Paris (ESA) Apr 04, 2023
In 2020, the thrusters on ESA's Integral spacecraft failed. To keep the scientific mission alive, the Integral team at ESA's ESOC mission control centre quickly set to work developing a new series of specialised manoeuvres that would enable them to continue flying the spacecraft using only its reaction wheels - the rotating wheels inside a satellite that allow it to store and use angular momentu

Menlo Park CA (SPX) Apr 04, 2023
LeoLabs, the world's leading commercial provider of low Earth orbit (LEO) Space Situational Awareness and Space Traffic Management services, has announced a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with ClearSpace, the Swiss-based, in-orbit satellite servicing company. The MOU recognizes the two companies' shared vision of a safe and sustainable space ecosystem and their mutual efforts in making this v

Stanford CA (SPX) Apr 04, 2023
Cosmologists have found new evidence for the standard model of cosmology - this time, using data on the structure of galaxy clusters. In a recent study, a team led by physicists at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University made detailed measurements of the X-ray emission from galaxy clusters, which revealed the distribution of matter within the

Pasadena CA (JPL) Apr 04, 2023
An issue at a Deep Space Network station prevented the Sol 3785 plan from being sent to Mars, so none of those planned activities occurred. But the rover is in a good location and orientation for the software upgrade that is planned for next week, so no driving is included in the Sol 3786-3788 weekend plan. Similarly, no arm motion is allowed in the weekend plan, to ensure that MSL is ready for

Beijing (XNA) Apr 04, 2023
The TL 2, a carrier rocket developed by Space Pioneer, reached orbit on Sunday afternoon, becoming the first privately built, liquid-fuel rocket in China to reach orbit. The rocket blasted off at 4:48 pm from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China. Shortly after, it placed a remote-sensing satellite in a sun-synchronous orbit about 500 kilometers above the Earth, Space P

Tokyo, Japan (XBA) Apr 04, 2023
Japan will postpone an H2A rocket launch originally scheduled for May until August or later, the nation's space agency said on Friday. The decision was made as the rocket shares components in second-stage engines with its successor H3 rocket, which was forced to self-destruct shortly after takeoff in March. According to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the 57-meter H3 r

Chitradurga. India (SPX) Apr 04, 2023
ISRO successfully conducted the Reusable Launch Vehicle Autonomous Landing Mission (RLV LEX). The test was conducted at the Aeronautical Test Range (ATR), Chitradurga, Karnataka in the early hours on April 2, 2023. The RLV took off at 7:10 am IST by a Chinook Helicopter of the Indian Air Force as an underslung load and flew to a height of 4.5 km (above MSL). Once the predetermined pillbox

Washington DC (SPX) Apr 04, 2023
Astronauts on their first flight aboard NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft will venture around the Moon. Their mission will be to confirm all of the spacecraft's systems operate as designed with crew aboard in the actual environment of deep space. The Artemis II flight test will be NASA's first mission with crew and will pave the way to land the first woman and next man

Washington DC (SPX) Apr 04, 2023
Earth's magnetic field does more than keep everyone's compass needles pointed in the same direction. It also helps preserve Earth's sliver of life-sustaining atmosphere by deflecting high energy particles and plasma regularly blasted out of the sun. Researchers have now identified a prospective Earth-sized planet in another solar system as a prime candidate for also having a magnetic field - YZ