New Space Economy

The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence still has no confirmed detection of a message from another civilization, so any dictionary of alien communication must begin as a disciplined map of possibilities rather than a list of established facts. Communication among extraterrestrial intelligence could resemble radio engineering, animal display, distributed computing, dreamlike...

On August 25, 2026, Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Moscow for undisclosed meetings with Russian officials. During the same day, at least five U.S. Navy E-6B Mercury aircraft appeared on public flight-tracking services over portions of the United States. The CIA Moscow visit and the E-6B flights produced immediate speculation because both events i...

On August 25, 2026, SpaceX formally announced Starbase Louisiana, a planned Starship complex in Vermilion Parish on Louisiana’s Gulf Coast. The company’s dedicated Starbase Louisiana project page and the Louisiana Economic Development announcement describe a project intended to become SpaceX’s fourth and largest launch site. Louisiana says SpaceX plans to invest $100 billion, be...

Animal communication begins with a signal: one animal produces a sound, movement, color pattern, odor, touch, vibration, electric pulse, or light display that another animal can detect and use. A honeybee dance can point nestmates toward food. A whale call can move through the sea. A cuttlefish can change skin patterns in seconds. An ant can lay a chemical trail. A dog can shift...

On August 24, 2026, the Federal Register placed a new Federal Aviation Administration Request for Information on public inspection under docket FAA-2026-9736. The official FAA RFI is titled Siting New Spaceports and Use of Priority Airspace for Critical Space Launch Corridors. It is scheduled for publication on August 25, 2026, and asks for written comments within 60 days after ...