May 26, 2024

How Privateer Aims to Slash Earth Imagery Costs (Source: Space News)
Privateer’s recent acquisition of Orbital Insight sheds new light on the Hawaiian startup’s ambitious plans, which may include future acquisitions. “We’re trying to build Uber for space data,” Alex Fielding, Privateer CEO and co-founder, told SpaceNews. “We’re treating nation states like drivers, satellites like cars and those of us that need to consume these data like riders. If you boil it down, what it solves is availability and price, which is similar to what Uber solved for Black car versus UberX.” (5/20)

Scientists Locate Origin of the Sun’s Magnetic Field (Source: CNN)
Figuring out how the sun’s magnetic field works will help scientists improve the forecasting of space weather, which dazzles night sky watchers but can disrupt GPS and communication satellites. The sun’s looping magnetic field lines, which form a tangled web of structures more complex than those on Earth, are difficult to study directly. To grasp what’s going on, scientists create mathematical models.

A new model, which took more than a decade to develop and required a NASA supercomputer to conduct the detailed calculations, found that the sun’s magnetic field is generated much closer to the surface than previously thought. (5/25)

Piece of Suspected Space Debris Found in Rural North Carolina (Source: Fox Weather)
Space experts believe a piece of debris recently found in rural western North Carolina could be from a recent SpaceX mission that launched a crew of four to the International Space Station. The debris was recently spotted by an employee of The Glamping Collective, a company that operates cabins and other facilities on a private mountaintop about 20 minutes west of Asheville, North Carolina. The debris appears to be at least 3 feet wide and is clearly singed, likely from its travels through Earth’s atmosphere. (5/24)

SpaceX Countering Russia's Attempts to Jam Starlink Signal (Source: Ukrinform)
SpaceX is spending significant resources to counter Russia's attempts to jam Starlink satellite communications on the Ukrainian battlefields. That’s according to CEO Elon Musk, who addressed the issue on X, Ukrinform reports. "SpaceX is spending significant resources combating Russian jamming efforts. This is a tough problem," Musk said. (5/25)

Prototype Mission of Amazon's Starlink Rival a Success, Bezos is About to Challenge Musk (Source: Neowin)
After years of preparation, Amazon is getting closer to the point where it can compete in the market of global internet connection provided from space. The company is not quite there yet, and it will take a bit more time to achieve, however, the ball is finally rolling. Amazon’s tech demonstrators KuiperSat-1 and KuiperSat-2 flew into space to give Kuiper engineers some important answers and feedback on their design. Crucially, these tests were successful and the systems performed nominally or better than expected.

Now, when Kuiper engineers know what they need, the mission of KuiperSat-1 and KuiperSat-2 is fulfilled. Amazon announced that it started the deorbiting process and both spacecraft will burn in the atmosphere. When finished, the Kuiper constellation will consist of 3,236 satellites, half of which have to be operational by the summer of 2026 to meet the criteria of the license approved by the FCC. The beta tests of the Kuiper space network are planned for the second half of this year. Early partners like Vodafone and Verizon will be among the first to participate in those service pilots. (5/26)

Air Force and Space Force Troops Now Receive Daily Stipends During Short-Term Training (Source: Stripes)
Troops in the Air Force and Space Force with dependent family members now receive a daily stipend while attending military training when they spend less than a year at the location and then return to their prior duty station, the services announced. (5/22)

It Might Be Time for NASA to Bail on Boeing's Starliner (Source: BGR)
It might be surprising now, with all the delays and Boeing’s ongoing fight with manufacturing issues, but there was a time when Starliner was actually a very promising option for space exploration. Boeing had already proven its ability to be a premier aircraft provider, and it seemed on track to do the same thing with spacecraft. Unfortunately, nearly a decade later, any hopes and dreams that might have rested on Starliner’s shoulders have since started to fall away, replaced by successes from other companies — like SpaceX — and repeated failures and issues plaguing Boeing’s capsule.

