Copernical Team
Soyuz rocket gets new paint job for first time in over 50 years
The Soyuz family of expendable rockets is by far the most frequently used launch vehicle in the world, with over a thousand successful launches under its belt, and a top-notch safety record thanks to its launch abort system. For nearly a decade, Soyuz rockets were also the sole means of transporting astronauts to the International Space Station.
Russia's Soyuz-2 rocket has been given a new Pentagon awards SpaceX over $159 Million in 'Competitive' Space Launch Contract
Boeing and Lockheed Martin's United Launch Alliance (ULA) was also awarded more than $224 million by the Pentagon to launch United States Space Force (USSF) missions USSF-112 and USSF-87 from Centennial, Colorado and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, according to the Department of Defense release this week.
Under the US' National Security Phase 2 contract, Elon Musk's Space Expl ELSA-d mission licence approved by UK Space Agency
The End-of-Life Services by Astroscale demonstration (ELSA-d) mission has been licenced by the UK Space Agency this week. The ELSA-d launch, scheduled for Saturday, March 20 2021, will mark the world's first commercial mission to demonstrate the core technologies and capabilities necessary for space debris docking and removal.
The ELSA-d mission presents a leading test case for licensing f City under pressure to invest into UK space industry
Last November, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised a $22 billion investment into British defence with an aim to create Britain's own Trump-like 'Space Force'. The country is planning to send its first rocket into space from British soil next year.
The trade association UKSpace is calling on British businesses to take a more active part in launching a "new industrial revolution" and tu Air leak in Russia's ISS Zvezda module still unresolved
The air leak from the intermediate chamber of the Russian Zvezda module of the International Space Station (ISS) is still unresolved, despite two cracks being sealed off, according to the call between the ISS crew and the ground control broadcast by NASA on Saturday.
At about 07:00 GMT on Saturday, ISS cosmonaut Sergei Ryzhikov told a specialist at the Mission Control Center, located near NASA astronauts complete spacewalk
Astronauts Mike Hopkins and Victor Glover, Jr., completed a nearly 7-hour spacewalk outside of the International Space Station on Saturday afternoon.
The astronauts wrapped their spacewalk at 3:01 p.m. EST, according to NASA's Twitter feed, which also live streamed the event.
Hopkins and Glover captured video of the walk using helmet cameras, allowing the public to see from their SpaceX launches 22nd cluster of Starlink satellites
SpaceX launched its 22nd cluster of Starlink communication satellites before dawn Sunday from Florida.
Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket came at 6:01 a.m. EDT, just hours after clocks move ahead for Daylight Saving Time, from Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center.
After the main engine cutoff, the Falcon 9 first stage landed on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship, completing the ARTES (Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems)
ARTES is ESA's (European Space Agency) long-running, large-scale program to support the development of advanced satcom products and services. The ARTES program facilitates research and development activities as well as providing a framework for partnerships within the industry with goal of contributing to the development of European and Canadian industries. It assists them in the development of advanced technologies and concepts that form the basis for competitive products and services.
Satellite communications is the economic engine of the space industry, accounting for two thirds of overall space industry revenue. Worldwide data traffic is estimated to grow 800% by 2019, making broadband and data communications services leading growth segments. ESA’s Directorate of Telecommunications and Integrated Applications (TIA) keeps European and Canadian industry at the leading edge of this fiercely competitive global market by nurturing innovation. 1) 2) 3) 4)
Through ESA’s support, industry can pursue research and development that would otherwise not be economically viable. Growing new space-enabled applications and services stimulates the wider economy, creating new business and jobs across almost every sector.
Spacewalkers take extra safety precautions for toxic ammonia
Spacewalking astronauts had to take extra safety precautions Saturday after possibly getting toxic ammonia on their suits from the International Space Station's external cooling system.
Russia deploys giant space telescope in Lake Baikal
Russian scientists on Saturday launched one of the world's biggest underwater space telescopes to peer deep into the universe from the pristine waters of Lake Baikal.
The deep underwater telescope, which has been under construction since 2015, is designed to observe neutrinos, the smallest particles currently known.
Dubbed Baikal-GVD, the telescope was submerged to a depth of 750-1,300 meters (2,500-4,300 feet), around four kilometres from the lake's shore.
Neutrinos are very hard to detect and water is an effective medium for doing so.
The floating observatory consists of strings with spherical glass and stainless steel modules attached to them.
On Saturday, scientists observed the modules being carefully lowered into the freezing waters through a rectangular hole in the ice.
"A neutrino telescope measuring half a cubic kilometre is situated right under our feet," Dmitry Naumov of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research told AFP while standing on the lake's frozen surface.
