1,868 articles
Space Variable Objects Monitor
The Space Variable Objects Monitor (SVOM) is a French-Chinese satellite launched in June 2024 to detect gamma-ray bursts and relay their positions within a minute.
Space Western
A space western, also called sci-fi western, is a science-fiction subgenre transposing American Western themes onto space frontiers, spanning literature, film, television, and video games.
Space-Based Infrared System
The Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) is a United States Space Force constellation of infrared surveillance satellites that detects missile launches for early warning and missile defense.
Space-based solar power
Space-based solar power, also called space solar power, is a proposed technology in which satellites collect sunlight in orbit and beam it to Earth, working day and night in all weather.
Space.com
Space.com is an American online publication covering space exploration, astronomy, and spaceflight, founded in 1999 by Lou Dobbs and owned since 2018 by Future plc.
SpaceBEE
SpaceBEE, short for Basic Electronic Elements, is a series of 0.25U CubeSats built by Swarm Technologies for Internet-of-Things messaging, penalized $900,000 by the FCC after a 2018 unauthorized launch.
Spacebus
Spacebus is a family of satellite buses for geostationary telecommunications satellites, developed in France since 1985 and now produced by Thales Alenia Space, from Spacebus 100 to all-electric Spacebus Neo.
SpaceCamp
SpaceCamp is a 1986 American family adventure film directed by Harry Winer. It tells the story of teenagers accidentally launched into orbit, and inspired real Space Camp attendance.
Spacecraft
A spacecraft is a vehicle, or flight system, designed to operate in space for missions from orbiting Earth to landing on another planet, ranging from crewed Apollo vehicles to four-inch CubeSats.
Spacecraft assembly and integration facility
A spacecraft assembly and integration facility is a controlled industrial building where spacecraft are built up from parts, integrated, and tested in cleanrooms and environmental test halls before launch.
Spacecraft bus
A spacecraft bus is the part of a spacecraft that supports its payload with power, thermal control, attitude control, and communications, also called the satellite platform.
Spacecraft by launch vehicle
Spacecraft by launch vehicle is a classification scheme that groups uncrewed spacecraft by rocket family rather than mission or orbit, using families like Soyuz, Atlas, Delta, and Proton.
Spacecraft cemetery
The spacecraft cemetery, also called the South Pacific Ocean Uninhabited Area, is a region around Point Nemo where space agencies deliberately deorbit large spacecraft, including the Mir station in 2001.
Spacecraft decommissioning and disposal
Spacecraft decommissioning and disposal is the end-of-life phase of a space mission, in which a spacecraft is deactivated and moved out of its operating orbit to prevent orbital debris.
Spacecraft design
Spacecraft design is the engineering discipline of creating a vehicle that carries a payload through launch, survives the space environment, and performs its mission by trading mass, power, cost, and reliability across every subsystem.
Spacecraft propulsion
Spacecraft propulsion, also called space propulsion, is the set of technologies a spacecraft uses to change velocity by expelling mass or momentum, with chemical, electric, nuclear, and propellantless families.
Spacecraft reentries, 1958–1969
Spacecraft reentries, 1958–1969 spans the first satellite decays to Apollo lunar returns at about 11 km/s, when reentry became routine and capsules were first recovered.
Spacecraft reentries, 2020–2023
Spacecraft reentries, 2020–2023 covers satellites, rocket stages, and debris returning to Earth's atmosphere, with cataloged objects rising from 878 in 2020 to 2,085 in 2023.
Spaceflight
Spaceflight is the flight of vehicles into and through outer space, achieved by launching on rockets that carry their own propellant, spanning human and robotic spaceflight.
Spaceflight 1960–1964
Spaceflight 1960–1964 spans the Cold War space race's defining firsts: Yuri Gagarin's first orbit in 1961, John Glenn's first American orbital flight in 1962, and Syncom 3.
Spaceflight in the 1990s
Spaceflight in the 1990s saw the Space Shuttle become a routine workhorse, the launch of Hubble in 1990, and the start of the ISS assembly and Shuttle-Mir program.
Spaceflight osteopenia
Spaceflight osteopenia is the loss of bone mineral density that astronauts experience in microgravity, at about 1% to 1.5% per month in weight-bearing bones, raising fracture and osteoporosis risk.
Spaceflight participant
A spaceflight participant is a person flown aboard a launch or reentry vehicle who is not a crew member, the FAA and NASA's formal term for space tourists.
Spaceflight-associated neuro-ocular syndrome
Spaceflight-associated neuro-ocular syndrome (SANS), formerly known as visual impairment and intracranial pressure (VIIP) syndrome, is a collection of eye changes affecting astronauts on long-duration spaceflight, first described in 2011.
Spacelab
Spacelab was a modular space laboratory developed by the European Space Agency for NASA's Space Shuttle, flying on 22 science missions from 1983 to 1998.
SpaceNews
SpaceNews is an American trade publication covering the global space industry since 1989, reporting on space companies, government agencies, technologies, and policy through a monthly magazine and daily online coverage.
Spaceplane
A spaceplane, also called an aerospace plane, is a vehicle that reaches space like a rocket but glides back to a runway landing like an aircraft.
Spaceport
A spaceport is a ground-based facility from which rockets launch into space, in the US a site licensed by the FAA; 28 have launched satellites to orbit since 1957.
Spaceport America
Spaceport America, also known as the Southwest Regional Spaceport, is an FAA-licensed commercial spaceport in Sierra County, New Mexico, built starting in 2009 as Virgin Galactic's home base.
Spaceports in the Middle East and Africa
Spaceports in the Middle East and Africa are rocket launch facilities, including Israel's Palmachim Airbase and Iran's Imam Khomeini Spaceport, while Africa has no active orbital site.