u.s. department of defense

The U.S. is concealing a longstanding program that retrieves and reverse engineers unidentified flying objects, a former Air Force intelligence officer testified Wednesday to Congress. The Pentagon has denied his claims.Retired Maj. David Grusch's highly anticipated testimony before a House Oversight subcommittee was Congress' latest foray into the world of UAPs — or “unidentified aerial phenomena," which is the official term the U.S. government uses instead of UFOs. While the study of mysterious aircraft or objects…

Alabama lawmakers are tightening the screws in the ongoing battle over the relocation of the Space Force headquarters, a move that the current U.S. administration is looking to reverse due to the state’s severe anti-abortion law.Star Wars: The High Republic - Convergence Audiobook ExcerptThis week, Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee Mike Rogers, an Alabama rep, released his proposed bill that would not only restrict spending on the construction of the Space Force’s current facilities in Coloradobut also limit…

Members of Congress are reportedly seeking to block funding for the current headquarters of the Space Command in Colorado and force the space military branch to move to Alabama.Trump Went Through Twitter WithdrawalMembers of Congress in Alabama submitted a draft bill last week that would discontinue funding directed towards the development of the Space Command’s temporary headquarters in Colorado, restricting the command from spending any more money on the construction of its facilities, NBC News reported based on…

A military pilot takes a selfie with the Chinese spy balloon that was tracked in February. Image: U.S. Department of Defense (Getty Images)Balloon hysteria in America might strike again. After some hullabaloo involving mysterious spy payloads drifting into American airspace earlier this year, the U.S. military says it’s tracking yet another balloon. You Could Soon Get Cash Back for Your Canceled FlightNBC News broke the story, citing three U.S. officials familiar with the situation. According to the outlet’s sources, the…

Photo: Sean Gallup (Getty Images)When delegates from 50 countries met in the Netherlands this week to discuss the future of military artificial intelligence, human rights activists and non-proliferation experts saw an opportunity. For years, rights groups have urged nations to restrict the development of AI weapons and sign a legally binding treaty to restrict the use of them over fears their unrestricted development could mirror last century’s nuclear arms race. Instead, the results of what could have been a historic…

Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster and Starman manikin shortly after launch on February 6, 2018. Photo: SpaceXBeing the space nerd that I am, I often imagine a museum filled with the most important objects ever sent to space. We couldn’t possibly build a place like this, but we can speculate as to which human artifacts deserve a place in our imaginary spaceflight museum. Most things sent to space are utilitarian in nature and are now of little practical value, unless they’re still functioning. Our artifacts can be found orbiting…

Image: ESA (Getty Images)Ukraine has reportedly resolved its financial crisis to fund more than 10,000 Starlink terminals provided by SpaceX to combat the Russian invasion that has decimated the country since February. Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov announced several European Union countries have agreed to contribute funding toward Starlink terminals, which SpaceX’s CEO, Elon Musk said in October they could not provide indefinitely. Starlink is a satellite projectthat connects thousands of small…

The Artemis 1 recovery team during a practice exercise on December 2, 2022. Photo: NASAShould all go as planned, NASA’s Orion spacecraft will splash down off the coast of Baja, California, on Sunday, December 11 at 12:40 p.m. ET. As the uncrewed capsule bobs up and down in the open ocean, a crack team will spring into action and attempt to pull off a carefully choreographed recovery operation. Here’s how we expect it to unfold.The sight of Orion floating in the Pacific Ocean will most assuredly be a welcome sight this…

SpaceX July launch of its Falcon 9 rocket carried a new payload of Starlink satellites to add to the growing number of bodies covering Earth’s upper atmosphere, but now the company wants to consider even more military applications to both its existing and future space infrastructure.Photo: Chris McGrath (AP)As much as SpaceX has become a force of nature in the deployment of commercial space infrastructure, the company’s work assisting nations’ attempts to militarize space has sat simmering on the back burner. Now,with a…

Rendering of the Planet Labs Tanager hyperspectral satellite. Image: Planet LabsThe National Security Council is having to respond to comments made earlier this week by a senior Russian foreign ministry official who warned that commercial satellites operated by the U.S. and its allies, if used to support the Ukrainian war effort, could become legitimate targets. Konstantin Vorontsov, deputy director of the Russian foreign ministry’s department for non-proliferation and arms control, made the comments while speaking to the…