The price of access to space is coming down. Dramatically. SpaceX is working on making rockets reusable, a trick that will cut the cost of access to space for humans and large cargos by roughly 90%. But the price of getting into orbit is being slashed by yet another force: a miniaturization revolution. Today a satellite that weighs twenty five pounds—the weight of your backpack–can do the job of a.. Read More

There are two ways to get Americans to Mars. One is the way we can afford. The other is the way we can’t. NASA, operating in secret, has been forced to choose the path that will break the bank—the path we simply can’t afford. NASA is circulating an internal document called “Evolvable Mars Campaign: Status Update to SLS Evolvability TIM.” The pages of the Evolvable Mars Campaign are clearly marked.. Read More

Dr. Robert D. Braun David and Andrew Lewis Professor of Space Technology Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology Abstract: In the past twenty years, significant advances have been made in our ability to land scientific payloads on the Mars surface. These advances have come largely from continued evolution and refinement of Viking-era spaceflight technology. Over the past five years, a suite of new EDL technologies has been.. Read More

The Alliance for Space Development (ASD) is pleased to co-sponsor the October 16-17 New Worlds 2015 conference in Austin, TX. ASD Board Member Al Globus will be one of the speakers and will host the free-space settlement session. Members of ASD member organizations can get a 25% discount by using a promotional code: speakerglo15. This code is good for the first 150 applicants who use it. New Worlds 2015 will be a.. Read More

  The quiet war between NASA and Congress continues over the space agency’s desire to fully fund its commercial crew program, which supports efforts by SpaceX and Boeing to develop crewed spacecraft. On Wednesday NASA announced that the first human mission of its Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft, designed to go into deep space, could slip two years to 2023. Just 15 minutes after this news conference ended Lamar Smith, a Texas.. Read More

Learn how leveraging commercial space partnerships could provide a 10X cost reduction for sending humans back to the Moon, and allow us to establish a permanent human base on the Moon within NASA’s existing budget. Charles Miller teaches a 10-week online course for current and future leaders of the commercial space industry. Watch the video here.

The inspired minds at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries have succeeded in transmitting solar energy right through the air. Using wireless power transmission may be the best way to gather solar energy from space in order to use it here on Earth. Using microwave technology, Mitsubishi said it sent ten kilowatts of power wirelessly through the air to a receiver positioned 1,640 feet away. That is enough to power your kitchen stove for an hour or more. On Friday,.. Read More

Mika McKinnon of io9 asks, Ever since the shuttle program ended, NASA has been paying Russia to ferry U.S. astronauts to the International Space Station. But the price-per-seat aboard Russia’s spacecraft has gotten ridiculous. The solution is clear and cost-effective: The US needs its own space taxis. So why won’t Congress pay for it? Every year, NASA’s budget for Commercial Crew is less than requested. This means more flights using.. Read More

NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, left, and crewmate Kjell Lindgren, right, chat with CBS News during a space-to-ground question-and-answer session Monday. Kelly urged lawmakers to fully fund NASA’s commercial crew program to end sole reliance on Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft. (CBS News)   Scott Kelly, an astronaut nearly five months into a one-year stay at the International Space Station, has begged Congress to stop killing America’s manned space program. In the words.. Read More

Richard Shelby is watching out for his NASA center. (AP Photo)   Eric Berger has a new editorial at the Houston Chronicle. Congress is stalling commercial crew merely to generate pork. Space is a new industry, capable of providing jobs to thousands of Americans. But it is being hobbled by Congress. Crucial money that could be given to American companies is funneled off to Russia. Further, the Space Launch System, or SLS,.. Read More