Copernical Team
Over the past six years, governments proposed launching more than 1 million satellites, but where will they all go?
In September 2021, Rwanda announced that it was planning to launch over 300,000 satellites. Three months later, a Canadian company, having previously launched two dozen CubeSats, said it would launch an additional 100,000. Then, a French company did likewise. And SpaceX, which has already launched around 5,000 satellites, now has plans for over 60,000 more.
There are currently only about 8,000 active satellites in orbit. What's going on?
Before a satellite is launched, a nation state must file its proposed satellite system with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to coordinate radiofrequency spectrum on behalf of the satellite operator, which could be a company, university or government agency.
These filings are made years ahead of the satellite launch, so the ITU can oversee coordination between different satellite operators and ensure that new satellite signals don't drown existing ones out.
Boom in space tourism threatens to boost the amounts of space junk and climate emissions
Commercial companies are increasingly becoming involved in transporting astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), as well as other activities in orbit. Some, such as Houston-based Axiom Space, eventually want to build their own space stations in orbit, where commercial astronauts could make extended stays.
This could also provide more money and opportunities for science to be carried out in low Earth orbit. But it also raises a host of safety concerns, because it will add to the already troublesome issue of space junk. There are also implications for the environment, because rockets produce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.
Axiom, which was founded in 2016, was the first company to conduct privately funded missions to the ISS. Under Axiom's Space Access Program, it has been offering different countries the opportunity to design customized missions to orbit aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft. As such, it recently signed an agreement with the UK Space Agency for an all-UK astronaut mission to the ISS.
How to make asteroid landings safer
Landing safely on an asteroid is no mean feat. Despite several recent successes, there have also been notable failures—most famously, the Philae lander to 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Admittedly, that was an attempt to land on a comet rather than an asteroid, but those two bodies share many of the same landing hazards.
One of the most prevalent problems is "inhomogenous" gravity. Offering a solution, researchers from the Harbin Institute of Technology in China recently published a paper in Aerospace Science and Technology detailing a framework for performing "soft landings" on asteroids, which might help make exploring these rocky worlds much more accessible.
First, it would be helpful to understand the difference between a "hard" landing on an asteroid and a "soft" landing. A hard landing consists of the spacecraft, either in a controlled or uncontrolled descent, landing with some force on the asteroid's surface.
Final three for ESA’s next medium science mission
The space science community has narrowed down the shortlist for ESA’s next ‘medium’ mission to three finalists: M-Matisse, Plasma Observatory and Theseus. Following further study, one will be selected for implementation as the newest addition to ESA’s space science mission fleet.
SpaceX lines up Canaveral launch, KSC launch Thursday
It's a busy week for SpaceX on the Space Coast with another Cape Canaveral launch set for late Tuesday and Thursday night launch from neighboring Kennedy Space Center.
First up is another Falcon 9 launch carrying another 23 of the company's Starlink internet satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's Space Launch Complex 40 targeting 11:01 p.m. with seven backup options from 11:23 p.m. until 3 a.m. Wednesday and eight backups on Wednesday night from 11 p.m. through 2:58 a.m. Thursday.
Space Launch Delta 45's weather squadron gives the launch more than a 95% chance for good conditions, and 95% chance for good conditions in the event of a 24-hour delay.
The first-stage booster is making its 11th flight with a target landing on the droneship Just Read the Instructions downrange in the Atlantic.
This would be the 61st launch from the Space Coast for the year.
Launch No. 62 is also a Falcon 9, but on the CRS-29 mission to the International Space Station launching from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39-A targeting 8:28 p.m. liftoff.
It's the 29th resupply mission for SpaceX with its cargo Dragon filled with 6,500 pounds of supplies for the Expedition 70 crew with an expected arrival to the ISS about 5:20 a.m.
Earth through a 2-mm lens
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Earth through a 2-mm lens PASSport project testing
Ports are heavily trafficked areas with many entry points operating nonstop, which exposes them to vulnerabilities that may cause failures or disruptions in their daily operations, thus degrading their services and infrastructure.
The goal of the project known as PASSport (operational platform managing a fleet of semi-autonomous drones that use GNSS high accuracy and authentication to impr European Space Agency turns to private sector to deliver cargo shuttle serving the ISS
European Space Agency member countries agreed to back a program for a commercial space cargo shuttle serving the International Space Station by 2028, with an option for a crewed spacecraft that could venture beyond Earth orbit in the future.
The resolution adopted at the agency's interministerial summit in Seville, Spain on Monday will see European companies compete for a contract to de James Hansen study warns Earth warming faster than previously thought
A new study led by James Hansen, a scientist responsible for raising public consciousness about climate change in the 1980s, suggests global temperatures are increasing faster than expected.
The study suggests global temperatures will reach a crucial 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by the year 2050, faster than was previously expected by scientific consensus.
Hansen Advancing Technology for Aeronautics
The future of flight looks very exciting, and the public is helping NASA see it more clearly. For more than a century, NASA and its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, have been the global leader in aeronautics research. NASA's innovative contributions to aviation benefit the U.S. economy, air transportation system, aviation industry, and passengers and businesses who r