Spacecraft of the future may be able to detect and repair their own structural damage in orbit, a capability that could make ...

Low Earth orbit is starting to look less like pristine frontier and more like a crowded scrapyard, packed with dead satellites, spent rocket stages, and fragments that no longer serve any purpose.

NASA’s orbital debris program officially began in 1979. Lacking an official program designation at the time, it was initiated in the Space Sciences Branch at Johnson Space Center (JSC) as a result of ...

Healable spacecraft structures could soon be possible thanks to cutting-edge composite technology. Swiss companies CompPair and CSEM with Belgian company Com&Sens have partnered with the European ...

The Colorado company Lux Aeterna wants to help open up the space economy with a fleet of fully reusable satellites, and it ...

Mars didn’t always look like the barren world we see today. Over billions of years, the Sun’s solar wind stripped away much ...

Space is harsh — radiation and temperature swings can destroy a spacecraft. Engineers at FIU’s Cold Spray and Rapid Deposition Laboratory develop coatings and materials that shield spacecraft from ...

The International Space Station "is the crown jewel of human spaceflight for all humanity,” says a leading space scholar, a timeless treasure of stellar engineering that absolutely must be protected ...

Addressing the problem of orbital debris requires taking a long-term view, but such a view can be difficult for federal agencies that must operate subject to the variability of annual budgets. Even if ...