Watch live: briefings for next Space Station mission
Wednesday, 06 October 2021 06:15
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Learn the latest about the launch of Crew-3 to the International Space Station during two virtual briefings this Wednesday 6 and Thursday 7 October live on ESA Web TV Two.
Spire Global data to feed maritime-traffic algorithms
Tuesday, 05 October 2021 22:02 Write a comment
LatConnect 60 will feed Spire Global Automatic Identification System (AIS) vessel-tracking data into algorithms the Australian Earth-observation startup is developing with Curtin University to prevent maritime collisions.
Orbital Micro Systems and Thomas Keating forge weather data pact
Tuesday, 05 October 2021 20:45 Write a comment
ST. LOUIS – Orbital Micro Systems announced an agreement Oct. 5 with UK technology firm Thomas Keating Ltd. to jointly fund design, development and testing of millimeter-wave instruments for commercial weather satellites. OMS launched the first commercial cubesat equipped with a microwave radiometer in 2019.
Late-time small-body asteroid disruptions can protect the Earth
Tuesday, 05 October 2021 18:57 Write a comment
If an asteroid is determined to be on an Earth-impacting trajectory, scientists typically want to stage a deflection, where the asteroid is gently nudged by a relatively small change in velocity, while keeping the bulk of the asteroid together.
A kinetic impactor or a standoff nuclear explosion can achieve a deflection.
ODNI to share unclassified science and technology priorities
Tuesday, 05 October 2021 18:42 Write a comment
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) is preparing unclassified documents to share its science and technology priorities with industry and academia, John Beieler, ODNI science and technology director.
Space data used to detect sources of GPS disruptions
Tuesday, 05 October 2021 18:18 Write a comment
Radio-frequency data collected by HawkEye 360 satellites can be used to locate GPS interference hotspots
How low can satellites go? VLEO entrepreneurs plan to find out
Tuesday, 05 October 2021 18:14
NRO’s strategy to buy satellite imagery shaped by thriving commercial market
Tuesday, 05 October 2021 17:39 Write a comment
The U.S. satellite imagery industry will soon see the details of a highly anticipated procurement by the National Reconnaissance Office.
Working overtime: NASA's deep space atomic clock completes mission
Tuesday, 05 October 2021 17:12 Write a comment
For more than two years, NASA's Deep Space Atomic Clock has been pushing the timekeeping frontiers in space. On Sept. 18, 2021, its mission came to a successful end.
The instrument is hosted on General Atomics' Orbital Test Bed spacecraft that was launched aboard the Department of Defense Space Test Program 2 mission June 25, 2019. Its goal: to test the feasibility of using an onboard atomic clock to improve spacecraft navigation in deep space.
Currently, spacecraft rely on ground-based atomic clocks. To measure a spacecraft's trajectory as it travels beyond the Moon, navigators use these timekeepers to precisely track when those signals are sent and received. Because navigators know that radio signals travel at the speed of light (about 186,000 miles per second, or 300,000 kilometers per second), they can use these time measurements to calculate the spacecraft's exact distance, speed, and direction of travel.
Thomas becomes Space Station commander
Tuesday, 05 October 2021 14:30 Write a comment
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00:08:46
On 4 October 2021 ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet became commander of the International Space Station, taking over from Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut and fellow Crew-2 member Akihiko Hoshide. Thomas will hold this role until shortly before Crew-2 return to Earth in November. Thomas officially accepted his new position during a traditional ceremony, broadcast live from the International Space Station, where a symbolic handover of a key from Aki to Thomas denoted the change of command. The full title of this role is International Space Station crew commander. While overall command of the Station lies with ground-based
New spin on space research
Tuesday, 05 October 2021 13:54 Write a comment
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The ESA-owned Short Arm Human Centrifuge has been upgraded, installed and inaugurated at the Olympic Sport Centre Planica facility near Kranjska Gora, Slovenia. Soon to be home to ESA bedrest studies, this recently enhanced clinical research centre will help further scientists’ knowledge of human physiology in space.
Run by the Jozef Stefan Institute on behalf of ESA, bedrest studies at the facility offer scientists a way to see how the human body adapts to weightlessness. This allows researchers to test techniques, known as “countermeasures”, to counteract the negative effects of living in space.
The Short-Arm Human Centrifuge offers an
OneWeb’s antenna supplier in South Korea inks $60 million deal with SES
Tuesday, 05 October 2021 13:44 Write a comment
South Korean antenna maker Intellian Technologies signed a supply deal worth 71.1 billion won ($60 million) with Luxembourg-based satellite fleet operator SES.
Intellian inks $60 million antenna deal with SES
Tuesday, 05 October 2021 13:44 Write a comment
South Korean antenna maker Intellian Technologies signed a supply deal worth 71.1 billion won ($60 million) with Luxembourg-based satellite fleet operator SES.
It will soon be possible to make satellite phone calls with your regular phone
Tuesday, 05 October 2021 12:21 Write a comment
Not all who wander are lost—but sometimes their cell phone reception is. That might change soon if a plan to project basic cell phone coverage to all parts of the globe comes to fruition. Lynk has already proven it can use a typical smartphone to bound a standard SMS text message off a low-earth-orbiting satellite, and they don't plan to stop there.
Formerly known as Ubiquitilink, Lynk was founded a few years ago by Nanoracks founder Charles Miller and his partners but came out of "stealth mode" as a start-up in 2019. In 2020 they then used a satellite to send an SMS message from a typical smartphone, without requiring the fancy GPS locators and antennas needed by other, specially made satellite phones.
The company continued its success recently by demonstrating a "two-way" link this week using a newly launched satellite, its fifth, called "Shannon." They've also proved it over multiple phones in numerous areas, including the UK, America, and the Bahamas.
Eventually, two-way communication means that the signal could eventually be used for voice calls rather than just sending messages in emergencies.
Startups and universities selected for Space Force prize competition
Tuesday, 05 October 2021 12:00 Write a comment
A business accelerator funded by the U.S. Space Force announced it has selected 13 startups and 11 university teams to compete for $100,000 awards.