...the who's who,
and the what's what 
of the space industry

Copernical Team

Copernical Team

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Moscow (Sputnik) Aug 24, 2021
Russia and China have fervently opposed US plans for the deployment of offensive weapons systems in space for over a decade, jointly proposing a treaty to prevent such arms from being deployed by any nation. Earlier this year, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that there was "still a chance" to reach an agreement on the issue. The Congressional Research Service (CRS), an agency r
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Moscow (Sputnik) Aug 25, 2021
The Starlink project, aimed to blanket the surface of the planet with low-latency satellite internet, is operated by Elon Musk's company SpaceX that, in 2019, began launching small satellites into low-Earth orbit. To date, the Starlink constellation consists of over 1,600 satellites, while the goal is to use nearly 30,000. Tech billionaire and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Monday tweeted that th
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Peterson SFB CO (AFNS) Aug 24, 2021
The Department of the Air Force activated the third and final field command of the U.S. Space Force, Space Training and Readiness Command, in a ceremony here Aug. 23. Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall approved the final organizational structure for STARCOM's establishment on Aug. 13, and Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. "Jay" Raymond wasted no time putting the new command's le
Wednesday, 25 August 2021 06:46

China's rover travels over 1 km on Mars

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Beijing (XNA) Aug 25, 2021
China's Mars rover Zhurong had traveled more than 1,000 meters on the surface of the red planet as of Monday, the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the China National Space Administration (CNSA) said. China's Tianwen-1 mission, consisting of an orbiter, lander, and rover, was launched on July 23, 2020. The lander, carrying the rover with an expected lifespan of at least 9
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Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Russia revealed Tuesday it postponed its first mission to the moon's surface in decades as a result of "problems" encountered during tests of the Luna-25 spacecraft.

The country's agency Roscosmos announced last week that the mission—originally scheduled for October 1—from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Far East had been moved to May 2022.

The Luna-25 mission to the Moon's south pole aims to probe ice deposits there. It is set to be Russia's to the moon's surface in 45 years and the first in its post-Soviet history.

The chief engineer of Russia's state NPO Lavochkin design bureau explained the delay Tuesday saying that "more time" was needed to complete successful trials.

"We have encountered certain problems during testing," Alexander Shirshakov told the Interfax news agency.

"A safe landing system is of crucial importance and we are working on Luna-25's soft landing system," Shirshakov said.

The race back to the moon is in full swing after China in December 2020 became the first country to return samples from the moon since the Soviet Luna-24 mission in 1976.

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Astronaut's undisclosed minor medical issue delays spacewalk
In this Aug. 17, 2021 photo made available by NASA, astronaut and Expedition 65 Flight Engineer Mark Vande Hei inspects a spacesuit in preparation for a spacewalk at the International Space Station. On Monday, Aug. 23, NASA announced it is delaying a spacewalk this week because of an undisclosed medical issue involving Vande Hei. Credit: NASA via AP

NASA is delaying a spacewalk at the International Space Station this week because of an undisclosed medical issue involving one of its astronauts.

Thursday, 12 August 2021 17:42

Solar Orbiter captures Venus glare

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Video: 00:00:00

On 9 August 2021, the ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter spacecraft passed within 7995 km of the surface of planet Venus during a gravity assist flyby. The Solar Orbiter Heliospheric Imager, SoloHI, captured this gleaming view of the planet in the days leading up to the approach.

The images show Venus approaching from the left while the Sun is off camera to the upper right. The planet's nightside, the part hidden from the Sun, appears as a dark semicircle surrounded by a bright crescent of light – glare from Venus’ incredibly bright sunlit side.
Some bright stars are also visible in the

Tuesday, 24 August 2021 08:26

We count lights because the night counts

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Potsdam, Germany (SPX) Aug 24, 2021
In recent years, public awareness of light pollution and the health and environmental effects of artificial light has grown - as have Earth's light emissions according to satellite imagery. What satellite images don't show is what kind of light sources on the ground, and how many there are. To close this data gap, a team of citizen scientists and researchers from the Helmholtz Centre Potsdam - G
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Greenbelt MD (SPX) Aug 24, 2021
NASA and Virginia-based Psionic, LLC, signed a licensing agreement for the use of a NASA 3D light detection and ranging (lidar) technology called Kodiak originally developed for a cutting-edge mission to robotically refuel a satellite in orbit. The commercial license will allow Psionic to combine the technology's capabilities with existing lidar developments to enhance the overall design and inc
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Littleton CO (SPX) Aug 24, 2021
Lockheed Martin has invented a new type of satellite dish technology with a wide range of use on satellites and ground terminals, including space-based 5G. The Wide Angle ESA Fed Reflector (WAEFR) antenna is a hybrid of a phased array Electronically Steerable Antenna (ESA) and a parabolic dish, and increases coverage area by 190% compared to traditional phased array antennas at a much lower cost
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