France, Germany and Italy sign agreement on launch vehicle development
Wednesday, 23 November 2022 07:03
An agreement among three European countries could help secure near-term funding for launch vehicle development but have a bigger effect in the long term on how future projects are financed.
The post France, Germany and Italy sign agreement on launch vehicle development appeared first on SpaceNews.
Viasat wins $325 million U.S. Special Operations Command contract
Tuesday, 22 November 2022 22:07
The U.S. Special Operations Command awarded Viasat a $325 million contract to provide communications equipment and networking services over the next five years.
The post Viasat wins $325 million U.S. Special Operations Command contract appeared first on SpaceNews.
Space Force establishes permanent presence in Indo-Pacific region
Tuesday, 22 November 2022 21:07
The Space Force on Nov. 22 formally established a unit within U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.
The post Space Force establishes permanent presence in Indo-Pacific region appeared first on SpaceNews.
The not-quite-tangible reality of Virtual Ground Stations
Tuesday, 22 November 2022 18:23
The satellite communications industry could be just years away from being able to run modems and other ground station hardware in the cloud, although many technical challenges remain to be solved.
The post The not-quite-tangible reality of Virtual Ground Stations appeared first on SpaceNews.
ESA presents new generation of ESA astronauts
Tuesday, 22 November 2022 16:48
The European Space Agency has chosen 17 new astronaut candidates from more than 22 500 applicants from across its Member States. In this new 2022 class of ESA astronauts are five career astronauts, 11 members of an astronaut reserve and one astronaut with a disability.
France, Germany, Italy agree on next-generation space rockets
Tuesday, 22 November 2022 14:01
France, Germany and Italy, the three biggest contributors to the European Space Agency, said Tuesday they have agreed to guarantee the future of the next-generation Ariane 6 and Vega-C rocket launcher systems.
The countries also reaffirmed a preference for European rockets, after the agency was forced to turn to US firm SpaceX to launch two future scientific missions.
The ministers in charge of space for the ESA's 22 member states are meeting in Paris on Tuesday and Wednesday to determine the agency's funding for the next three years, with a 3.2-billion-euro ($3.3-billion) plan for European space launchers high on the agenda.
"The public funding necessary to equilibrate the Ariane 6 and Vega-C institutional and commercial exploitation will be reviewed in order to take into account the evolution of market prices, institutional prices, economic conditions," said a joint ministerial statement from France's Bruno Le Maire, Germany's Robert Habeck and Italy's Adolfo Urso.
The ESA has had to scramble to find a way to get its missions into space after Russia withdrew its Soyuz rockets in response to European sanctions over Moscow's war in Ukraine earlier this year.
Op-ed | Remarkable pivot happening in the national security space business
Tuesday, 22 November 2022 14:00
There is a remarkable pivot that is happening within the national security space business.
The post Op-ed | Remarkable pivot happening in the national security space business appeared first on SpaceNews.
Europe looks to commercialize lunar exploration efforts
Tuesday, 22 November 2022 12:33
The European Space Agency is looking to create a more sustainable path for space, starting with growing commercial partnerships in lunar exploration.
The post Europe looks to commercialize lunar exploration efforts appeared first on SpaceNews.
ESA leadership optimistic about funding as ministerial begins
Tuesday, 22 November 2022 11:36
As European ministers gather to allocate funding for European Space Agency programs for the next three years, agency leadership is optimistic about winning support for its priorities.
Advanced Space awarded contract to deliver AFRL's mission to the Moon
Tuesday, 22 November 2022 10:35
Advanced Space LLC., a leading space tech solutions company, announced that the Air Force Research Laboratory's (AFRL) Space Vehicles Directorate, as part of a collaborative effort with AFRL's Transformational Capabilities Office, has awarded the company a $72 million contract to deliver AFRL's Oracle spacecraft program, previously called the Cislunar Highway Patrol System, or CHPS.
Oracle SPCE Program to push beyond power limitations in space
Tuesday, 22 November 2022 10:35
Rapidly proliferating small satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) are expanding space-based capabilities critical to both government and industry. As the subsequent, ever-increasing demand strains operational limitations of LEO satellites, DARPA's new Space Power Conversion Electronics (SPCE) program seeks greater efficiencies in usable power in the harsh space environment.
Space-based power Who will become history's first 'parastronaut'?
Tuesday, 22 November 2022 10:35
The first astronaut - or astronauts - with a physical disability could be announced as soon as Wednesday, according to the European Space Agency.
People with physical disabilities have previously been excluded from one of the most exclusive and demanding jobs on Earth - and beyond - due to strict selection requirements.
Guillaume Weerts, the ESA's head of space medicine, told AFP tha China launches Yaogan 34 remote sensing satellite
Tuesday, 22 November 2022 10:35
China successfully sent a new remote sensing satellite of the Yaogan 34 series into space from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China at 9:38 am (Beijing Time) on Tuesday.
The Yaogan 34 03 satellite, carried by a Long March 4C rocket, successfully entered its planned orbit.
This remote sensing satellite will be used in areas such as land resources survey, urban planni AFRL breaks ground on new Fortress Space Lab
Tuesday, 22 November 2022 10:35
The Air Force Research Laboratory, or AFRL, held a ground-breaking ceremony, Nov. 16, 2022, beginning construction on the Facility for Radiation Tolerance Research on Electronics for Space and Strategic Systems, or FORTRESS, a 6,200-square-foot, $4.5 million facility, located adjacent to the AFRL Space Vehicles Directorate Deployable Structures Laboratory.
The facility is designed to enabl WALLABY builds an intergalactic map in the outback
Tuesday, 22 November 2022 10:35
Published in the Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, the WALLABY (The Widefield ASKAP L-band Legacy All-sky Blind surveY) Pilot Survey will be sharing its first data release with the scientific community, helping us to better understand nearby galaxies and galactic clusters.
Hundreds of galaxies have been surveyed in Phase 1 of WALLABY, covering 180 square degrees of the