Russian military engineers reportedly have completed an aircraft-based laser system capable of destroying enemy satellites out of space.

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is proposing to spend $66 million on a program to develop and deploy unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) that fire lasers at intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) shortly after takeoff, or during their boost phase of flight, when they are most vulnerable.

After feasting on a full day of insight from some of the most prominent names in altered and virtual reality technologies, attendees were treated to a panel discussion that assembled pioneers in the space, asking them to muse on its past, present, and future.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is set to launch its Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) mission to study Earth's near-space environment and better understand what disrupts radio signals and satellites used for communications and the Global Positioning System (GPS) for radio navigation.

NASA has developed an innovative new spectroscopy instrument to aid the search for extraterrestrial life. The new instrument is designed to detect compounds and minerals associated with biological activity more quickly and with greater sensitivity than previous instruments.

The United States Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), through its Self-protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator (SHiELD) program, has awarded Lockheed Martin a $26.3 million contract to design, develop and produce a high-power fiber laser mounted on a tactical fighter jet by 2021.

With liftoff on the horizon, ESA’s Aeolus satellite is going through its last round of tests to make sure that this complex mission will work in orbit.

At Photonics West 2017, Frank Weiss with Gooch & Housego offered practical advice on considerations one should take into account when specifying fiber optics for deployment in rugged environments, including life cycle requirements, the pitfalls of underspecifying, and the potential headaches that can be involved in not paying close attention to export control parameters.

Hyperspectral imaging technology has advanced significantly in the last 50 years, and Greg Staples with Bayspec talked with us for a few minutes at the 2016 SPIE DCS exhibition about how it has changed.

Doug Malchow with Sensors Unlimited – A part of Collins Aerospace discusses the relaunch of his company's InGaAs linear arrays, provides an update on the export classifications of a 320x256 SWIR camera, and shares a quick refresher on their standard suite of SWIR cameras.

Craig Taylor with Qioptiq, an Excelitas Technologies Company spent some time with us on day two of the DSS exhibition to give us an overview of some of his division’s work in optical modules and systems used in the aerospace and defense markets. He then turns it over to Eric Desfonds with Excelitas so he could catch us up on some of their more recent product developments, including their newly launched N-type quadrant detectors.

Applications engineer Curt Dvonch took time out of day one of the DSS exhibition to give us a closer look (it’s small, you may have to squint) at the new 320CSX Micro SWIR camera and walked us through some of its more notable features.

Jason Palidwar of Iridian Spectral kicked off our DSS exhibition coverage by giving us a closer look at what they’re showcasing this year.

Doug Malchow with Sensors Unlimited – A part of Collins Aerospace, kicks off our BiOS and Photonics West video coverage by showing us some SWIR imagery and telling us about some new and exciting developments to their line of cameras.