August 25, 2019

Superheavy Gravitino Proposed as Dark Matter Candidate (Source: New Atlas)
Although it outnumbers regular matter by a ratio of five to one, dark matter is frustratingly elusive. Many experiments have been and are being run to try to hunt down different types of candidate particles, but so far no direct trace has been found of any of them. Now, researchers from Max Planck have proposed a new hypothetical particle that might be behind dark matter – the superheavy gravitino – and outlined just how we might find them. Click here. (8/25)

Brexit Britain Will Have Three Spaceports (Source: Express)
Graham Peters, chair of UKspace, the trade association of the UK space industry, said "launch sites in the UK could be used to launch small satellites into polar orbits. We are very well situated for that from locations near the Atlantic." He added: "Companies like Clyde Space in Scotland are building small nano-satellites. These could be launched safely from the planned spaceports in Sutherland in Scotland, Preswick Airport and Newquay in Cornwall, using smaller rockets to drive down costs and be more responsive." (8/24)

The Battle for the Soul of the Space Force (Source: The Hill)
Finally, the debate that should have begun over a year ago has arrived in earnest. Two different visions for the Space Force have been presented to the public. One is from the president of the Air Force Association, retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Bruce Wright. The other by currently serving Air Force Lt. Gen. Steven Kwast. Wright expresses the Air Force’s preferred “warfighting domain” school. Kwast is the most senior and vocal proponent of the maritime-inspired faction that has begun to call itself the “blue water” space school. Which school America chooses to first lead the Space Force will have serious repercussions to the United States for decades to come.

Wright claims the U.S. must “answer the rising threats posed by China and Russia against commercial, military, and intelligence satellites with unparalleled military capability to deter and, if necessary, defeat enemy threats in space.” Wright has identified Chinese anti-satellite weapons as the greatest space threat because they were developed to take away America’s current advantage in space, its system of satellites that allows the United States to dominate terrestrial combat.

Kwast identifies China as America’s greatest threat in space. However, the space race with China “is about determining which values will dominate the future world order,” not solely securing America’s terrestrial military advantage. Space, Kwast believes, will be a “multi-trillion dollar market” and the first great power to develop the infrastructure to harness the resources of space will become economically dominant on Earth. China’s anti-satellite weapons concern Kwast, but what concerns him more are Chinese plans to build bases on the moon and Mars. (8/23)