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The combustion chamber of Reaction Engines' Synergistic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine (SABRE) core.

Air-Breathing Rocket Engine Gets Green Light for Major Tests

By Tereza Pultarova

The SABRE air-breathing rocket engine is ready for a major round of testing in the next 18 months after passing a preliminary design review by the European Space Agency.

An artist's illustration of an asteroid headed for Earth.

Stopping an Earth-Bound Asteroid in its Tracks (Op-Ed)

By Cathy Plesko, Ph.D.

Fortunately, we're getting to the point where we can see potentially hazardous objects coming — and maybe even do something about it.

Stratolaunch's rocket-carrying plane flew for the first time on April 13, 2019.

What It Was Like to Fly the 'Roc' — Stratolaunch's Massive Rocket-Carrier Airplane

By Elizabeth Howell

NASA's Lunar Retroreflector Array instrument, which may have survived the April 11 crash-landing of Israel's Beresheet moon probe.

Did NASA Experiment Survive Israeli Moon Lander's Crash?

By Leonard David

A NASA piggyback experiment may have survived the April 11 crash of Israel's Beresheet moon lander, experts said.

Half of the payload fairing that protected the Arabsat-6A satellite during the second-ever launch of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket sits on a recovery ship on April 11, 2019.

SpaceX Recovered Falcon Heavy Nose Cone, Plans to Re-fly it This Year (Photos)

By Mike Wall

SpaceX recovered the payload fairing during yesterday's Falcon Heavy megarocket launch and plans to employ it on another mission this year, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk said.

A simulated image by the University of Arizona shows the turbulent plasma in the extreme environment around a supermassive black hole.

How the Event Horizon Telescope Hunts for Black Hole Silhouettes

By Charles Q. Choi

The secret of the project's success is linking radio dishes across the globe to create a virtual telescope about the size of Earth.

Rocket Lab's Photon satellite platform, which is an evolution of the "kick stage" for the company's Electron rocket.

Space Launch Startup Rocket Lab Is Building Satellites Now, Too

By Mike Wall

Rocket Lab just unveiled an in-house satellite platform called Photon.

A still of a video simulation that shows what a black hole shadow might look like. The animation was featured in a short movie about the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) project, produced by Peter Galison and Chyld King. Watch a livestreamed announcement of the Event Horizon Telescope's first results on April 10, 2019 at 9 a.m. EDT here: Nsf.gov/blackholes

The Event Horizon Telescope Is Trying to Take the First-Ever Photo of a Black Hole

By Doris Elin Salazar

Astronomers orchestrated radio dish telescopes across the world into an Earth-size virtual camera for a bold new experiment attempting to deliver the first-ever image of a black hole.

India launched an anti-satellite missile on March 27, 2019.

New Studies Provide Fresh Insights Into the Escalating Space Arms Race

By Sandra Erwin

A new report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies focuses on four specific countries that pose the greatest risk for the United States: China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.

A moon base could be constructed remotely.

Can Robots Build a Moon Base for Astronauts? Japan Hopes to Find Out.

By Elizabeth Howell

Japan's space agency wants to create a moon base with the help of robots that can work autonomously, with little human supervision.

One of the winning teams of a NASA competition to make a full-scale Mars habitat using modeling software, Team SEArch+/Apis Cor, designed this Martian abode, which is built from the upper part of a Hercules Single-Stage Reusable Vehicle.

NASA Announces $100,000 Winners of Virtual 3D-Printed Mars Habitats

By Elizabeth Howell

NASA picked three teams to share a $100,000 award from a competition to make virtual Martian habitats.

Amazon, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, who also founded the spaceflight company Blue Origin, is getting into the internet satellite business.

Amazon Planning 3,236-Satellite Constellation for Internet Connectivity

By Caleb Henry

Amazon is joining the list of companies planning a constellation of thousands of satellites for broadband internet connectivity.

Clockwise from left: SpaceX's Falcon Heavy, ULA's Vulcan Centaur, Northrop Grumman's OmegA and Blue Origin's New Glenn rockets are all in the running to compete for a block of launch contracts the U.S. Air Force intends to divide between two providers during phase 2 of the Launch Service Agreements (LSA) program.

Air Force Space Launch Competition Caught in Political Crossfire

By Sandra Erwin

House Armed Service Committee Chairman Adam Smith on Thursday sent a letter to Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson questioning "what seems to be a rush to move ahead in the procurement strategy."

NASA astronaut Don Pettit poses with stowage bags on the International Space Station in 2012.

NASA Announces Trashy Award-Winning Ideas for Cleaning Space Station

By Elizabeth Howell

NASA recently selected three winning ideas to compress trash in space with a minimum of fuss.

Boeing is one of five companies testing a prototype habitation module on Earth for NASA's Lunar Gateway.

NASA Will Test 5 Habitat Designs for Its Lunar Gateway Space Station

By Elizabeth Howell

NASA's Lunar Gateway space station design process is beginning to take shape: The agency has announced five new prototypes that it plans to test on the ground.

A new airplane wing design assembles like a jigsaw puzzle and changes shape in response to stress.

Airplane Wing Assembles Like a Jigsaw Puzzle and Can Morph Into Any Shape

By Stephanie Pappas

The new wing could make for lighter, more efficient airplanes.

A still from a video animation showing what the anti-satellite weapon launched by India on March 27 may have looked like from space, just moments before the MICROSAT-R satellite struck the kinetic kill missile placed in its path.

These Simulations Reveal What Happened During India's Anti-Satellite Missile Test (Videos)

By Doris Elin Urrutia

A U.S. space and defense software company created two new simulation videos, revealing how the anti-satellite weapon recently launched by India might have looked hitting a satellite in space.

A still from a video filmed in anticipation of Demo-1, the first test flight for the Crew Dragon capsule developed by SpaceX through a partnership with NASA. From left to right: Elon Musk, NASA astronaut Doug Hurley, NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins, NASA astronaut Victor Glover, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and NASA astronaut Bob Behnken.

Here's What Elon Musk Had to Say to NASA's Chief Before SpaceX's 1st Crew Dragon Test Flight (Video)

By Doris Elin Salazar

Hear from the future riders of Crew Dragon, the reusable vehicle developed by SpaceX through a partnership with NASA.

SHERLOC, one of the instruments on the Mars 2020 rover, was cleared to stay on the mission after a termination review earlier this year delayed by the partial government shutdown.

Mars 2020 Rover Instrument Survives Termination Review

By Jeff Foust

The partial government shutdown earlier this year that delayed elements of other NASA missions may have provided a reprieve of sorts for a troubled instrument on the agency’s next Mars mission.

How It Works Spring 2019

Read a Free Issue of 'How It Works' Magazine!

By Jeanna Bryner