Kymeta said Sept. 7 that it successfully tested its u8 broadband terminal on OneWeb’s low-Earth-orbit constellation, achieving 200 megabits per second (Mbps) downlink speeds ahead of the network’s partial launch this year.

Companies that operate both geostationary satellites and low Earth orbit constellations say they see opportunities to acquire complementary firms but cautioned that a long-projected consolidation of the industry isn’t likely in the near future.

SpaceNews

Image: Elements of the Ariane 5 rocket to launch the James Webb Space Telescope arrived safely in French Guiana from Europe on 3 September 2021

Pasadena CA (JPL) Sep 07, 2021
NASA's Perseverance rover has completed the collection of the first sample of Martian rock, a core from Jezero Crater slightly thicker than a pencil. Mission controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California received data that confirmed the historic milestone. The core is now enclosed in an airtight titanium sample tube, making it available for retrieval in the f

Moscow (Sputnik) Sep 07, 2021
New equipment that will help protect people from radiation during interplanetary flights will be tested on the Russian Nauka multipurpose laboratory module at the International Space Station, the head of the nuclear planetology department at the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Igor Mitrofanov, said. "We are wrapping up the construction of a design and developme

Washington (AFP) Sept 7, 2021
NASA confirmed Monday that its Perseverance Mars rover succeeded in collecting its first rock sample for scientists to pore over when a future mission eventually brings it back to Earth. "I've got it!" the space agency tweeted, alongside a photograph of a rock core slightly thicker than a pencil inside a sample tube. The sample was collected on September 1, but NASA was initially unsure

Baltimore MD (SPX) Sep 07, 2021
Could dying stars hold the secret to looking younger? New evidence from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope suggests that white dwarf stars could continue to burn hydrogen in the final stages of their lives, causing them to appear more youthful than they actually are. This discovery could have consequences for how astronomers measure the ages of star clusters, which contain the oldest known stars in t

Boston MA (SPX) Sep 07, 2021
By definition, dwarf galaxies are small and dim, with just a fraction of the stars found in the Milky Way and other galaxies. There are, however, giants among the dwarfs: Ultra-diffuse galaxies, or UDGs, are dwarf systems that contain relatively few stars but are scattered over vast regions. Because they are so diffuse, these systems are difficult to detect, though most have been found tucked wi

Kirtland AFN NM (AFNS) Sep 07, 2021
The Air Force Research Laboratory's University Nanosatellite Program (UNP) request for proposals (RFP) will be open until October 1. UNP funds U.S. university students and programs to design, build, launch, and operate small satellites with the primary goal to train the next generation of space professionals. "For more than 20 years, UNP has equipped thousands of students across the countr

Fort Collins CO (SPX) Sep 07, 2021
For centuries, sailors have been reporting strange encounters like the one above. These events are called milky seas. They are a rare nocturnal phenomenon in which the ocean's surface emits a steady bright glow. They can cover thousands of square miles and, thanks to the colorful accounts of 19th-century mariners like Capt. Kingman, milky seas are a well-known part of maritime folklore. But beca