Virgin Galactic plans higher mothership flight rate with next-generation spaceplanes
Wednesday, 08 May 2024 22:43
National Space Council will explore military space and intelligence roles and responsibilities
Wednesday, 08 May 2024 20:27
SpaceX blasts off on 35th Space Coast launch of the year
Wednesday, 08 May 2024 20:12
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SpaceX keeps lining them up and knocking them out with an afternoon launch from Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday.
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying another 23 of the company's Starlink internet satellites lifted off at 2:42 p.m. Eastern time from KSC's Launch Pad 39-A.
It's the second launch this week after a Starlink launch midday Monday from nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
It marks the third launch of the first-stage booster, which previously flew on the Crew-8 human spaceflight and one Starlink mission. It managed another recovery landing downrange in the Atlantic Ocean on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas.
This marks the 35th launch from the Space Coast with all but two coming from SpaceX.
United Launch Alliance had the other two launches and is awaiting its third with the Crew Flight Test mission to send up astronauts on board Boeing's CST-100 Starliner atop an Atlas V. Teams scrubbed that launch attempt on Monday night because of a valve issue on the Atlas V's upper Centaur stage.
Teams decided to roll the Atlas V back to ULA's Vertical Integration Facility to replace the valve and now that launch is targeting no earlier than May 17.
'Lost' spy satellite orbited Earth undetected for 25 years—until now, scientists say
Wednesday, 08 May 2024 19:50 Write a comment
An experimental spy satellite that was deemed "lost" after eluding detection for decades has finally been found. "The S73-7 satellite has been rediscovered after being untracked for 25 years," astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell said in an April 29 post on X, formerly Twitter. He says it reappeared on April 25, citing Space Force data.
The Cold War-era satellite, officially called the Infra-Red Calibration Balloon (S73-7), was just over 2 feet in diameter. The U.S. Air Force's Space Test program launched it on April 10, 1974, with a much larger spy satellite, Gizmodo reported.
According to the outlet, the balloon was supposed to inflate after launch, but something went wrong. After the failure, teams back home lost track of the balloon twice—once in the 1970s and then again for much longer starting in the 1990s when ground-based sensors could no longer detect it.
For a quarter-century, analysts in the 18th Space Defense Squadron, the group responsible for tracking all human-made objects in Earth's orbit, saw nothing of S73-7, Popular Science reported. In the minds of experts, the balloon was now lost in the world of "space junk.
Private investment fuels race for nuclear fusion power in US
Wednesday, 08 May 2024 17:29 Write a comment
Spurred on by major technological advances and huge private investment, the United States' nuclear fusion sector could be producing electricity within ten years, industry players say.
The process, which powers the Sun, sees two atomic nuclei combine - and release massive amounts of energy. But private companies on Earth are also hoping decades of research might finally culminate in fusion p Genomes of multicellular algal relatives reveal evolutionary clues to plant origins
Wednesday, 08 May 2024 17:29 Write a comment
Land plants, which dominate our planet's landscape, have developed from simple organisms into complex forms with diverse organs and cell types. This transformation, supported by a vast network of genes, facilitates the intricate shaping of plant structures through various molecular processes.
This significant evolution began with a singular event-plant terrestrialization-when ancestors of Rocket Lab Advances SDA Satellite Program with New Subcontractor Partnerships
Wednesday, 08 May 2024 17:29 Write a comment
Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) announced it has finalized the selection of subcontractors that will supply payloads and ground systems for the 18 satellites the company is constructing for the Space Development Agency (SDA).
Under a $515 million USD firm-fixed price contract, Rocket Lab is poised to spearhead the design, development, manufacturing, testing, and operation of the 18 sat USSPACECOM Represents at NATO's Inaugural Space Symposium
Wednesday, 08 May 2024 17:29 Write a comment
Lt. Gen. Thomas James, deputy commander of the U.S. Space Command, and RAF Air Commodore Darren Whiteley, deputy director of USSPACECOM Strategy, Policy and Plans, attended NATO's first Space Symposium held in Toulouse, France, on April 29-30.
