Kentucky firm plans orbital mini space station in two years
Monday, 01 March 2021 05:58
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A Kentucky space firm that conducts science experiments on the International Space Station has plans to launch its own miniature, automated orbital research platform in about two years.
Lexington-based Space Tango has small research containers, or CubeLabs, on the space station. Bustling business and growing need for such experiments in microgravity led the company to plan its own space Rocket Lab unveils plans for bigger reusable rocket for mega-constellation deployment
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Rocket Lab has unveiled plans for its Neutron rocket, an advanced 8-ton payload class launch vehicle tailored for mega-constellation deployment, interplanetary missions and human spaceflight.
Neutron will build on Rocket Lab's proven experience developing the reliable workhorse Electron launch vehicle, the second most frequently launched U.S. rocket annually since 2019. Where Electron prov India launches PSLV-C51 carrying Brazil's Amazonia-1 and 18 Satellites
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The launch of the PSLV-C51 occurred on Sunday at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. The latter is located on Sriharikota Island in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully launched the Brazilian satellite Amazonia-1 along with 18 other co-passenger satellites via the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C51). The event occurred on Sund Getting your payload to orbit
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Launch vehicles and satellites are commonly built by different contractors in separate locations by two different talent pools. Satellite engineers and managers are not generally intimately familiar with launch vehicle design, manufacture and operations. Launch vehicle engineers and managers are not generally intimately familiar with satellite design, manufacture and operations.
At some point Perseverance Hardware One Day after Landing
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This first HiRISE image of the Perseverance Rover on the surface of Mars also shows many parts of the descent system that got it safely there. Each inset shows an area about 650 feet (200 meters) across.
The rover itself sits at the center of a blast pattern created by the hovering skycrane (labeled as "descent stage") that lowered it there. The skycrane flew off to crash as at a safe dist Ice frozen under Mars' surface offers major resource to aid future settlements
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Frozen water is hiding beneath the dust-covered surface of Mars, and scientist Ali Bramson wants to find it. She sees a chance to both sustain future human explorers and answer questions about the red planet's climate.
Bramson, a Purdue University assistant professor of planetary science, was part of recent research to determine the location and depth of the subsurface ice. The results of US Space Force Chief Sees 'Fused Connection' With Commercial Industry as Key to Success
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Because of its small size and high dependency on advanced technology, the US Space Force is perhaps better positioned than any branch of the US military to become a cash-cow for private industry.
A top US Space Force official has praised the falling costs of space flight in recent years, saying that nearly all of its space activities are now capable of being performed by private industry. China has over 300 satellites in orbit
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China's satellite application system has made great progress in 2020, with more than 300 satellites in orbit for various applications, according to a recent report released by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
Among them are Beidou navigation satellites, remote sensing satellites for meteorological and marine monitoring, and communication satellites.
China start AFRL rocket propulsion division hosts virtual AIAA meeting
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The Air Force Research Laboratory's Rocket Propulsion Division hosted a virtual conference of the Management Committee (Integration and Outreach Division) of the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), chaired by Ray Flores, deputy director, Office of the Inspector General, HQ Air Force Materiel Command, February 23-24.
Dr. Suren Singhal, deputy manager, Office of the C New rocket, Firefly's Alpha, may be ready to launch by April
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Texas-based Firefly Aerospace plans to launch its new Alpha rocket from California in April and send a lunar lander to the moon by 2023.
The 95-foot-high launch vehicle is designed to lift satellite payloads that weigh just over a ton into low-Earth orbit, or slightly lighter loads to a higher orbit.
Firefly has existed for only four years, and would join a small, but growing, group Engine shutdown led to failed Falcon 9 booster landing
Monday, 01 March 2021 02:24 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — A Falcon 9 first stage failed to land after a launch last month because one of its engines shut down during flight after hot gas breached a worn-out cover.
During a NASA press conference March 1 about the upcoming Crew-2 commercial crew flight, Benji Reed, senior director for human spaceflight programs at SpaceX, said that while the booster used on that Feb.
Op-ed | DoD weather capabilities have lagged; Space Force can turn that around
Sunday, 28 February 2021 22:45 Write a comment
Just before dawn on August 30, 1776, a bank of fog crawled over New York’s East River, concealing George Washington’s beleaguered Continentals as they slipped away to safety and out of reach of the surrounding British forces.
Spire Global joins rush to public markets with $1.6 billion SPAC deal
Sunday, 28 February 2021 22:21 Write a comment
TAMPA, Florida — Satellite operator Spire Global has unveiled the space-powered Big Data market’s second SPAC deal in just over a week, as the rush to public markets accelerates across commercial space sectors.
Spire’s merger with special-purpose acquisition company NavSight values the company at $1.6 billion.
SpaceX wins Air Force manufacturing research contract for hypersonic vehicle thermal shields
Sunday, 28 February 2021 20:37 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — The Air Force Research Laboratory awarded SpaceX an $8.5 million contract to investigate advanced materials and manufacturing techniques for heat shields that protect hypersonic vehicles in flight.
Heat protection is a critical technology to shield hypersonic vehicles from the intense heat experienced when flying at more than five times the speed of sound.
Space Development Agency experiment to fly on Northrop Grumman’s capsule to space station
Sunday, 28 February 2021 18:45 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — Northrop Grumman’s next cargo delivery mission to the International Space Station will carry a Space Development Agency payload to collect data for the development of missile-tracking sensors.
The experiment known as Persistent Infrared Payload is scheduled to launch in July on the NG-16 Cygnus cargo mission on a Northrop Grumman Antares rocket from Wallops Island, Virginia.