Not only has the program seen repeated delays — including the most recent launch holds — but the program has also been plagued by manufacturing issues. Things like corroded valves and even severe software errors have helped hold Starliner back while SpaceX and its Dragon spacecraft have continued to step in to fill that void. I know NASA desperately wants another company to rely on for space launches, as a monopoly certainly gives the Elon Musk-led SpaceX a huge advantage. But if that freedom comes with the risk that Boeing’s capsule certainly seems to offer, is it really worth it? (5/26)

Bringing Generative Artificial Intelligence to Space (Source: Space News)
Amazon Web Services is busy positioning its cloud infrastructure business to capitalize on the promise of generative artificial intelligence for transforming space and other industries. More than 60% of the company’s space and aerospace customers are already using some form of AI in their businesses, according to AWS director of aerospace and satellite Clint Crosier, up from single digits around three years ago.

Crosier predicts similar growth over the next few years in space for generative AI, which uses deep-learning models to answer questions or create content based on patterns detected in massive datasets, marking a major step up from traditional machine-learning algorithms. Mathematical advances, an explosion in the amount of available data and cheaper and more efficient chips for processing it are a “perfect storm” for the rise of generative AI, he told SpaceNews in an interview, helping drive greater adoption of cloud-based applications. (5/24)

NASA Swift Satellite and AI Unravel the Distance of the Farthest Gamma-Ray Bursts (Source: Phys.org)
The advent of AI has been hailed by many as a societal game-changer, as it opens a universe of possibilities to improve nearly every aspect of our lives. Astronomers are now using AI, quite literally, to measure the expansion of our universe. Two recent studies incorporated multiple machine learning models to add a new level of precision to distance measurements for gamma-ray bursts (GRBs)—the most luminous and violent explosions in the universe.

The teams combined GRB data from NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory with multiple machine learning models to overcome the limitations of current observational technology and, more precisely, estimate the proximity of GRBs for which the distance is unknown. "The outcome of this study is so precise that we can determine using predicted distance the number of GRBs in a given volume and time (called the rate), which is very close to the actual observed estimates," said Aditya Narendra. (5/25)

What Will We Eat on the Moon? The Food is Literally Out of This World (Source: BBC)
The Moon may be the final frontier for mankind, but what will we eat when we get there? Pasta and protein bars made out of thin air are just the beginning. "Food is something that keeps astronauts sane," says Dr Sonja Brungs, astronaut operations deputy lead at the European Space Agency. "Good food, proper food with a lot of variety, tailored to the needs of the individual astronauts is crucial for a successful deep space mission. I think people underestimate how important it is."

Currently, astronauts are given small food pouches containing prepared meals. These meals are made by specialised food-production companies and then freeze-dried, dehydrated or thermostabilised. Astronauts add water to heat or cool the meals to eat; they can also bring along a special meal that reminds them of home (this too has to be carefully formulated and thermostablised).

There are some no-gos: anything that crumbs, like bread, can't be taken into space as the crumbs can easily become airborne in the low-gravity environment, meaning they could be inhaled or get into vital equipment. Salt is limited, due to the fact that the body stores sodium differently in space, leading to accelerated osteoporosis, and alcohol is also not permitted as it affects the waste water recycling system in the ISS. Click here. (5/25)https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20240525-what-will-we-eat-on-the-moon-the-food-is-literally-out-of-this-world

Astronomers Discover The Largest Planet-Forming Disk We've Ever Seen (Source: Science Alert)
Roughly 1,000 light-years from Earth, there is a cosmic structure known as IRAS 23077+6707 (IRAS 23077) that resembles a giant butterfly. Ciprian T. Berghea originally observed the structure in 2016 using the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS). To the surprise of many, the structure has remained unchanged for years, leading some to question what IRAS 2307 could be.

Recently, two international teams of astronomers made follow-up observations using the Submillimeter Array at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) in Hawaii to better understand IRAS 2307. In a series of papers describing their findings, the teams revealed that IRAS 23077 is actually a young star surrounded by a massive protoplanetary debris disk, the largest ever observed. This discovery offers new insight into planet formation and the environments where this takes place. (5/15)

The Bennu Samples Have Rocks Unlike Any Meteorite Ever Found (Source: Astronomy)
So far, researchers have not found anything in Bennu samples that looks exactly like chondrules seen in meteorites. But they have found an array of rocks that resemble chondrules to varying degrees, suggesting that asteroids are more diverse than meteorites might suggest. Although the groups are in the early stages of analysis and have examined less than 1 percent of the sample returned, the results are “still very important findings,” says Harold Connolly Jr., a meteorite expert at Rowan University.

