AFWERX to fund development of laser terminal that connects military aircraft with satellites
Tuesday, 25 January 2022 22:52Space Micro, a defense and NASA contractor recently acquired by Voyager Space, won a contract to design a laser communications terminal to connect military aircraft with geostationary satellites in orbit.
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Comtech rejects $790 million takeover offer
Tuesday, 25 January 2022 21:05Satellite communications equipment maker Comtech Telecommunications said Jan. 25 it has rejected a $790 million offer to take over the company.
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Military space advocate Rep. Jim Cooper to retire from Congress
Tuesday, 25 January 2022 20:02Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee’s subcommittee on strategic forces, announced Jan. 25 that he will not run for re-election in 2022.
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NOAA to move new weather satellite quickly into position
Tuesday, 25 January 2022 19:45The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will move its next Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) into position over the Western United States soon after launch to speed up data delivery to the National Weather Service.
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Isar Aerospace wins 10 million euro European Commission launch competition
Tuesday, 25 January 2022 19:44Isar Aerospace won 10 million euros in a European Union prize competition, the latest sign of the E.U.’s growing role in supporting Europe’s launch industry.
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Op-ed | LEO broadband: Will this time be different?
Tuesday, 25 January 2022 18:59Twenty years later, a host of new LEO broadband systems are coming to market, led by Starlink, and the question must be asked: will this time be different?
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After a successful 2021, Avio is looking forward to the future
Tuesday, 25 January 2022 18:41Space-based services and applications are increasingly important in our daily life, for the economy, the environment, the resources’ management and for our security.
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EU launches 'game changer' space startup fund
Tuesday, 25 January 2022 17:44The EU launched Tuesday a billion-euro fund to support startups in the space sector with the hope it will be a "game changer" and attract private investors into the key sector.
Named the Cassini fund after the 17th century Italian astronomer, it was launched as part of the European Investment Fund (EIF) which provides risk financing to small and medium-sized businesses across Europe.
"Many of our startups cannot get sizeable equity investment in the EU once they need to scale up," said Thierry Breton, the EU's internal market commissioner, at a gathering for the European space industry in Brussels.
He said the firms are thus forced to turn to non-EU investors.
"This is a major loss for Europe. The Cassini Fund will be a game changer," he added.
The head of the EIF, Alain Godard, said that each euro the fund invests typically attracts three or four euros of private investment from firms that otherwise would have found the project too risky.
A complementary mechanism will provide access to lending to space startups.
The European space sector is estimated to account for about 10 percent of the overall economy, and is expected to see its revenues double over the coming decade.
Astronaut hearing test | Cosmic Kiss
Tuesday, 25 January 2022 15:00The International Space Station can be a noisy place. ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer is putting his hearing (and headphone untangling skills) to the test in an experiment called Acoustic Diagnostics.
Acoustic Diagnostics is an Italian Space Agency (ASI) experiment, developed in cooperation with the University of Rome Tor Vergata, to study the effects of microgravity on the hearing of astronauts. The study began during ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano’s mission and monitors what are known as optoacoustic emissions (OAEs).
OAEs are caused when hairs in the inner ear move in response to auditory stimulation. That means the measurement is passive.
Federal Trade Commission blocks Lockheed Martin’s acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne
Tuesday, 25 January 2022 13:10Lockheed Martin’s proposed $4.4 billion acquisition of rocket engine manufacturer Aerojet Rocketdyne has been blocked by the Federal Trade Commission, the agency announced Jan. 25.
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Solar Orbiter catches a second comet by the tail
Tuesday, 25 January 2022 13:00For the second time in its mission so far, the ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter spacecraft has flown through the tail of a comet. Predicted in advance by astronomers at University College London, UK, the spacecraft collected a wealth of science data that now awaits full analysis.
JWST arrives at final orbit
Tuesday, 25 January 2022 09:25NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope arrived at its final destination 1.5 kilometers from the Earth Jan. 24, wrapping up a nearly flawless month since its launch.
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The beauty of the Sun seen from space
Tuesday, 25 January 2022 09:21Hope for present-day Martian groundwater dries up
Tuesday, 25 January 2022 06:43Liquid water previously detected under Mars' ice-covered south pole is probably just a dusty mirage, according to a new study of the red planet led by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin. Scientists in 2018 had thought they were looking at liquid water when they saw bright radar reflections under the polar cap. However, the new study published Jan. 24 in the journal Geophysica
Chinese lunar rover's 2-year travelogue on moon's far side reported
Tuesday, 25 January 2022 06:43Chinese scientists published the country's lunar rover travelogue of its first two years of service that depicted the unique and untrodden moonscape on the moon's far side, revealing its notable differences with the near side with in situ evidence. The study published on Thursday in the peer-reviewed journal, Science Robotics, described cloddy soil, gel-like rocks, and fresh small craters