Infrastructure
Commercial Space Stations Steadily Make Progress, Begin Preliminary Tests
As the International Space Station (ISS) nears the end of its life and the U.S. celebrates the 50th anniversary of Skylab, its first space station, the commercial sector is hard at work designing the next generation of space stations in low Earth orbit (LEO).
Satellite Refueling: History, Challenges, and Alternatives
On-orbit refueling and repair of satellites are old if seemingly commonsense concepts. Government and commercial satellite operators have historically invested significantly in their satellites and squeezing. . .
INFOGRAPHIC Artemis I
2022 Payload by Orbit
Spacecraft operators worldwide deployed 2,354 spacecraft in 2022, a 36% increase from 2021. Of these payloads, 91% were commercial, the majority coming from broadband mega-constellations like Starlink and OneWeb.
Annual Payload Deployment Climbs 36%, Driven Largely by Broadband Growth
Fueled largely by the growth of broadband constellations and the continued dominance of U.S. payloads, spacecraft deployed in 2022 climbed significantly from 2021.
SNAPSHOT: Lunar Missions
The first attempted lunar mission was the Soviet Union’s Luna 1 impactor, which launched Jan. 2, 1959, and passed within only 5,995 kilometers of the Moon at its closest point. The Space Race brought a large wave of lunar activity in the 1960s, but there have only been a few missions in the decades since.
ISS Damage Triggers Apparent Détente Between United States, Russian Federation
Trouble on the International Space Station (ISS) may have thawed relations between Russia and the United States. The two nations overcame tensions in January for a Moscow summit on resolving problems aboard a Soyuz spacecraft to bring home astronauts who were scheduled to fly aboard the capsule damaged by a micrometeorite.
Orbital Launch Activity Grows at Record Pace in 2022
Space launch activity continued to grow rapidly in 2022, reaching a new high of 186 orbital launch attempts. Last year was filled with successes and had three fewer failures than 2021, even with 41 more attempts.
Pressure Ramps Up for New Vehicle Launches Pushed from 2022 to 2023
The list of launch vehicles set for maiden flights in 2023 may sound familiar. It’s mostly the same group of launch vehicles initially slated to fly in 2022.
As New Solar Cycle Heats Up, Multiple Missions Explore Sun’s Mysteries
The Sun lies at the center of our solar system and sets the cycle of our daily lives, yet so much remains unknown about how it functions. As the Sun enters into a years-long phase of increasing solar eruptions, its increased activity poses risks to thousands of Earth- and space-based infrastructure assets. The increased solar activity comes as probes from NASA, ESA, and China are gathering the most advanced data ever collected about Earth’s star