Artificial satellites as a research area encompasses the scientific and engineering study of human-made objects intentionally placed into Earth or other celestial orbits for observation, communication, navigation, and experimentation. Research focuses on orbital dynamics and mission design, attitude determination and control, space environment interactions (radiation, plasma, micrometeoroids), and advanced materials and power systems for long-duration operation. It also includes development of miniaturized platforms (e.g., CubeSats), payload instrumentation for remote sensing and scientific measurements, formation flying and constellations, on-orbit servicing, autonomy and fault management, and the impacts of satellite proliferation on space traffic management and orbital debris mitigation.
For decades, astronomers and policymakers have been working on plans to protect our planet from killer asteroids. But now there's a new realm to protect: the thousands of satellites we're putting in orbit.
Planetary Sciences
16 hours ago
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7
SpaceX shares surged again Tuesday, lifting Elon Musk's rocket company into the world's top five in market value for most of the session as a record-breaking IPO gave way to a torrid buying frenzy.
Space Exploration
Jun 17, 2026
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11
NASA's "rapid-response" space telescope is slowly falling out of orbit, but a daring mission this summer could allow the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory to continue scanning the sky for many more years to come. In the first ...
Astronomy
Jun 16, 2026
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15
We think of atomic clocks as the definitive timekeepers. They are famous for being accurate down to the picosecond. Unfortunately, they are still subject to general relativity, so if you put them on a different planet, they ...
Space Exploration
Jun 16, 2026
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40
To truly understand what an asteroid is made of, we need to send a probe to it. Remote sensing from ground-based telescopes, or even orbiting observatories, can only do so much. A new white paper submitted to the U.K. Space ...
Planetary Sciences
Jun 12, 2026
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51
SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket loaded with Starlink satellites Friday less than an hour before Elon Musk's company was set to lift off for what would be the largest IPO in Wall Street history.
Space Exploration
Jun 12, 2026
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19
Elon Musk's SpaceX began its first day as a public company on Wall Street on Friday after the biggest initial public offering in history, with the polarizing entrepreneur promising he will take humanity to Mars.
Space Exploration
Jun 12, 2026
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15
Elon Musk's SpaceX was set to begin trading on the Nasdaq exchange Friday, with the biggest initial public offering in history expected to make the polarizing entrepreneur the world's first trillionaire.
Space Exploration
Jun 12, 2026
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11
Elon Musk's SpaceX holds sway over the emerging space economy in a way that has more in common with notorious colonial-era trading companies than the competitive markets of today's textbooks, according to a new study.
Space Exploration
Jun 9, 2026
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36
Unfortunately, there's more bad news to report on the clear skies front. A new paper, available on the arXiv preprint server from researchers at NASA's Ames Research Center, reports that 73.3% of images the agency's new SPHEREx ...
Astronomy
Jun 9, 2026
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