The group is currently looking at whether the remnants could be from another type of rock that is thought to have formed in the solar system even earlier than chondrules — known as calcium-aluminum-rich-inclusions or CAIs. If not, the fragments would likely be from chondrules that escaped being altered by the water. (5/25)

Astronomers Aim To Look For Terraformed 'Snowball' Earths (Source: Forbes)
What about alien civilizations that intentionally use greenhouse gases to save their planet from the onset of a snowball earth type situation; that is, a completely ice-covered planet? Or to terraform a frozen desert-like planet, not unlike Mars? Or even to stave off the effects of a long period of planetary glaciation? Researchers outline the rationale in looking for the technosignatures of such artificial greenhouse gases in the atmospheres of far-flung planets.

Previous papers have advocated looking for atmospheric pollution of such exoplanets in the process of dealing with the sort of chlorofluorocarbon pollution that reached its height several decades ago. In contrast to passive incidental byproducts of industrial processes, artificial greenhouse gases would represent an intentional effort to change the climate of a planet with long-lived, low toxicity gases, the authors of this new paper write. (5/25)

Stunning Fireball Over Spain and Portugal Tracked by Lightning Imager From Space (Source: SciTech Daily)
A meteor that lit up the skies over Spain and Portugal was captured by the Meteosat Third Generation Imager satellite and a ground-based camera in Spain. This event showcased the capabilities of the new Lightning Imager, which is designed for advanced atmospheric monitoring, particularly of lightning phenomena. (5/24)

Straight Out of Sci-Fi: NASA Advances Six Pioneering Space Technologies for Tomorrow (Source: SciTech Daily)
NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts program is advancing six “‘science fiction-like” space technology projects, including a lunar railway and a fluid telescope. Six visionary concept studies have been selected by NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts program for additional funding and development. Each study has already completed the initial NIAC phase, showing their futuristic ideas — like a lunar railway system and fluid-based telescopes — may provide fresh perspectives and approaches as NASA explores the unknown in space. Click here. (5/25)

Sweden's Arctic Spaceport Moves One Step Closer to Orbital Launches (Source: Space.com)
In a groundbreaking move for the European and international space markets, Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) and South Korean rocket company Perigee Aerospace Inc. have entered into a collaborative agreement to jointly launch satellites from Esrange Space Center in northern Sweden starting in 2025. All being well, Perigee's Blue Whale 1 microlauncher will be the first-ever orbital rocket launched from Esrange according to the press release statement. (5/24)

Safety Comes 1st for Artemis Moon Missions Despite 'Space Race' with China, NASA Chief Says (Source: Space.com)
A U.S. Senate committee heard from the head of NASA what the nature of a developmental mission means: sometimes, you need to wait. NASA administrator Bill Nelson, while mindful of what he calls a "space race" with China to establish a sustained presence on the moon, said Thursday (May 23) he will only commit to the current Artemis 2 liftoff date of September 2025 if astronaut safety is not compromised. (5/24)

Plants Signal NASA Satellites with Warning 'Glow' Ahead of Flash Drought (Source: Space.com)
Typically, it takes seasons for a standard drought to develop — with a flash drought, however, expedited drying arises in just weeks. Thus, it's quite difficult to prepare for them. However, scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California may have a solution. At the end of April, they released a study about their discovery of a way to recognize signs months in advance of a flash drought event. Signs from space, that is. You just have to look for the glow — or, well, lack thereof. It would appear that, in anticipation of a flash drought, the "glow" of a plant begins to dim, and it's possible to capture such dimming with spacecraft orbiting our planet.

More specifically, this glow is not visible to the human eye, but rather can be identified by certain instruments aboard satellites like NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2). According to scientists, the plant glow phenomenon had been recurring on this satellite's data since 2014, when it arrived in space and began "seeing the light" across the Midwest U.S. throughout the growing season.

