'Smiling cat' nebula captured in new ESO image
Wednesday, 28 June 2023 09:49![](/plugins/content/jlexcomment/assets/icon.png)
![](https://www.spxdaily.com/images-bg/eso-vlt-sh2-284-nebula-smiling-cat-nebula-bg.jpg)
SES wins $134 million DoD contract for X-band satellite communications
Wednesday, 28 June 2023 07:17![](/plugins/content/jlexcomment/assets/icon.png)
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SES Space & Defense announced June 28 it won a five-year contract worth up to $134 million to provide X-band satellite communications services to DoD.
Spacesuit design: João Montenegro
Wednesday, 28 June 2023 06:12![](/plugins/content/jlexcomment/assets/icon.png)
![Spacesuit design: João Montenegro](https://www.esa.int/var/esa/storage/images/esa_multimedia/images/2023/06/spacesuit_design_joao_montenegro/24956146-1-eng-GB/Spacesuit_design_Joao_Montenegro_card_full.jpg)
British startup powers up sensor for monitoring tiny orbital debris
Tuesday, 27 June 2023 21:03![](/plugins/content/jlexcomment/assets/icon.png)
![](https://i0.wp.com/spacenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/ODIN-Render-2-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C156&ssl=1)
Odin Space is preparing to start detecting tiny but potentially dangerous pieces of orbital debris in the coming weeks from a sensor on a recently launched space tug, according to the British startup’s cofounder and CEO James New.
Chinese company plans to launch rocket comparable to Falcon 9 in 2024
Tuesday, 27 June 2023 20:21![](/plugins/content/jlexcomment/assets/icon.png)
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Chinese rocket firm Space Pioneer is planning to launch a rocket comparable to the SpaceX Falcon 9 next year.
Fixes needed before first Vulcan Centaur launch
Tuesday, 27 June 2023 20:00![](/plugins/content/jlexcomment/assets/icon.png)
![Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain delta rocket](https://scx1.b-cdn.net/csz/news/800a/2023/delta-rocket.jpg)
There's still work to be done, but United Launch Alliance has announced a path forward to finally get its new Vulcan Centaur rocket to its first launch.
The company sent an update Saturday announcing it had figured out what went wrong, and what needs fixing at its Alabama test facility that resulted in a fireball that damaged a test article of the Centaur V upper stage this spring.
"Centaur's thin-walled pressure stabilized tanks require minor reinforcement at the top of the forward dome prior to flight," the company stated in a press release.
That means the Centaur currently mated to the Vulcan first stage at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station that is tapped to fly on that rocket's first mission has to head back to Alabama to get that reinforcement.
The first and second stages recently completed a Flight Readiness Firing test at Canaveral's Space Launch Complex 41, and ULA said results of that hot fire hit all of the test objectives.
But now teams will de-stack the combined rocket and send Centaur V to ULA's Decatur, Alabama facility for the fix while the first-stage booster will be stored at ULA's Horizontal Integration Facility at Canaveral waiting for its return.
NASA's Roman and ESA's Euclid will team up to investigate dark energy
Tuesday, 27 June 2023 19:15![](/plugins/content/jlexcomment/assets/icon.png)
![High-resolution illustration of the Euclid and Roman spacecraft against a starry background. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, ESA/ATG medialab NASA's Roman and ESA's Euclid will team up to investigate dark energy](https://scx1.b-cdn.net/csz/news/800a/2023/nasas-roman-and-esas-e.jpg)
A new space telescope named Euclid, an ESA (European Space Agency) mission with important contributions from NASA, is set to launch in July to explore why the universe's expansion is speeding up. Scientists call the unknown cause of this cosmic acceleration "dark energy." By May 2027, NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will join Euclid to explore this puzzle in ways that have never been possible before.
"Twenty-five years after its discovery, the universe's accelerated expansion remains one of the most pressing mysteries in astrophysics," said Jason Rhodes, a senior research scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. Rhodes is a deputy project scientist for Roman and the U.S. science lead for Euclid. "With these upcoming telescopes, we will measure dark energy in different ways and with far more precision than previously achievable, opening up a new era of exploration into this mystery.
