SLS returns to the pad for next Artemis launch attempt
Saturday, 05 November 2022 02:05
The Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft rolled back out to the launch pad Nov. 4 as the agency prepares for the third attempt to launch the vehicle on Artemis 1 mission later this month.
Rocket Lab launches Swedish satellite, fails to catch booster
Friday, 04 November 2022 18:53
Rocket Lab successfully launched a Swedish atmospheric science satellite on an Electron rocket Nov. 4, but a telemetry problem kept the company from attempting a mid-air recovery of the rocket’s booster.
How do you keep a solar sail stable?
Friday, 04 November 2022 15:08
Solar sailing seems like a simple concept—instead of being pushed along by the wind, as in a typical sailing ship, a spacecraft can use highly reflective said to be pushed along simply by sunlight. But as with almost all engineering challenges, that technique is much easier said than done. Sunlight can head up one side of a sail more than another, causing the ship to rotate unexpectedly. Other unforeseen situations could arise that can also have catastrophic consequences for any mission using this propulsion technology.
Luckily, there is a way to account for those situations, though it involves a lot of math. Control theory is common in system design, and now researchers at Beihang University have devised a control scheme that they think could help minimize the risk to solar sails.
Control systems are relatively easy to understand in concept. A system has a series of inputs; in the case of a solar sail, those inputs might be the solar force pushing on it from the sun and maybe the gravity of any nearby object.
NASA's moon rocket returns to pad for next launch attempt
Friday, 04 November 2022 15:03
NASA's moon rocket is back on the pad for another launch attempt, following more repairs.
The 322-foot (98-meter) rocket departed its hangar in the middle of the night and completed the 4-mile (6.4-kilometer) trip shortly after sunrise Friday.
Video: Testing Galileo for space
Friday, 04 November 2022 14:34
Galileo has grown to become Europe's single largest satellite constellation, and the world's most accurate satellite navigation system, delivering meter-level positioning to more than 3.5 billion users around the globe.
It all began at ESTEC's Test Center, Europe's largest satellite testing facility. This is where the very first positioning fix took place in March 2013, after the launch into orbit of the initial four IOV satellites. Following that, all 34 Galileo Full Operational Capability satellites also passed by ESTEC for their pre-flight testing.
This 3000 sq. m environmentally-controlled complex, operated and managed by European Test Services for ESA, hosts an array of test equipment able to simulate all aspects of spaceflight, from the noise and vibration of launch to the vacuum and temperature extremes of Earth orbit.
The production line at manufacturer OHB in Germany completed one new satellite every six weeks. After integration each satellite was then shipped to the ESTEC Test Center for a three-month test campaign, after which it would be accepted by the Agency and declared ready for flight. Some facilities have had to be adapted specifically for Galileo, and the ESTEC Test Center had to institute new security protocols because this was the first time that satellites with security restrictions were being tested at the site.
Week in images: 31 October - 4 November 2022
Friday, 04 November 2022 13:30
Week in images: 31 October - 4 November 2022
Discover our week through the lens
Virgin Galactic delays introduction of second suborbital spaceship
Friday, 04 November 2022 10:39
Virgin Galactic’s second suborbital spaceplane won’t enter service in 2023 as previously planned because of demands on company personnel to both return the first spaceplane to flight and begin work on a next generation of vehicles.
The post Virgin Galactic delays introduction of second suborbital spaceship appeared first on SpaceNews.
Long March 5B rocket reenters over Pacific Ocean after forcing airspace closures in Europe
Friday, 04 November 2022 09:59
A large rocket stage used to launch the final module for China’s space station made an uncontrolled reentry into the atmosphere Friday after precautionary airspace closures took effect in southern Europe.
Rivada Space Networks issues RFP for its satellite constellation
Friday, 04 November 2022 09:29
Rivada Space Networks GmbH, a European network company launching a unique connectivity constellation for Government and Enterprise communications, has issued its request for proposals for 600 low earth orbit (LEO) satellites, having released the RFP for the associated heavy-lift launch services two weeks ago. The company anticipates selecting a prime contractor for the space segment, parts of th Rocket Lab delivers final solar panels for NASA Gateway's Power and Propulsion Element
Friday, 04 November 2022 09:29
Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) has delivered the final solar panels to Maxar that will fly on the Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) for NASA's Gateway lunar space station. SolAero Technologies Inc, a leading space solar power provider acquired by Rocket Lab, was awarded the contract in 2019 from Maxar to design and manufacture the solar panels that will supply nearly 70 kilowatts of electr Inmarsat Government selects Rocket Lab to develop L-Band Radio
Friday, 04 November 2022 09:29
Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) has been selected by Inmarsat Government as partner to develop and manufacture an L-band radio in support of NASA's Communications Services Project (CSP). CSP seeks to accelerate the development of commercial near-Earth communications services by partnering with satellite communications (SATCOM) providers.
Rocket Lab will help enable Inmarsat's InCommand China completes in-orbit maneuver to complete Tiangong space station assembly
Friday, 04 November 2022 09:29
China's space industry achieved a historic new feat on Thursday as the in-orbit assembly of the country's Tiangong space station's T-shape configuration was completed.
In a crucial, hourlong repositioning maneuver that was completed at 9:32 am Beijing time on Thursday, the Mengtian lab module was moved from one port of the space station's Tianhe core module to another port, the China Manne Astronauts enter China's Mengtian lab module for first time
Friday, 04 November 2022 09:29
Chinese astronauts onboard the nation's Tiangong space station entered the Mengtian lab module on Thursday afternoon, several hours after the completion of the station's in-orbit assembly.
Crew members of the Shenzhou XIV mission - mission commander Senior Colonel Chen Dong, Senior Colonel Liu Yang and Senior Colonel Cai Xuzhe - opened Mengtian's hatch and entered the lab component at 3:12 Last chance to see Total Lunar Eclipse until 2025
Friday, 04 November 2022 09:29
For the second time in 2022, stargazers will have the opportunity to view a total lunar eclipse on Nov. 8. At least a portion of the phenomenon will be visible throughout eastern Asia, Australia, the Pacific, and North America. The previous total lunar eclipse happened in May.
According to Alphonse Sterling, astrophysicist from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, to Can cosmic inflation be ruled out
Friday, 04 November 2022 09:29
Astrophysicists say that cosmic inflation - a point in the Universe's infancy when space-time expanded exponentially, and what physicists really refer to when they talk about the 'Big Bang' - can in principle be ruled out in an assumption-free way.
The astrophysicists, from the University of Cambridge, the University of Trento, and Harvard University, say that there is a clear, unambiguous