Hughes selected by OneWeb for Ground system development and production under new $250 million contract
Sunday, 20 December 2020 04:14Hughes Network Systems has been chosen by OneWeb, the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) broadband satellite communications company, to develop and manufacture essential ground system technology for the new LEO constellation. In a three-year contract valued at approximately $250 million, Hughes will produce the gateway electronics for the OneWeb system as well as the core module that will be used in every us
Exotrail secures French government support to develop propulsion technologies for small GEO satellites
Sunday, 20 December 2020 04:14The French Armament General Directorate, through the Defence Innovation Agency, is supporting Exotrail to develop technologies allowing small satellites to operate in geostationary orbit. Under the RAPID programme, a funding framework operated by the Defence Innovation Agency, Exotrail will mature its technologies and extend their product portfolio to provide thrust vectoring and cold gas propul
UP42 to Offer Smart Satellite Data from Australia's LatConnect 60 on the UP42 Geospatial Marketplace
Sunday, 20 December 2020 04:14UP42 has announced that image data and information from the planned LatConnect 60 constellation of mid-inclined orbit remote sensing satellites will be available on the UP42 developer platform for Earth observation data and analytics. In early 2022, LatConnect 60 will launch its first two "smart" small satellites equipped with onboard Artificial Intelligence (AI) for data pre-processing an
Graduate student's BADASS code has astronomical benefits
Sunday, 20 December 2020 04:14An astro-statistics course University of California, Riverside, graduate student Remington O. Sexton took three years ago taught him techniques that led him to develop free, open-source code benefiting astronomers everywhere. Called BADASS, which stands for Bayesian AGN Decomposition Analysis for SDSS Spectra, the code in its current form fits astronomical spectra of active galactic nuclei
Lockheed Martin to acquire Aerojet Rocketdyne for $4.4 billion
Sunday, 20 December 2020 00:27WASHINGTON — The largest U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin announced Dec. 20 it has inked a deal to acquire rocket engine and missile manufacturer Aerojet Rocketdyne for $4.4 billion.
James Taiclet, Lockheed Martin’s president and CEO, said the acquisition gives the company a larger footprint in space and hypersonic technology.
Op-ed | Protecting our assets from space debris
Saturday, 19 December 2020 19:25On Nov. 2, the United States and its International Space Station partner nations celebrated 20 years of humans continuously living and working in outer space. Much has changed in the space environment over the past two decades, but one thing is clear: congestion in space — especially the explosive growth in space debris — has created an increasingly dangerous environment for our astronauts and satellites in orbit.
Russian cosmonaut says new air leak on ISS Zvezda module not critical
Saturday, 19 December 2020 06:32Russian cosmonaut and former commander of the International Space Station (ISS) Pavel Vinogradov told Sputnik on Saturday that the new air leak on the ISS Zvezda module did not pose any serious danger. On Friday, experts from the Moscow Region-based Mission Control Center asked the ISS crew to help locate the air leak in the Russian module Zvezda, as the station's gas reserves to compensat
SpaceX launches U.S. spy satellite; Falcon 9 first stage returns
Saturday, 19 December 2020 06:32orlando FL (UPI) Dec 21, 2020 SpaceX launched the company's second spy satellite mission for the U.S. government Saturday morning. The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 9 a.m. EST from Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The payload fairing separated about 2 1/2 minutes after liftoff. The reusable Falcon 9 rocket landed at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station about 8 1/2 minutes afte
Mission accomplished, now on to the next: China Daily editorial
Saturday, 19 December 2020 06:32The Chang'e 5 lunar mission has been declared a complete success after the reentry capsule carrying rock and soil samples from the moon landed safely in the designated area early on Thursday. Congratulations to all those who have participated in and contributed to this groundbreaking accomplishment. This is no doubt a solid step forward for the indigenous space industry, and potentially of
Success of lunar mission hailed
Saturday, 19 December 2020 06:32President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory message on Thursday on the success of the Chang'e 5 mission, China's most sophisticated and challenging space adventure, which has brought back the world's first lunar samples in more than 40 years. On behalf of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the State Council and the Central Military Commission, Xi extended warm congratulations a
China plans to launch four manned spacecraft in next two years
Saturday, 19 December 2020 06:32China plans to launch four manned spacecraft as part of its space station construction program in the next two years, said an official with the China National Space Administration (CNSA) Thursday. China's manned space program will be very busy in 2021 and 2022, said Wu Yanhua, vice administrator of the CNSA, at a press conference on China's Chang'e-5 lunar mission. Wu said a total of
Lunar rocks, soil brought back by Chang'e 5 handed over to scientists
Saturday, 19 December 2020 06:32About 1,700 grams of lunar rocks and soil brought back by China's Chang'e 5 robotic probe were transferred to Chinese scientists for research on Saturday morning, according to the China National Space Administration. The samples were handed over by Zhang Kejian, head of the space administration, to Hou Jianguo, president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, at a delivery ceremony in Beijing
Loss of Vega flight VV17 report issued
Saturday, 19 December 2020 06:32Initial investigations, conducted right after the launch with the available data, identified a problem related to the integration of the fourth-stage AVUM Thrust Vector Control (TVC) system as being the most likely cause of the loss of control of the launcher. Arianespace (the launch service provider) and the European Space Agency (ESA - the launch system development authority) immediately
UCF developed sensor passes first test, on track for future moon missions
Saturday, 19 December 2020 06:32A prototype sensor that detects Moon dust by shooting lasers through the sky has successfully completed its first hurdle. That means UCF is one step closer to building the real instrument that could fly to the moon on a future mission. UCF researchers designed the Ejecta STORM instrument to scan the area around a lunar lander for moondust and other hazards based on a concept planetary scie
Knowledge of asteroid composition to help avert collisions
Saturday, 19 December 2020 06:32The European Space Agency ESA and NASA are working together to determine how the Earth might be protected against the threat posed by asteroids by altering their trajectory. VTT is taking part in the project by determining the mineral composition of the asteroids. This is happening for the first time with a nanosatellite mounted hyperspectral camera. The joint ESA and NASA mission will tes