Germany is building a tiny rover that will roam the surface of Phobos
Tuesday, 27 June 2023 19:02![](/plugins/content/jlexcomment/assets/icon.png)
![Artist's impression of the IDEFIX rover on Phobos, with the MMX spacecraft in the background. Credit: DLR Germany is building a tiny rover that will roam the surface of Phobos](https://scx1.b-cdn.net/csz/news/800a/2023/germany-is-building-a.jpg)
At this very moment, eleven robotic missions are operating in orbit or on the surface of Mars, more than at any point during the past 60 years. These include the many orbiters surveying the red planet from orbit, the handful of landers and rovers, and one helicopter (Ingenuity) studying the surface.
In the coming years, many more are expected, reflecting the growing number of nations participating in the exploration process. Once there, they will join in the ongoing search for clues about the planet's formation, evolution, and possible evidence that life once existed there.
However, there's also the mystery concerning the origin of Phobos and Deimos, Mars' two satellites. While scientists have long suspected that these two moons began as asteroids kicked from the Main Belt that were captured by Mars' gravity, there is no scientific consensus on this point.
PLD Space postpones first launch to September
Tuesday, 27 June 2023 18:12![](/plugins/content/jlexcomment/assets/icon.png)
![Miura 1 during June launch attempt](https://i0.wp.com/spacenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/miura1-june2023.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1)
Spanish launch vehicle startup PLD Space has postponed a suborbital test flight to September after weather and a technical glitch scrubbed earlier launch attempts.
House appropriators target Space Force programs
Tuesday, 27 June 2023 18:03![](/plugins/content/jlexcomment/assets/icon.png)
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The House Appropriations Committee recommends nearly $1 billion in cuts from the U.S.
Airmo raises 5.2 million euros for climate-monitoring constellation
Tuesday, 27 June 2023 15:47![](/plugins/content/jlexcomment/assets/icon.png)
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German startup Airmo has raised 5.2 million euros in pre-seed funding, including investment and a European Space Agency contract.
The post Airmo raises 5.2 million euros for climate-monitoring constellation appeared first on SpaceNews.
Spain delays rocket launch until Sept over wildfire risk
Tuesday, 27 June 2023 14:43![](/plugins/content/jlexcomment/assets/icon.png)
![The Miura 1 is a small sub-orbital launch vehicle that stands just 12 metres (40 feet) tall and is capable of placing objects in space. The Miura 1 is a small sub-orbital launch vehicle that stands just 12 metres (40 feet) tall and is capable of placing objects in](https://scx1.b-cdn.net/csz/news/800a/2023/the-miura-1-is-a-small.jpg)
The maiden flight of Spain's Miura 1 rocket, twice suspended in recent weeks, has now been delayed until September over fears its launch could start a wildfire, its developer said Tuesday.
Built by private Spanish startup PLD Space, the rocket had initially been scheduled for take-off from El Arenosillo, a coastal military base in the southwestern province of Huelva, on May 31, but was called off due to high winds.
It was then aborted for a second time on June 17 due to a last-minute technical problem.
After talks with the National Institute for Aerospace Technology (INTA), "PLD Space.
SpaceNews names new CEO Andrew Pemberton
Tuesday, 27 June 2023 14:17![](/plugins/content/jlexcomment/assets/icon.png)
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Andrew Pemberton has been named Chief Executive Officer of SpaceNews, Inc., the world's largest space-industry trade media brand.
The post SpaceNews names new CEO Andrew Pemberton appeared first on SpaceNews.
Euclid ready for Falcon 9
Tuesday, 27 June 2023 11:21![](/plugins/content/jlexcomment/assets/icon.png)
![](https://www.esa.int/var/esa/storage/images/esa_multimedia/images/2023/06/euclid_ready_for_falcon_9/24955366-1-eng-GB/Euclid_ready_for_Falcon_9_card_full.jpg)
After being secured to the SpaceX Falcon 9 adaptor, on Friday 23 June, Euclid was mounted on top of the Payload Attach Fitting (PAF). Before launch, Euclid on the PAF will be encapsulated in the Falcon 9 rocket. ESA’s new cosmological mission Euclid is getting ready for lift-off with a target launch date of 1 July 2023 from Cape Canaveral in Florida (USA).
ESA's Euclid mission is designed to explore the dark Universe and uncover the great cosmic mystery of dark matter and dark energy. The space telescope will create the largest, most accurate 3D map of the Universe