Space industry in midst of transformation following record private and public investments
Friday, 30 April 2021 20:40
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TAMPA, Fla. — The space market is at a watershed moment as private and public investments continue to surge.
Boutique research and advisory firm Quilty Analytics recorded $5.7 billion in investments for the first quarter of 2021, a 356% increase from $1.2 billion in the same period last year.
Mars helicopter makes 4th flight, gets extra month of flying
Friday, 30 April 2021 19:50 Write a comment
After proving powered, controlled flight is possible on the Red Planet, NASA's Mars Ingenuity helicopter has new orders: scout ahead of the Perseverance rover to assist in its search for past signs of microbial life.
The next phase extends the rotocraft's mission beyond the original month-long technology demonstration. Now, the goal is to assess how well flyers can help future exploration of Mars and other worlds.
"We're going to gather information on the operational support capability of the helicopter while Perseverance focuses on its science mission," Lori Glaze, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division, told reporters Friday.
SpaceX making 1st US crew splashdown in dark since Apollo 8
Friday, 30 April 2021 19:45 Write a comment
SpaceX this weekend will attempt the first U.S.
Dynetics HLS protest argues NASA should have revised competition after budget shortfall
Friday, 30 April 2021 16:56 Write a comment
Updated 3:10 p.m. Eastern with NASA statement about stop-work order on HLS award to SpaceX.
WASHINGTON — NASA should have revised its approach to the Human Landing System (HLS) program or withdrawn the solicitation entirely once it was clear the agency didn’t have the funding to support two companies, one of the losing bidders argues in its protest of the award.
On National Security | Is space-as-a-service a viable option for the DoD?
Friday, 30 April 2021 16:55 Write a comment
Does it make sense for the Pentagon to spend billions of dollars buying and maintaining satellites when there are now private companies that can provide space-based capabilities as a service?
Op-ed | Are we there yet? A journey to more clearly see the changing planet
Friday, 30 April 2021 15:57 Write a comment
We’ve all been there. Either as a child, in the back of your parents’ car, probably squashed between two obnoxious siblings or, as a parent of a restless toddler, 15 minutes into a four-hour road trip, the question always arises, “Are we there yet?”
Lessons learnt from simulated strike
Friday, 30 April 2021 14:33 Write a comment
In an alternate reality playing out at this year’s international Planetary Defense Conference, a fictional asteroid crashes over Europe, 'destroying' a region about 100 km wide near the Czech Republic and German border. The scenario was imagined, but the people who took part are very real, and the lessons learnt will shape our ability to respond to dangerous asteroids for years to come.
Lithuania becomes ESA Associate Member state
Friday, 30 April 2021 13:41 Write a comment
Lithuania signed an Association Agreement with ESA on 28 April 2021.
This Association Agreement between ESA and the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, builds on the successful results achieved under the previous frameworks of cooperation and enters into force for a duration of seven years. Comprising 18 Articles and two Annexes, it orchestrates the strengthening of Lithuania’s relations with ESA.
Kleos Space develops tool for in-space manufacturing of large structures
Friday, 30 April 2021 13:40 Write a comment
SAN FRANCISCO — Kleos Space is conducting a six-month test of technology for in-space manufacturing of large 3D carbon fiber structures that could be used to construct solar arrays, star shades and interferometry antennas.
The company with operations in Luxembourg, the United States and United Kingdom is best known for radio frequency reconnaissance satellites.
Conférence de presse de Thomas Pesquet depuis l'ISS
Friday, 30 April 2021 12:30 Write a comment
Video:
00:19:22
L’astronaute de l’ESA Thomas Pesquet a échangé depuis la Station spatiale internationale avec des journalistes européens rassemblés à Paris, le vendredi 30 avril 2021, pour partager ses premiers jours de retour en impesanteur, la vie à bord et les enjeux de la mission Alpha.
A l’issue d’un voyage de près de 24 heures à bord d’une capsule Crew Dragon de SpaceX, il était arrivé samedi 24 avril 2021 sur la Station spatiale internationale. Dans le cadre de sa mission Alpha, il réalisera plus de deux cents expériences scientifiques – y compris 12 nouvelles manipulations du CNES, l’agence spatiale
Week in images: 26 - 30 April 2021
Friday, 30 April 2021 12:13 Write a comment
Week in images: 26 - 30 April 2021
Discover our week through the lens
NASA Wallops May 7 rocket launch exploring energy transport in space
Friday, 30 April 2021 11:54 Write a comment
A mission to explore energy transport in space using a NASA suborbital sounding rocket is scheduled to be conducted the evening of May 7 from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
Launch for the mission is scheduled for 7:58 p.m. EDT with a 40-minute launch window, Friday, May 7, 2021, on a NASA Black Brant XII sounding rocket. Backup launch days run through May 16. The launch may be visible in much of the eastern United States and Bermuda.
The mission, called the KiNETic-scale energy and momentum transport eXperiment, or KiNet-X, is designed to study a very fundamental problem in space plasmas, namely, how are energy and momentum transported between different regions of space that are magnetically connected?
For example, auroras. Auroras are formed when particles in the Earth's near-space environment interact with the atmosphere.
"The electrons in Earth's space environment and in the solar wind have relatively low energies. Yet the aurora is generated by very high energy electrons.
Stratolaunch aircraft returns to the skies after two-year hiatus
Friday, 30 April 2021 10:26 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — Stratolaunch flew its giant aircraft for the first time in more than two years April 29, marking the start of a new test flight campaign to prepare the plane to serve as a platform for hypersonic vehicles.
Huge rocket looks set for uncontrolled reentry following Chinese space station launch
Friday, 30 April 2021 10:04 Write a comment
HELSINKI — China launched the first module for its space station into orbit late Wednesday, but the mission launcher also reached orbit and is slowly and unpredictably heading back to Earth.
China wants new space station to be more international
Friday, 30 April 2021 08:35 Write a comment
China successfully launched the core module of its space station on Thursday, opening a new foothold for humanity in space.
China's space station, guided by the idea of building a community with a shared future for humanity, will become a common home transcending Earthly bonds and an outpost for countries worldwide to explore the universe through cooperation.
Tianhe, the name of the