Paris (ESA) Apr 22, 2022
The test version of a unique satellite navigation receiver has been delivered for integration testing on the Lunar Pathfinder spacecraft. The NaviMoon satnav receiver is designed to perform the farthest ever positioning fix from Earth, employing signals that will be millions of times fainter than those used by our smartphones or cars. "This engineering model of our NaviMoon receiver is the

Redmond WA (SPX) Apr 22, 2022
Kymeta and OneWeb Technologies announced an agreement to distribute reliable, secure, and cost-effective broadband connectivity services to the U.S. government. The new managed satellite service offering enables Kymeta to provide government customers with hardware solutions that are packaged with secure and resilient network access from OneWeb Technologies, a wholly owned subsidiary of low

Cleveland OH (SPX) Apr 22, 2022
NASA selected six American satellite communications (SATCOM) providers on April 20 to begin developing and demonstrating near-Earth space communication services that may support future agency missions. For more than a year, the agency has been evaluating the feasibility of employing commercial SATCOM networks for near-Earth operations as it works to decommission its near-Earth satellite fl

Darmstadt, Germany (SPX) Apr 22, 2022
The European Commission has contracted IT service provider CGI as part of a consortium to contribute its expertise in the fields of space and cybersecurity for helping to build the independent European satellite constellation dubbed UN:IO. It is expected to begin operating commercial and institutional communication channels by 2025. ? The European Union's top priority is a secure, extremel

Pasadena CA (JPL) Apr 22, 2022
Not that it matters, but exactly 100 sols ago, on January 7th, we were planning sols 3351 and 3352, and it was this blogger's turn to report on what was happening. Apparently, we were marvelling at the landscape - and dealing with a rock under the foot, well, the wheel. Tosol, we were again dealing with a rock right under the rover, but this time, we were excited about it as the rover was

Pasadena CA (JPL) Apr 22, 2022
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover has captured dramatic footage of Phobos, Mars' potato-shaped moon, crossing the face of the Sun. These observations can help scientists better understand the moon's orbit and how its gravity pulls on the Martian surface, ultimately shaping the Red Planet's crust and mantle. Captured with Perseverance's next-generation Mastcam-Z camera on April 2, the 397th Ma

Washington DC (UPI) Apr 21, 2021
The first private astronaut crew aboard the International Space Station is set to return to Earth on Sunday after weather delays and NASA's Crew-4 mission will look to launch on Tuesday. "The decision [to delay landing] was made based on the best weather for splashdown of the first private astronaut mission to visit the International Space Station and the return trajectory required to b

Each year on 22 April, people across the planet join forces to raise awareness about the depleting quality of the environment, the unequivocal effects of climate change and the importance of protecting our planet for future generations. We celebrate Earth Day every day at ESA. This week, this spectacular image of Earth is brought to you by the Meteosat Second Generation series of missions.

Since 2016, ESA’s Space Debris Office has published an annual Space Environment Report to provide a transparent overview of global space activities and determine how well these and other international debris-reduction measures are improving the long-term sustainability of spaceflight.

Here are some of the key findings of the 2022 report.

Europe experienced its warmest summer on record in 2021, accompanied by severe floods in western Europe and dry conditions in the Mediterranean. These are just some of the key findings from the Copernicus Climate Change Service’s European State of the Climate report released today. The in-depth report provides key insights and a comprehensive analysis of climate conditions in 2021, with a special focus on Europe and the Arctic.