Earth from Space: Gariep Dam, South Africa
Thursday, 25 March 2021 09:00
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The Gariep Dam, the largest dam in South Africa, is featured in this false-colour image captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission.
Sky Perfect JSAT orders first Airbus satellite
Wednesday, 24 March 2021 21:03 Write a comment
TAMPA, Fla. — Japanese satellite operator Sky Perfect JSAT has ordered a spacecraft from Airbus for the first time, choosing the European aerospace giant to build Superbird-9 for a launch in 2024.
Superbird-9 will be based on Airbus’ reconfigurable payload platform OneSat, which can steer and reassign beams for different customers and services.
Space Force to launch fifth SBIRS satellite in May
Wednesday, 24 March 2021 18:09 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — A $1.6 billion Space Based Infrared System satellite arrived last week at Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The satellite, made by Lockheed Martin, is scheduled to launch May 17 on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, the U.S.
ABL Space Systems raises $170 million
Wednesday, 24 March 2021 16:17 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — Small launch vehicle developer ABL Space Systems announced March 25 it raised $170 million in funding to help it build up infrastructure and launch sites ahead of its first launch.
ABL said its Series B round was led by funds and accounts advised by T.
Op-ed | From spectator to space investor: How a teen from Maine became a Virgin Galactic shareholder
Wednesday, 24 March 2021 16:00 Write a comment
It all started with Mr. V, my middle school teacher famous for the stock market game he ran each year for the eighth graders. As a seventh grader, I convinced Mr. V to let me play.
Paraguay's first satellite deployed from the International Space Station
Wednesday, 24 March 2021 15:37 Write a comment
On March 14, the Paraguayan Space Agency (AEP) deployed a satellite from the International Space Station to help track a tiny parasite that causes Chagas disease. The satellite, Guaranisat-1, is the first developed and put into orbit by Paraguay. An estimated 8 million people in Mexico, Central America, and South America have Chagas disease, which if untreated can be life-threatening. Large-scale population movements from rural to urban areas of Latin America and other parts of the world have increased the geographic distribution of the disease.
Guaranisat-1 is part of the Joint Global Multi-Nation Birds Satellite project, or BIRDS, supported by the nation of Japan and the Kyushu Institute of Technology or Kyutech.
Engine of Atlantis
Wednesday, 24 March 2021 15:11 Write a comment
Image:
The second European Service Module that will power the Orion spacecraft on a crewed flyby of the Moon is fitted with a special engine at Airbus facilities in Germany.
This engine belonged to Space Shuttle Atlantis, and is one of five refurbished engines to be paired with the first five European Service Modules. Technicians carefully install the engine in Airbus’ cleanroom.
ESM is the powerhouse of NASA’s Orion spacecraft. It will provide critical functions such as the propulsion system to get astronauts to the Moon, and the consumables astronauts need to stay alive.
ESM-2 will fuel the crewed Orion spacecraft during a
Arianespace launches 36 more OneWeb satellites
Wednesday, 24 March 2021 13:15 Write a comment
TAMPA, Fla. — Arianespace successfully launched another 36 satellites for low Earth orbit broadband operator OneWeb March 25, bringing its total in-orbit constellation to 146 satellites.
OneWeb has made contact with each satellite after they separated from a Soyuz-2.1b rocket that blasted off 10:47 p.m.
Gravitational lenses could allow a galaxy-wide internet
Wednesday, 24 March 2021 13:06 Write a comment
As Carl Sagan once said, "The sky calls to us. If we do not destroy ourselves, we will one day venture to the stars." And our first emissaries to the stars will be robotic probes. These interstellar probes will be largely autonomous, but we will want to communicate with them. At the very least, we will want them to phone home and tell us what they've discovered. The stars are distant, so the probes will need to make a very long-distance call.
Currently, we communicate with space probes throughout the solar system via the Deep Space Network (DSN). This is a collection of antenna stations located around the world. Each station has one large 70-meter dish and several smaller dishes. Such large radio dishes are necessary because the signals from a space probe are rather faint, and they grow fainter with increasing distance.
When we start sending probes to other stars, we're going to need an interstellar communication network.
Space vs. materials – orbital testing outside Space Station
Wednesday, 24 March 2021 12:00 Write a comment
Space leaves its mark on materials: exposure to such a harsh environment can darken, crack or crater their surfaces – or even erode them away entirely. The nothingness of hard vacuum can also provoke ‘outgassing’ vapours from materials that might degrade delicate mission systems. Accordingly ESA and the French space agency CNES are giving European researchers the chance to pit the latest aerospace materials directly against space.
NASA engineers analyze navigation needs of Artemis moon missions
Wednesday, 24 March 2021 11:53 Write a comment
Space communications and navigation engineers at NASA are evaluating the navigation needs for the Artemis program, including identifying the precision navigation capabilities needed to establish the first sustained presence on the lunar surface.
"Artemis engages us to apply creative navigation solutions, choosing the right combination of capabilities for each mission," said Cheryl Gramling, associate chief for technology in the Mission Engineering and Systems Analysis Division at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "NASA has a multitude of navigation tools at its disposal, and Goddard has a half-century of experience navigating space exploration missions in lunar orbit."
Alongside proven navigation capabilities, NASA will use innovative navigation technologies during the upcoming Artemis missions.
"Lunar missions provide the opportunity to test and refine novel space navigation techniques," said Ben Ashman, a navigation engineer at Goddard. "The moon is a fascinating place to explore and can serve as a proving ground that expands our navigation toolkit for more distant destinations like Mars.
Redwire to go public through a SPAC merger
Wednesday, 24 March 2021 11:07 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — Redwire, a firm that has acquired several space technology companies in the last year, announced March 25 that it will go public by merging with a special-purpose acquisition corporation (SPAC).
Redwire said it will merge with Genesis Park Acquisition Corp.
GAO to probe choice of Alabama as Space Command's headquarters
Wednesday, 24 March 2021 11:00 Write a comment
The Government Accountability Office will open a review of the selection of Huntsville, Ala., as the permanent headquarters of the U.S. Space Command.
The GAO informed Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., of the decision, his office said on Friday.
On Feb. 1, Lamborn was among several bipartisan Colorado legislators who requested an investigation of the decision, announced in the last wee GAO: DoD should better coordinate hypersonic weapons programs
Wednesday, 24 March 2021 11:00 Write a comment
The Defense Department's push to achieve hypersonic weapons should better define the roles and duties of those in leadership, a government report published Monday says.
The Government Accountability Office noted that the development of hypersonic weapons and related technologies has cost about $14 billion since it started in 2015, through 70 identified efforts.
The Defense Depart Cutting edge ground recorders selected to measure future X-59 Quiet Supersonic Flights
Wednesday, 24 March 2021 11:00 Write a comment
For the deserts of Southern California, the major milestones of aviation have long been marked by the unique sights, and sounds, of flight.
From the late Chuck Yeager's breaking of the sound barrier in 1947, to the space shuttles' approach and landing at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center (then Dryden) in Edwards, and through today, one recognizable sound is the sonic boom - a loud, s