmakers, are seizing the high ground of commercial space to augment the products they deliver to the military and first responders at disaster scenes.

Accelerated Launch Pace, Debris and AI Shape the 2024 Space Forecast

At Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, leaders expect to fire off a record 100 launch vehicles in 2024. Credit: NASA

Introduction | Coming off a year that again saw records shattered for the number of launches to space and the number of satellites in orbit, it’s no surprise that some…

NASA completes first laser communications beyond Moon

DSOC’s flight laser transceiver shown at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in April 2021, preparing to be installed in its enclosure before integrating with the rest of the Psyche spacecraft. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

As scientific instruments get more precise and the private and public sectors work to send humans farther into space than ever before, space data transfers are more important than ever before.

White House Authorization and Supervision Draft Legislation on Collision Course with Hill and Parts of Industry

Courtney Stadd spent more than 40 years as a senior official in the White House, NASA, U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of Transportation, and as a senior executive with…

Spacecraft Deployments Grew 23% in 2023 Despite Broadband Cooldown

dia’s first successful lunar lander, Chandrayaan-3, sits in a facility before launch. Even though commercial satellites made up the majority of deployments in 2023, civil government payloads increased most rapidly, growing 74% year-over-year. Credit: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)

With record launches for the third year running, it’s no surprise that the number of payloads reaching orbit is also skyrocketing. Spacecraft deployed in 2023 grew 23% to 2,891, bringing approximately 1.4 million kg of equipment to space.

Making the Case for a U.S. Space National Guard

American foreign policy is sitting on a razor’s edge. The United States now must walk a tightrope between maintaining global posture and avoiding global conflict.

University nanosatellite launches skyrocket over past decade

Universities across the globe are building an increasingly large presence in space by attaching student satellite projects to launches. Since the advent of nanosatellites and CubeSats, the barrier to space entry has never been lower for students.

Up to 14 Large Rockets and Tiny Competitors Are Poised for Launch in 2024

ULA’s Vulcan has completed a series of tests ahead of a planned January flight.” with the launch now successful, change to “ULA’s Vulcan completed a series of tests ahead of its successful January flight. Credit: ULA

Space leaders in 2023 pondered a lack of launch vehicles to lift anticipated swarms of satellites to orbit. But 2024 could bring relief.

Astronomers, Satellite Operators Work to Co-Exist in Busy Low Earth Orbit

Vertical streaks across a night sky timelapse photo from the Starlink satellite constellation. Credit: National Science Foundation

Satellite constellations with units in the hundreds to thousands are causing visual and radio interference to astronomical observations across the world. These incidents coincide with astronomers’ calls for updated space policy and technology to preserve their data.

The S-Network Space Index℠ 2023 Performance

Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket goes through a wet dress rehearsal on April 28, 2023, before the May 8 launch of NASA’s TROPICS satellites. Even though the company suffered a failure during one of its 10 launch attempts in 2023, it was one of the highest performing companies in the index. Credit: Rocket Lab/NASA

The S-Network Space Index℠ tracks a global portfolio of publicly traded companies that are active in space-related businesses such as satellite-based telecommunications; transmission of television and radio content via satellite; launch vehicle and satellite manufacturing, deployment, operation, and maintenance; manufacturing of ground equipment that relies on satellite systems; development of space technology and hardware; and space-based imagery and intelligence services.