When plants go through photosynthesis, they bask in sunlight, absorbing our star's rays to transform water and carbon dioxide into food. During this process, some unused photons, or particles of light, escape from the plants' chlorophyll content, which refers to compounds which give plants their color. That produces a slight glow. This "glow" is called solar-induced fluorescence (SIF). The SIF grows brighter as a plant uses more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to increase its growth. (5/21)

NASA’s Europa Clipper Makes Cross-Country Flight to Florida (Source: NASA JPL)
NASA’s Europa Clipper, a spacecraft designed to investigate Jupiter’s icy moon Europa and its potential to support life, arrived in Florida on Thursday, May 23. The spacecraft, assembled at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, landed aboard a United States Air Force C-17 Globemaster III aircraft at the Launch and Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. (5/24)

Northrop Grumman Successfully Tests FIrst Fully Digital Rocket Motor (Source: Interesting Engineering)
Northrop Grumman has announced it has successfully tested its first entirely digitally designed rocket motor. Named the Common 50 High-Performance (C50HP), this upper-stage solid rocket motor is intended for use in the United States Next-Generation Interceptor (NGI) program. The company reports that the rocket completed a static fire test at the US Air Force Arnold Engineering Development Complex. (5/23)

Starlink's Shocking Price Hike Sparks Reaction (Source: CNET)
At $200 per month, service wasn't cheap, but for many, it was well worth the cost. Starlink recently and abruptly doubled the price, however, to the ire of many who were enrolled in the plan. Mobile Global customers received notification last week that their monthly rate will double later this year, on Aug. 16. The new price, soaring from $200 to $400, is effective immediately for new customers. (5/26)

SpaceX Targeting June 5 for 4th Test Flight of Starship (Source: Space.com)
We may be less than two weeks away from Starship's next test flight. SpaceX announced today (May 24) that it's targeting June 5 for the fourth-ever liftoff of Starship, the giant vehicle it's developing to get people and cargo to the moon, Mars and beyond. That date is written in pencil rather than pen, however, for SpaceX still needs to secure regulatory approval — specifically, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's acceptance of a Starship launch license modification. (5/24)

SpaceX Details What Went Wrong with Starship, Fourth Flight Imminent (Source: Neowin)
SpaceX has shared a blog post clarifying some details about the 3rd flight attempt – what went wrong and what the engineers did to address these issues. The flight data analysis revealed that the most likely root cause for the early boostback burn shutdown was continued filter blockage where liquid oxygen is supplied to the engines, leading to a loss of inlet pressure in engine oxygen turbopumps. Engineers will implement additional hardware inside oxygen tanks to further improve propellant filtration capabilities, as well as additional hardware and software changes to increase the startup reliability of the Raptor engines in landing conditions.

The Starship experienced its own set of problems after reaching the orbit. During the coast phase when the Raptor engines are not firing anymore, the attitude control of Starship is maintained via roll control thrusters. However, it seems that the valves responsible for roll control were clogged. As a result, Starship didn’t attempt to relight a Raptor engine as was originally planned, and the spacecraft entered the dense parts of the atmosphere without the ability to keep its intended orientation. Thus, it was not only the heat shield, but also other parts of the rocket that faced the immense heat of the gloving plasma. (5/25)

Rogue Russia Menaces Humanity's Future in Outer Space (Source: CEPA)
Putin’s Russia has for years undermined this safe and sustainable approach for humanity’s shared future off-planet. Just this week, the Pentagon made a remarkable public statement that the Russian military had successfully “launched a satellite into low-Earth orbit that we assess is likely a counter-space weapon, presumably capable of attacking other satellites in low-Earth orbit.” The US has said the device is in the “same orbit” as a US reconnaissance satellite, likely stalking it.

Reports indicate that US Space Command has confirmed the launch of the potential Russian space weapon — designated as Kosmos-2576 — took place on May 16 aboard a Soyuz 2.1b rocket from the Plestesk Cosmodrome near the White Sea, along with other satellites purportedly for civilian applications. Kosmos-2576 is reportedly of the Nivelir-L class, a relatively new Russian space system capable of so-called proximity operations to “inspect” other satellites from a distance, and also able to deploy separate space vehicles nested inside the main vehicle for a variety of purposes. (5/23)

China's Secretive Spaceplane Releases Object Into Orbit (Source: Space News)
China’s experimental reusable spacecraft has released an unknown object into orbit while conducting its third mission. U.S. Space Force space domain awareness teams cataloged the object as 59884 (International designator 2023-195G). The suspected spaceplane launched Dec. 14, 2023 and has been in orbit 164 days. The object appears to have been released May 24.

