Pentagon acquisition reforms and the prospect of a budget surge are colliding with a thinned civilian workforce

The post Space Force’s acquisition arm races to rebuild contracting workforce after civilian cuts appeared first on SpaceNews.

Blue Origin will reuse a New Glenn booster for the first time on the rocket’s next launch, carrying a satellite for AST SpaceMobile.

The post Blue Origin to reuse New Glenn booster on next launch appeared first on SpaceNews.

China’s damaged Shenzhou-20 spacecraft returned safely to Earth after on-orbit internal repairs, concluding the country’s first human spaceflight emergency triggered by a suspected debris impact.

The post Damaged Shenzhou-20 spacecraft survives reentry, Shenzhou-23 arrives at spaceport appeared first on SpaceNews.

Learn how chemicals released by gut microbes end up in exhaled breath, and how researchers used those signals to identify microbial communities linked to disease.

Learn how the emergence of new plankton species started life's swift recovery after the asteroid impact that killed most dinosaurs.

Learn more about ancient giant kangaroos and the previous research claiming they were too heavy to hop. A new study finds that hopping may have been one of the few movement methods for these ancient animals. 

Open Cosmos deployed two satellites Jan. 22 to activate Ka-band spectrum filings reassigned by Liechtenstein last week, racing to meet deployment deadlines to bring the frequencies into use for sovereign and enterprise broadband.

The post Open Cosmos advances broadband plans with spectrum once held by Rivada appeared first on SpaceNews.

Blue Origin launched its first New Shepard mission of the year Jan. 22, carrying five paying customers and one company employee after a last-minute change.

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Gen. Shawn Bratton, vice chief of space operations of the U.S. Space Force, says growing reliance on satellites is forcing faster integration with the joint force and long-term planning beyond Earth orbit

The post As satellites become targets, Space Force plans for growth and a broader role appeared first on SpaceNews.

Seismic stations can accurately map re-entering debris with high accuracy

Learn how studying microbial communities during long-duration spaceflight could also reveal new ways to support human health and agriculture on Earth.

Learn how ancient DNA from human remains revealed that syphilis circulated in the Americas thousands of years earlier than once thought.

A Rocket Lab Electron launched the first satellites for a new constellation being developed by Open Cosmos that will use spectrum previously assigned to Rivada Space Networks.

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TAHOE CITY, Calif. — L3Harris Technologies will provide the primary imagery for the Korean Meteorological Administration’s (KMA) next-generation geostationary weather satellite. The contract, awarded to L3Harris by Korean aerospace manufacturer […]

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Decoding the complex communication system of the deadliest brain cancer has revealed that an already approved HIV drug could be the key to treatment.

Fossils reveal these ancient footbones were robust enough to withstand the impacts of leaping locomotion

Threats to funding and cuts to diversity efforts are putting pressure on the pipeline of new scientists

This episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast features a conversation with the plasma physicist Debbie Callahan who is chief strategy officer at Focused Energy – a California and Germany based fusion-energy startup. Prior to that she spent 35 years working at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the US.

Focused Energy is developing a commercial system for generating energy from the laser-driven fusion of hydrogen isotopes. Callahan describes LightHouse, which is the company’s design for a laser-fusion power plant, and Pearl, which is the firm’s deuterium–tritium fuel capsule.

Callahan talks about the challenges and rewards of working in the fusion industry and also calls on early-career physicists to consider careers in this burgeoning sector.

The post Laser fusion: Focused Energy charts a course to commercial viability appeared first on Physics World.

Heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs) powered by hydrogen-based proton-exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells offer a cleaner alternative to diesel-powered internal combustion engines for decarbonizing long-haul transportation sectors. The development path of sub-components for HDV fuel-cell applications is guided by the total cost of ownership (TCO) analysis of the truck.

TCO analysis suggests that the cost of the hydrogen fuel consumed over the lifetime of the HDV is more dominant because trucks typically operate over very high mileages (~a million miles) than the fuel cell stack capital expense (CapEx). Commercial HDV applications consume more hydrogen and demand higher durability, meaning that TCO is largely related to the fuel-cell efficiency and durability of catalysts.

