Our reliance on space infrastructure means that conflict in space would have global catastrophic consequences. But a recent declaration by the United States provides hope.
Scientists think there are 300 million habitable planets in the Milky Way, and some may be home to intelligent life.
Bruno Gilli/ESO
This year, two groups of astronomers plan to send messages containing information about humans and the location of Earth toward parts of space they think may be home to intelligent life.
Russia threatened to withdraw from the International Space Station over sanctions imposed on the country following its invasion of Ukraine.
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Listen to two space experts discuss how the Russian invasion of Ukraine threatens international collaboration in space on The Conversation Weekly podcast.
Anti-satellite weapons could fill Earth’s orbit with space junk and make it unusable for military and civilian purposes
High speed trains like this one in Casablanca, Morocco, will benefit from satellite communication support.
Duffour/Andia/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
The astronomy and astrophysics decadal survey for the 2020s lays out plans to search for life on distant planets, understand the formation of galaxies and solve deep mysteries of physics.
In Australia, space defence gets billions of dollars in funding, and commercial projects get hundreds of millions. Space science gets only $2 million a year.
NASA has only mapped 40% of the potentially dangerous asteroids that could crash into Earth. New projects will boost that number, and upcoming missions will test tech that could prevent collisions.
The International Space Station is run collectively by the U.S., Russia, the European Space Agency, Japan and Canada.
NASA Marshall Spaceflight Center/Flickr
What happens to the International Space Station when tensions on Earth rise? A space policy expert explains how the ISS is run and how Russian aggression has threatened its operation in the past – and now.
Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari (L) and South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa perhaps need to extend their hand shakes into the outer space.
Photo by Phill Magakoe/AFP via Getty Images)