Another race to space is on, but the competitors aren’t reaching for the moon. Instead, multiple national agencies and private companies across the world are aiming for the edge of Earth’s atmosphere. Launching satellites into this very low Earth orbit (VLEO) environment — the altitude between 60 and 280 miles above Earth — could solve spacecraft crowding in traditional orbits, according to Sven Bilén, Penn State professor of engineering design, of electrical engineering and of aerospace engineering. 

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) highlighted its latest advancements in defense technology at the Sea-Air-Space Conference and Exposition, held April 7-9, 2025, at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center. As the premier maritime exposition in the United States, Sea-Air-Space provided an ideal platform for NRL to demonstrate its innovative contributions to national defense.

Researchers have developed a new coronagraph that could make it possible to see distant exoplanets obscured by light from their parent stars.

New research finds that despite large rivers and seas of liquid methane, Saturn’s moon Titan seems mostly devoid of river deltas, raising new questions about the surface dynamics on this alien world.

Resarchers, including Dr. Michael Tice at Texas A&M University, use the sophisticated technology on NASA's Perseverance rover to analyze volcanic rocks in Mars' Jezero Crater. Their findings show that some of the same volcanic processes that led to life on Earth happened long ago on Mars, a stunning step toward finding signs of ancient life on the Red Planet.