The symposium, organized by NATO Headquarters International Military Staff and Allied Command Transformation, aimed to enhance the integration of sp Capella Space launches automated vessel detection service
Wednesday, 08 May 2024 17:29 Write a comment
Capella Space Corp., a US-based provider of satellite data solutions, has launched its AI-driven Vessel Classification service for high-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery. This service is integrated with Capella's secure tasking web application and API, allowing users to simultaneously place Tasking requests and order Vessel Classification. The service also includes access to hist ICEYE launches new APIs for direct satellite tasking and data access
Wednesday, 08 May 2024 17:29 Write a comment
ICEYE, a leader in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite technology, has introduced two new application programming interfaces (APIs) that provide customers quicker access to its extensive SAR satellite imagery. These APIs allow for automated interactions and seamless integration with ICEYE's space and ground systems, eliminating the need for manual oversight.
The first of these APIs is White Sands propulsion team evaluates 3D-printed engine component for Orion
Wednesday, 08 May 2024 17:29 Write a comment
The Orion spacecraft, designated to transport Artemis mission crews to the Moon, will be powered by a European Service Module from ESA (European Space Agency). This module is critical for providing power, propulsion, thermal regulation, and storing essentials until its detachment from the crew module upon reentry.
For the initial Artemis missions, Artemis I to Artemis VI, a repurposed Orbi Study reveals medieval Arab scientist Ibn al-Haytham's major influence on optics and physics
Wednesday, 08 May 2024 17:29 Write a comment
Recent research by the University of Sharjah and the Warburg Institute delves into the contributions of the 11th century scientist, al-H?asan Ibn al-Haytham, better known by his Latinized name Alhazen, highlighting his critical role in advancing optical sciences. His seminal work, the Book of Optics or Kitab al-Manazir, originally written in Arabic, laid foundational principles that have influen White Sands propulsion team tests 3D-printed Orion engine component
Wednesday, 08 May 2024 16:30 Write a comment
When the Orion spacecraft carries the first Artemis crews to the moon and back, it will rely on the European Service Module contributed by ESA (European Space Agency) to make the journey. The service module provides electrical power generation, propulsion, temperature control, and consumable storage for Orion, up to the moment it separates from the crew module prior to re-entry into Earth's atmosphere.
For the first six Artemis missions—Artemis I through Artemis VI—NASA and ESA will use a refurbished Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) engine from the space shuttle program as the European Service Module's main engine. Beyond Artemis VI, NASA will need a new engine to support Orion.
That need will be met by the Orion Main Engine (OME) in development with Aerojet Rocketdyne (now L3 Harris), but before the OME can fly, all of its components must be thoroughly tested.
Enter the Propulsion Test Office at NASA's White Sands Test Facility. From November 2023 to January 2024, this team led rigorous testing of a critical OME component: the injector that delivers propellants to power the engine and provides the thrust necessary to return Orion home from the moon.
Long March 6C rocket joins fleet with successful inaugural launch
Wednesday, 08 May 2024 16:13 Write a comment
China's Long March 6C rocket successfully completed its first flight on Tuesday, deploying four satellites into orbit.
Launching at 11:21 am from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center located in a mountainous area of Shanxi province, the 43-meter-tall rocket successfully placed a radar satellite, an optical remote-sensing satellite, and two experimental satellites into their designated orbit Boeing Starliner crewed mission postponed to May 17
Wednesday, 08 May 2024 16:13 Write a comment
The first crewed launch of Boeing's Starliner spaceship to the International Space Station has been pushed to May 17 after engineers said a faulty rocket valve needs to be replaced for the high-stakes mission, NASA said Tuesday.
The test has already faced years of delays and comes at a challenging time for Boeing, as a safety crisis engulfs the century-old aerospace titan's commercial aviati