The object could be a subsatellite deployment, or a piece of hardware ejected prior to end of mission and deorbit. The object may also be used for proximity and capture maneuvers. The spaceplane used a released object to perform multiple recaptures as part of on-orbit testing during its second flight. (5/26)

About Feasibility of SpaceX's Human Exploration Mars Mission Scenario with Starship (Source: Nature.com)
SpaceX has published over various media (e.g., its official website, conference presentations, user manual) conceptual information for its reusable Starship to enable human exploration missions to the Martian surface by the end of the decade. The technological and human challenges associated with these plans are daunting. Such a mission at that distance would require excellent system reliability and in-situ-resource utilization on a grand scale, e.g. to produce propellant. The plans contain little details however and have not yet been reviewed concerning their feasibility. Click here. (5/25)

Texas A&M Space Institute to Test Tech for Moon, Mars Missions (Source: Houston Chronicle)
Texas A&M is re-creating the moon and Mars — with a tunnel connecting the two. A planned facility at NASA’s Johnson Space Center will have the equivalent of two football fields, one filled with slippery gray gravel, crater-like holes and a harsh light and the other with a reddish sky and hard-packed terrain, plus the occasional sneaky sand trap. Here, companies will be able to develop spacesuits, test tools and robotics, and study actual rocks from the moon and (perhaps one day) Mars. (5/24)

Tiny Black Holes Hiding in the Sun Could Trace Out Stunning Patterns (Source: New Scientist)
Our solar system might be chock-full of tiny black holes, with some tracing out beautiful patterns resembling Spirograph drawings as they orbit inside the sun. Invisible dark matter seems to account for the vast majority of mass in the universe, but scientists don’t know what exactly it is. Hypothetical black holes that formed shortly after the big bang, called primordial black holes, are one dark matter candidate. (5/24)

Could Dyson Spheres Exist in Our Galaxy? (Source: NBC)
A Dyson sphere is a hypothetical giant structure that surrounds a star and can capture its solar output. Two separate groups of astronomers have claimed that they have detected dozens of possible Dyson spheres within the Milky Way galaxy. NBC’s Gadi Schwartz speaks with Dr. Michio Kaku about what it would take to create a Dyson sphere and how advanced a civilization would need to be to make it happen. Click here. (5/17)

Tiny Scottish Island Becomes the U.K.'s First Spaceport for Vertical Rockets (Source: Fortune)
When Frank Strang visited SaxaVord nearly 20 years ago, he was so enamored with the Scottish property that he purchased it on the spot without even telling his wife. Now, the unlikely entrepreneurial duo is on the verge of opening Europe’s newest space hub. It occupies a former military station on the island of Unst, some 400 miles north of Edinburgh. The few people who choose to live there are vastly outnumbered by sheep, rabbits and the whales and dolphins that frolic in the cobalt seas surrounding the rocky coast line.

The Royal Air Force opened a radar station at SaxaVord in the late 1950s to warn the mainland of any oncoming aircraft approaching from the sea. It closed in 2006, throwing the small population into serious economic hardship. Strang, 66, was no stranger to life in the military, having met his wife, Debbie, three decades ago when they were both in the RAF. So when he got an offer to buy the land after the military complex was decommissioned, Strang seized the opportunity, with no real plan of what to do next.

“It was a bit of a whim, an educated punt,” he says. “Never for one minute did I think we’d be building a spaceport.” But when the government said it was looking for spaceport sites, Strang jumped at the chance given SaxaVord’s geographical advantages and his background in aviation and defense. Construction of SaxaVord’s future began in earnest in mid-2022. (5/24)

Space Force Inches closer to Classified Remote Work (Source: Defense One)
Some guardians could soon do their classified work from home thanks to a new prototype. GDIT calls it the Enigma Project: a digital environment that allows users from government, academia, industry, and others to access classified and unclassified information from a single device. Space Systems Command awarded GDIT $18 million as part of an other transaction agreement to develop a digital environment in January 2023. The agreement has since been extended to January 2025 to add more commercial cloud environments that can handle secret-level data. (5/24)

