Capella Space Wins $15M U.S. Air Force Contract
Wednesday, 18 September 2024 19:03
Capella Space Corp., a U.S.-based space technology company specializing in data and satellite solutions, announced it has secured a $15 million award from the U.S. Air Force through the AFWERX Ventures Strategic Funding Increase (STRATFI) program. This initiative is designed to drive private sector innovation and support U.S. Air Force mission objectives.
The funding will be used to furthe Momentus joins DARPA's BRIDGES consortium to advance defense innovation
Wednesday, 18 September 2024 19:03
Momentus Inc. (NASDAQ: MNTS), a U.S. space infrastructure company, has been selected by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Strategic Technology Office to join the Bringing Classified Innovation to Defense and Government Systems (BRIDGES) consortium. Through this consortium, Momentus will be sponsored for a facility clearance, allowing it to work directly with Department of Def China activates first satellite-ground laser communication system
Wednesday, 18 September 2024 19:03
The Aerospace Information Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has successfully launched its first operational satellite-ground laser communication system. The 500mm aperture laser communication ground system began its regular operation on Sunday from the Pamir Plateau.
According to Wang Jianping, director of the Kashgar Ground Station, this system marks a major milestone MDA expands satellite production with major facility upgrade to meet global demand
Wednesday, 18 September 2024 19:03
MDA (TSX: MDA), a leading partner in the fast-growing space industry, announced the construction of a new 185,000 square foot extension to its satellite manufacturing facility in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec. This expansion will make it the largest facility in its satellite class, capable of producing up to two MDA AURORATM digital satellites daily.
The first project to come out of the EarthCARE's Atmospheric Lidar Reveals Detailed Profiles of Atmospheric Particles
Wednesday, 18 September 2024 19:03
The ATLID atmospheric lidar, the final instrument aboard the EarthCARE satellite launched in May, has now been successfully activated. EarthCARE, a joint mission by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), aims to provide more precise measurements of clouds, aerosols, and radiation.
Researchers from the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research ( There are plenty of uses for powerful lasers in space. But where should we put them?
Wednesday, 18 September 2024 19:01
United Launch Alliance prepares for crucial certification flight as U.S. Space Force watches closely
Wednesday, 18 September 2024 17:47
Reinventing the clock: NASA's new tech for space timekeeping
Wednesday, 18 September 2024 15:28
Here on Earth, it might not matter if your wristwatch runs a few seconds slow. But crucial spacecraft functions need accuracy down to one billionth of a second or less. Navigating with GPS, for example, relies on precise timing signals from satellites to pinpoint locations. Three teams at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, are at work to push timekeeping for space exploration to new levels of precision.
- One team develops highly precise quantum clock synchronization techniques to aid essential spacecraft communication and navigation.
- Another Goddard team is working to employ the technique of clock synchronization in space-based platforms to enable telescopes to function as one enormous observatory.
- The third team is developing an atomic clock for spacecraft based on strontium, a metallic chemical element, to enable scientific observations not possible with current technology.
35 years of SpaceNews: A trusted voice in a transforming space industry
Wednesday, 18 September 2024 14:59
SpaceNews Celebrates 35th Anniversary as a Global Media Brand
Wednesday, 18 September 2024 13:55
India approves moon sample return, Venus orbiter, space station module and reusable launcher
Wednesday, 18 September 2024 13:37
There could be a way to fix spacecraft at L2, like Webb and Gaia
Wednesday, 18 September 2024 13:21
Billions of dollars of observatory spacecraft orbit around Earth or in the same orbit as our planet. When something wears out or goes wrong, it would be good to be able to fix those missions "in situ." So far, only the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has enjoyed regular visits for servicing.
What if we could work on other telescopes "on orbit?" Such "fixit" missions to other facilities are the subject of a new NASA paper investigating optimal orbits and trajectories for making service calls on telescopes far beyond Earth.
Webb’s new view of Arp 107
Wednesday, 18 September 2024 13:00
Image:
Webb’s new view of Arp 107 Eutelsat signs multi-launch agreement for MHI’s H3 rocket
Wednesday, 18 September 2024 12:57
Eutelsat said Sept. 18 it has signed a contract to use multiple H3 rockets from 2027 in the French fleet operator’s first launch agreement with Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
FAA wants to fine SpaceX more than $600,000 for Space Coast launch site violations
Wednesday, 18 September 2024 12:50
The Federal Aviation Administration announced Tuesday it is seeking more than $600,000 in fines against SpaceX for violating licenses from its Space Coast launch sites.
In a press release, the FAA detailed its proposed civil penalties for a June 18, 2023 launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's Space Launch Complex 40 and a July 28, 2023 launch from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39-A.
The combined fine of $633,009 is for what the FAA alleges to be SpaceX's failure to follow its license requirements for those two launches, according to the release. The fines follow civil penalty guidelines that are set in federal statutes, the FAA stated.
"Safety drives everything we do at the FAA, including a legal responsibility for the safety oversight of companies with commercial space transportation licenses," FAA Chief Counsel Marc Nichols said in the release. "Failure of a company to comply with the safety requirements will result in consequences."
For the Canaveral launch, the FAA said that in May 2023, SpaceX had submitted a request to revise its communication plan to its existing license that wanted to add a new launch control room at Hangar X and remove a T-2 hour readiness poll from its procedures.