Galileo satellites' last step before launch
Thursday, 03 June 2021 13:50
Europe's Galileo satellite navigation constellation is set to grow. Later this year the first two out of 12 "Batch 3" Galileo satellites will be launched by Soyuz from French Guiana. Their last step on the way to launch is situated beside sand dunes on the Dutch coast: the ESTEC Test Center, which is Europe's largest satellite test facility.
All but two of the 26 Galileo satellites already in orbit underwent pre-flight testing at this 3000 sq. m environmentally-controlled complex, hosting test equipment to simulate all aspects of spaceflight. The Test Center is operated and managed by European Test Services for ESA.
All 12 Batch 3 satellites—functionally similar to the Full Operational Capability satellites already in orbit—are scheduled to come here from OHB in Germany to assess their readiness for space, before heading on to French Guiana.
LeoLabs raises $65 million in Series B funding round
Thursday, 03 June 2021 12:00
SAN FRANCISCO – LeoLabs plans to accelerate deployment of its global radar network and expand space situational awareness services with $65 million raised in a Series B financing round announced June 3.
“The services we are rolling out are becoming critical for the space industry and we’ve got the technology down with our radar rollouts and our software platform,” Dan Ceperley, LeoLabs CEO and co-founder, told SpaceNews.
Worms blast off into space for muscle loss mission
Thursday, 03 June 2021 11:24
Thousands of tiny worms will be launched into space today (3 June) to help scientists to understand more about muscle loss and how to prevent it.
Led by scientists from the University of Nottingham and the University of Exeter, with hardware designed by Oxford-based Kayser Space, the research team aims to determine the causes of muscle changes during spaceflight and find ways to mitigate these biological changes.
Spaceflight is an extreme environment that causes many negative changes to the body, with astronauts losing up to 40 percent of their muscle after six months in space.
Based on these changes, spaceflight is regarded as an excellent model to enhance understanding of aging, inactivity and certain clinical conditions on different body systems.
Studying changes in muscle that occur with spaceflight could lead to more effective therapies and new treatments for age-associate muscle loss and muscular dystrophies.
Previous research revealed that the microscopic worm, C. elegans, and humans experience similar molecular changes in space that affect muscle and metabolism.
This new mission, which follows on from previous research carried out by the same research team in 2018, will see the worms once again launched into space to try to identify the precise molecules that cause these problems.
Small packages with big benefits aboard SpX-22
Thursday, 03 June 2021 11:21
When the Falcon 9 rocket launches on June 3, it will be carrying thousands of pounds of cargo to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX's 22nd commercial resupply services mission. Yet the last five items to be loaded will weigh less than an ounce. These include two plant and two animal species along with a microbial study. Scientists will examine these to better understand how to prepare future astronauts for the rigors of long-distance space travel, as well as unlock a few secrets that may benefit all of humankind back on Earth.
Briefly, the two animal experiments and the microbial study consist of:
Astronomers calculate genesis of Oort cloud in chronological order
Thursday, 03 June 2021 10:45
A team of Leiden astronomers has managed to calculate the first 100 million years of the history of the Oort cloud in its entirety. Until now, only parts of the history had been studied separately. The cloud, with roughly 100 billion comet-like objects, forms an enormous shell at the edge of our solar system. The astronomers will soon publish their comprehensive simulation and its consequences in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.
The Oort cloud was discovered in 1950 by the Dutch astronomer Jan Hendrik Oort to explain why there continue to be new comets with elongated orbits in our solar system. The cloud, which starts at more than 3000 times the distance between the Earth and the Sun, should not be confused with the Kuiper belt.
Launcher raises $11.7 million Series A round
Thursday, 03 June 2021 10:27
WASHINGTON — Small launch vehicle developer Launcher has raised $11.7 million in a Series A funding round, which the company says puts it on a path to reaching orbit with a fraction of the total investment of other launch startups.
Galileo satellites’ last step before launch
Thursday, 03 June 2021 10:04
Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation constellation is set to grow. Later this year the first two out of 12 ‘Batch 3’ Galileo satellites will be launched by Soyuz from French Guiana. Their last step on the way to launch is situated beside sand dunes on the Dutch coast: the ESTEC Test Centre, which is Europe’s largest satellite test facility.
Axiom Space purchases three Crew Dragon missions
Thursday, 03 June 2021 09:46
WASHINGTON — Axiom Space has signed a contract with SpaceX for three additional Crew Dragon missions, enough to meet its projections for private astronaut missions to the International Space Station through at least 2023.
Axiom, which already has a deal with SpaceX for the Ax-1 mission to the ISS launching in early 2022, said June 2 the new contract covers the projected Ax-2, 3 and 4 missions to the station.
China launches Fengyun-4B meteorological satellite
Thursday, 03 June 2021 09:40
HELSINKI — China successfully sent the Fengyun-4B weather satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit Wednesday with the country’s 16th orbital launch of 2021.
TMC Technologies wins contract to support NASA's IV&V Program
Thursday, 03 June 2021 08:19
TMC Technologies of West Virginia, a leading-edge technology services firm, is proud to announce it has been awarded a five-year, Blanket Purchase Agreement, with a ceiling value of $24 million, by NASA to provide advanced systems and software engineering services in support of the Katherine Johnson Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) Facility, home of NASA's IV&V Program in Fairmont, Worms on a mission to research muscle loss in space
Thursday, 03 June 2021 08:19
Today hundreds of tiny worms are being flown to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of an experiment to understand more about human muscle loss and how to prevent it.
Led by scientists from Nottingham and Exeter University, with hardware designed by Oxford-based Kayser Space, a research team aims to determine the causes of muscle changes during spaceflight and find ways to mitiga Government fund will support new ideas for cleaning up space
Thursday, 03 June 2021 08:19
Space firms are being invited to apply for a share of up to 800,000 pounds in funding from the UK Space Agency to develop ideas for space debris removal missions.
One of the biggest global challenges facing the space sector is orbital congestion and space debris. There are currently an estimated 900,000 pieces of space debris including old satellites, spent rocket bodies and even tools dro NASA announces two new missions to Venus
Thursday, 03 June 2021 08:19
NASA announced two new missions to Venus on Wednesday that will launch at the end of the decade and are aimed at learning how Earth's nearest planetary neighbor became a hellscape while our own thrived.
"These two sister missions both aim to understand how Venus became an inferno-like world, capable of melting lead at the surface," said Bill Nelson, the agency's newly-confirmed administrator The Incredible Adventures of the Hera mission - Presenting Hera
Thursday, 03 June 2021 08:19
Meet Hera, our very own asteroid detective. Together with two briefcase-sized Cubesats - Milani the rock decoder and Juventas the radar visionary - Hera is off on an adventure to explore Didymos and Dimorphos, an asteroid pair typical of the thousands that pose an impact risk to planet Earth.
Planetary defence requires planetary cooperation. Hera is set to rendezvous with the asteroid pair NASA picks Venus as hot spot for two new robotic missions
Thursday, 03 June 2021 06:34
NASA is returning to sizzling Venus, our closest yet perhaps most overlooked neighbor, after decades of exploring other worlds.
The space agency's new administrator, Bill Nelson, announced two new robotic missions to the solar system's hottest planet, during his first major address to employees Wednesday.