Science & Tech

How Rocket-Makers Ensure 3D-Printed Parts are Strong Enough for Space

Measure them against an industrial standard for welding called AWS D17.1 Class A.

Business

Why Did Paul Allen Build the World’s Largest Aircraft?

The six-engine, twin-fuselage Stratolaunch has no commercial customers paying to give their rockets a lift. Are there secret military ones?

Science & Tech

How A Billion-Dollar Satellite Gets to the Launch Pad

Before an ultra-secure communications military satellite soars into orbit, it has to fly to Florida aboard the U.S. Air Force's largest plane.

Ideas

SpaceX Just Sold the US Air Force the Cheapest Enormous Rocket It’s Ever Bought

The launch will cost $130 million, far less than the $350 million average cost of United Launch Alliance’s Delta IV.

Science & Tech

The Pentagon is Funding Silicon Valley’s Space Industry to Watch North Korean Missiles

The U.S. military doesn’t have the information it needs to stop an attack by North Korea. But officials believe they know where to get it.

Science & Tech

The US Isn’t Going To Launch a Military Space Corps—For Now

The effort still sends a message that the U.S. is concerned about the orbital military aspirations of geopolitical rivals like China and Russia.

Business

Elon Musk’s SpaceX Will Fly the US Military's Top-Secret Space Robot

The company is due to launch the X-37B in August, breaking a decade-long monopoly by United Launch Alliance.

Science & Tech

Elon Musk’s Reusable Rocket Just Changed The Space Game

The successful test flight of a used rocket is a milestone in the effort to drastically lower the cost of putting a satellite in orbit.

Ideas

Trump's Defense-and-Budget Plan Has Been Tried Before

The GOP candidate's proposals for irresponsible tax cuts and uncapped defense spending look quite a bit like George W. Bush's.

Science & Tech

Nailed It: SpaceX's Reusable Rocket Makes Historic Landing

Falcon 9’s successful mission shows how the cost of space access is headed down as reusable rockets head up.

Business

This Painfully Honest Look at the Space Industry Just Got an Executive Fired

The engineering chief of the nation’s largest rocket-launch firm got a little too candid during a recent talk at his alma mater.

Ideas

Why a US Army Vet Cast a Muslim-American Woman to Lead His Afghan War Movie

An American paratrooper's experience with an Afghan-American interpreter formed the basis of the upcoming film, 'Day One.'

Science & Tech

The US Military Just Ditched Plans to Launch Satellites with F-15s

DARPA was looking for a way to get small sats into orbit more quickly, but the fuel proved too dangerous.

Business

The Pentagon's Afghan 'Slush Fund' Will Now Have to Answer to Angry Lawmakers

The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee has given the DOD 48 hours to turn over its files on a controversial task force that may have misspent millions in Afghanistan.

Business

Troops' Privacy at Center of $43M Gas Station Tussle Between Pentagon, Watchdog

No one so far knows where some $42 million went for a $500k gas station in Afghanistan. But a fight between the Pentagon and its auditor is keeping the records out of the public eye.

Threats

Obama, Putin Will Meet About Syria

With their military forces both engaged in a single war-torn country, the leaders will meet during the UN General Assembly.