Humanity Shouldn't Be Afraid to Say Hello to Aliens (Source: Wall Street Journal)
Sociologists, game theorists and astrophysicists like Stephen Hawking have been warning for decades against transmitting signals that could reveal humanity’s location to interstellar predators. The worriers argue that there’s a good reason we haven’t detected signals from any other intelligent life in the universe: The only civilizations that survive are the ones smart enough to keep quiet. A species that jabbers as soon as it learns to transmit radio signals could fatally attract the attention of an older civilization with much more advanced technology, just as the European discovery of America led to the decimation of the native population. Click here. (5/24)

Mars' Moon May Not Be What We Think, Scientists Claim (Source: Futurism)
The conventional wisdom about Mars' small and misshapen moons, Phobos and Deimos, is that they were either created like Earth's Moon — carved out of the planet by an impact with a huge object — or that they were passing asteroids that Mars' gravitational field captured, or perhaps remnants from an earlier and larger moon that broke apart.

But a team of scientists from France and Germany have now proposed that Phobos may have been formed from a comet — and that means Deimos could be from the same celestial body, too. In their study, the scientists stake their claim on images of Phobos taken between 2004 and 2022 by the Mars Express spacecraft, a joint mission by NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. (5/24)

Breaking Light Speed: The Quantum Tunneling Enigma (Source: SciTech Daily)
In an amazing phenomenon of quantum physics known as tunneling, particles appear to move faster than the speed of light. However, physicists from Darmstadt believe that the time it takes for particles to tunnel has been measured incorrectly until now. They propose a new method to stop the speed of quantum particles. Click here. (5/25)

Why Sunsets on Mars are Tinted Blue (Source: BBC)
If a human stood on Mars and witnessed a Martian sunset, the chances are it would appear pale blue. The reason for this is also why Mars is called the Red Planet, along with the fact it has an atmosphere that's quite the opposite to Earth's. Click here. (5/22) https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p0hznnw4/why-sunsets-on-mars-are-tinted-blue

SpaceX Pokes Holes in Cellular Starlink Interference Claims (Source: PC Magazine)
SpaceX is pushing back against accusations that the company’s cellular Starlink system for phones could interfere with other satellites. The company sent the letter to the FCC after Omnispace claimed it had uncovered “empirical evidence” demonstrating the interference risks from SpaceX’s ongoing tests with its growing fleet of “Direct to Cell” Starlink satellites. As a result, Omnispace is urging the US regulator to force SpaceX to cease such tests. (5/23)

Space Force Guardians Could Grow Beards Under Pilot Program (Source: Military.com)
Airmen and Space Force Guardians would be allowed to grow beards -- one of the most requested policy changes among the rank and file -- as part of a proposed pilot program floated Wednesday evening by the House Armed Services Committee. The beard proposal, sponsored by Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Texas, was added into the committee's version of the National Defense Authorization Act. It directs the Air Force secretary to "establish a pilot program to allow members of the Air Force and Space Force to grow beards," as well as research "compatibility of beards with military equipment." (5/24)

Space Junk is Raining From the Sky. Who's Responsible When it Hits the Earth? (Source: CBC)
Who is responsible for this space debris? The answer is complicated. There are a few United Nations agreements in place, but for the most part, it's rare for any one country to take another country to international court over space junk. The Outer Space Treaty, of which Canada is a signatory, was adopted in 1967 to govern the peaceful use of space. It says that countries are liable for any damage caused by space objects they've launched. Commercial activities are covered by the treaty's Liability Convention, Steer said.

"The Liability Convention says if there's damage caused on Earth, or in the air, then it's absolute liability," she said. "In other words, you don't have to prove faults, you just have to figure out where this debris came from." That convention was put to the test in 1978, when a Soviet nuclear satellite called Cosmos 954 re-entered Earth's atmosphere and exploded over Northern Canada, scattering radioactive debris from present-day Nunavut to northern Alberta. The Canadian government spent more than $14 million CAD in cleanup efforts.

Canada used the Liability Convention to request $4.4 million in compensation from the Soviet Union. In the end, it received $3 million. In addition to physical damage, countries could potentially seek compensation for economic costs that come from planes or ships being forced to divert due to debris re-entry, said Ewan Wright, a PhD candidate at the University of British Columbia studying the sustainability of the outer space environment. (5/24)