This article is written to bridge the gap between the industrial requirements and academic activity for advanced cathode catalysts with an emphasis on durability. From a materials perspective, the underlying nature of the carbon support, Pt-alloy crystal structure, stability of the alloying element, cathode ionomer volume fraction, and catalyst–ionomer interface play a critical role in improving performance and durability.

We provide our perspective on four major approaches, namely, mesoporous carbon supports, ordered PtCo intermetallic alloys, thrifting ionomer volume fraction, and shell-protection strategies that are currently being pursued. While each approach has its merits and demerits, their key developmental needs for future are highlighted.

Nagappan Ramaswamy joined the Department of Chemical Engineering at IIT Bombay as a faculty member in January 2025. He earned his PhD in 2011 from Northeastern University, Boston specialising in fuel cell electrocatalysis.

He then spent 13 years working in industrial R&D – two years at Nissan North American in Michigan USA focusing on lithium-ion batteries, followed by 11 years at General Motors in Michigan USA focusing on low-temperature fuel cells and electrolyser technologies. While at GM, he led two multi-million-dollar research projects funded by the US Department of Energy focused on the development of proton-exchange membrane fuel cells for automotive applications.

At IIT Bombay, his primary research interests include low-temperature electrochemical energy-conversion and storage devices such as fuel cells, electrolysers and redox-flow batteries involving materials development, stack design and diagnostics.

The post Fuel cell catalyst requirements for heavy-duty vehicle applications appeared first on Physics World.

SAN FRANCISCO – Weather intelligence startup Tomorrow.io unveiled DeepSky, a satellite constellation designed to refine atmospheric forecasts by gathering the vast quantities of data needed to feed artificial intelligence models. […]

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A tank built for Rocket Lab’s Neutron rocket was damaged during qualification testing, threatening to further delay the vehicle’s first flight.

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A growing measles outbreak in South Carolina has infected more than 600 people since October, with hundreds more being potentially exposed.

What skills do you use every day in your job?

Much of my time is spent trying to build and refine models in quantum optics, usually with just a pencil, paper and a computer. This requires an ability to sit with difficult concepts for a long time, sometimes far longer than is comfortable, until they finally reveal their structure.

Good communication is equally essential – I teach students; collaborate with colleagues from different subfields; and translate complex ideas into accessible language for the broader public. Modern physics connects with many different fields, so being flexible and open-minded matters as much as knowing the technical details. Above all, curiosity drives everything. When I don’t understand something, that uncertainty becomes my strongest motivation to keep going.

What do you like best and least about your job?

What I like the best is the sense of discovery – the moment when a problem that has evaded understanding for weeks suddenly becomes clear. Those flashes of insight feel like hearing the quiet whisper of nature itself. They are rare, but they bring along a joy that is hard to find elsewhere.

I also value the opportunity to guide the next generation of physicists, whether in the university classroom or through public science communication. Teaching brings a different kind of fulfilment: witnessing students develop confidence, curiosity and a genuine love for physics.

What I like the least is the inherent uncertainty of research. Questions do not promise favourable answers, and progress is rarely linear. Fortunately, I have come to see this lack of balance not as a weakness but as a source of power that forces growth, new perspectives, and ultimately deeper understanding.

What do you know today that you wish you knew when you were starting out in your career?

I wish I had known that feeling lost is not a sign of inadequacy but a natural part of doing physics at a high level. Not understanding something can be the greatest motivator, provided one is willing to invest time and effort. Passion and curiosity matter far more than innate brilliance. If I had realized earlier that steady dedication can carry you farther than talent alone, I would have embraced uncertainty with much more confidence.

The post Ask me anything: Mažena Mackoit-Sinkevičienė – ‘Above all, curiosity drives everything’ appeared first on Physics World.

SAN FRANCISCO – Italy’s Azimut Group invested $128 million in italian space logistics specialist D-Orbit, directly and by buying out an existing investor. The investment — $53 million in new funding and a $75 million buyout of an existing D-Orbit investor — is the first tranche of investment in D-Orbit’s Series D round. D-Orbit raised […]

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