Op-ed | Don’t call it a bubble, more investment in space launch is a good thing
Wednesday, 10 February 2021 00:40
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There has been a flurry of speculation recently that too much investment is being poured into risky launch ventures, creating a speculative bubble in the launch services sector. Critics, government consultants, and even some military industry leaders have suggested that the government step in to redirect private investment to a more suitable direction.
Maxar executive: Smallsat industry deserves credit for pushing innovation
Tuesday, 09 February 2021 23:12 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — Technological advances in small satellites are helping improve spacecraft designs and pushing the industry to take more risks, Jim McClelland, vice president of mission architecture at Maxar Technologies, said Feb. 10 at the SmallSat Symposium.
“It’s been a very exciting transformation of the industry,” he said.
Letter to the Editor: Fostering open architecture and partnership on space-based missile warning
Tuesday, 09 February 2021 22:45 Write a comment
In a February 1, 2021 SpaceNews article titled, “An open system for missile-warning satellite data is in the works but faces challenges,” a number of assertions were made that were factually incorrect, misleading and taken out of context about Lockheed Martin’s role in our nation’s premiere missile warning systems, including the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS), the Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (Next Gen OPIR) system and the missile warning mission’s next generation ground control system, the Future Operationally Resilient Ground Evolution (FORGE) MDP (Mission Data Processing) and Enterprise Ground Services (EGS).
Letter | Fostering open architecture and partnership on space-based missile warning
Tuesday, 09 February 2021 22:45 Write a comment
In a Feb. 1, 2021 SpaceNews article titled, “An open system for missile-warning satellite data is in the works but faces challenges,” a number of assertions were made that were factually incorrect, misleading and taken out of context about Lockheed Martin’s role in our nation’s premiere missile warning systems, including the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS), the Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (Next Gen OPIR) system and the missile warning mission’s next generation ground control system, the Future Operationally Resilient Ground Evolution (FORGE) MDP (Mission Data Processing) and Enterprise Ground Services (EGS).
Virgin Orbit considering moves into adjacent markets
Tuesday, 09 February 2021 21:33 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — With its first successful launch in the books, Virgin Orbit is considering ways it can expand into adjacent markets, including supporting ventures developing satellite systems.
During a keynote presentation at the SmallSat Symposium Feb.
DoD grapples with how to bring in new space technology to military systems
Tuesday, 09 February 2021 21:24 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — The U.S. military has built “very exquisite” satellites that operate for decades and is now looking to transition to a different space architecture that takes advantage of emerging technologies, Steve Butow, director of the Defense Innovation Unit’s space portfolio, said Feb.
ExoMars discovers new gas and traces water loss on Mars
Tuesday, 09 February 2021 19:00 Write a comment
Sea salt embedded in the dusty surface of Mars and lofted into the planet’s atmosphere has led to the discovery of hydrogen chloride – the first time the ESA-Roscosmos ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter has detected a new gas. The spacecraft is also providing new information about how Mars is losing its water.
At the rim of a crater
Tuesday, 09 February 2021 19:00 Write a comment
Image:
At the rim of a crater Discovering new gases on Mars
Tuesday, 09 February 2021 19:00 Write a comment
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The ESA-Roscosmos ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter is investigating the martian atmosphere. Discovering new gases related to active process and looking for their sources is a key goal of the mission. ExoMars has discovered hydrogen chloride for the first time. It appeared during a global dust storm in 2018 and disappeared again afterwards. The detection was made in both hemispheres simultaneously so it is unlikely to come from volcanic activity. Seasonal change that triggers dust activity is thought to be the driving force behind the observation. Salt in the dusty surface – left over from when Mars had
Alpha Insights reveals plans for dual-band SAR satellites
Tuesday, 09 February 2021 18:43 Write a comment
SAN FRANCISCO – Another synthetic aperture radar (SAR) startup has emerged.
Entrepreneur Scott Larson, who co-founded Urthecast and Helios Wire, is leading Alpha Insights, a Toronto company established in 2020 to acquire the SAR assets of Urthecast, which filed for protection from creditors in 2020 to avoid bankruptcy.
NASA Study: To Find an Extraterrestrial Civilization, Pollution Could Be the Solution
Tuesday, 09 February 2021 17:00 Write a comment
If there’s an advanced extraterrestrial civilization inhabiting a nearby star system, we might be able to detect it using its own atmospheric pollution, according to new NASA research. Analytical Space wins $26.4 million to establish optical network
Tuesday, 09 February 2021 16:09 Write a comment
SAN FRANCISCO – Satellite communications startup Analytical Space Inc. won a $26.4 million contract to develop and launch six cubesats and two hosted payloads to begin establishing the Fast Pixel Network for optical communications.
The three-year contract was awarded by AF Ventures, the service’s venture arm, with funding from the U.S.
Chinese spacecraft enters Mars' orbit, joining Arab ship
Tuesday, 09 February 2021 15:17 Write a comment
Keeping it fluid: Probing how fluids behave in weightlessness
Tuesday, 09 February 2021 14:35 Write a comment
NASA astronaut Victor Glover installs the Fluid Dynamics in Space experiment, or Fluidics for short. Fluidics is the black cylinder pictured in the foreground of the European Columbus module of the International Space Station.
Developed by French space agency CNES and co-funded by Airbus, the Fluidics experiment is probing how fluids behave in weightlessness.
The experiment is made up of six small, transparent spheres housed in the black centrifuge seen here and is studying two phenomena.
The first is 'sloshing' or how liquids move inside closed spaces, which is hard to predict both with and without gravity. Think how frustrating it can be to get the last drop out of a packet of orange juice, then imagine the challenge for engineers designing satellites to use every drop of fuel in weightlessness, or designing rockets with fuel tanks that must deliver fuel to the engines under extreme loads. Insights can help industry design better satellite fuel-systems to increase their life and make them less expensive.
A second part of the experiment looks at wave turbulence in liquids. On Earth, gravity and surface tension influence how energy dissipates in waves or ripples.
As new probes reach Mars, here's what we know so far from trips to the red planet
Tuesday, 09 February 2021 14:27 Write a comment
Three new spacecraft are due to arrive at Mars this month, ending their seven-month journey through space.
The first, the United Arab Emirates' Hope Probe, should have made it to the red planet this week. It will stay in orbit and study its atmosphere for one complete Martian year (687 Earth days).
China's Taiwen-1 mission also enters orbit this month and will begin scouting the potential landing site for its Mars rover, due to be deployed in May.
If successful, China will become the second country to land a rover on Mars.
These two missions will join six orbiting spacecraft actively studying the red planet from above:
NASA's Mars Odyssey, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and MAVEN OrbiterEurope's Mars ExpressIndia's Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM)the European and Russian partnership ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter.
The oldest active probe—Mars Odyssey—has been orbiting the planet for 20 years.
The third spacecraft to reach Mars this month is NASA's Perseverance rover, scheduled to land on February 18.