ESA and Airbus have signed a contract to move forward with the design and construction of the Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey, Ariel, planned for launch in 2029.

Midland TX (SPX) Dec 06, 2021
AST SpaceMobile, the company building the first and only space-based cellular broadband network accessible directly by standard mobile phones, has provided updated timing for the launch of its next satellite, BlueWalker 3. As discussed on the recent Third Quarter 2021 Business Update call and disclosed in its third quarter Form 10-Q, AST SpaceMobile had been evaluating whether to rebook th

Daytona Beach, FL (SPX) Dec 06, 2021
Aviation Maintenance Science (AMS) students have been drawing attention in recent years from a new suitor: commercial space companies. With at least 16 students from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's AMS program hired at SpaceX and Blue Origin within the past six years, program leaders credit a steady evolution in the aviation and aerospace sectors - namely, the commercial space boom: an i

London, UK (SPX) Dec 06, 2021
An international team of astronomers led by researchers from the Netherlands has found no trace of dark matter in the galaxy AGC 114905, despite taking detailed measurements over a course of fourty hours with state-of-the-art telescopes. They will present their findings in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. When Pavel Mancera Pina (University of Groningen and ASTRON, the Ne

Pasadena CA (JPL) Dec 06, 2021
The new system improves the capabilities of NASA JPL's Center for Near Earth Object Studies to assess the impact risk of asteroids that can come close to our planet. To date, nearly 28,000 near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) have been found by survey telescopes that continually scan the night sky, adding new discoveries at a rate of about 3,000 per year. But as larger and more advanced survey tele

Beijing (XNA) Dec 06, 2021
It is "entirely possible" for China to perform a crewed lunar landing before 2030, said a senior Chinese scientist in deep-space exploration. "I personally think that as long as the technological research for manned moon landing continues, and as long as the country is determined (to achieve the goal), it is entirely possible for China to land people on the moon before 2030, " Ye Peijian

Houston (AFP) Dec 6, 2021
NASA announced Monday its 10 latest trainee astronauts, who include a firefighter turned Harvard professor, a former member of the national cycle team, and a pilot who led the first-ever all-woman F-22 formation in combat. The 2021 class was whittled down from a field of more than 12,000 applicants and will now report for duty in January at the Johnson Space Center in Texas, where they will

Kennedy Space Center FL (SPX) Dec 06, 2021
On Sun., Dec. 5, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket will launch the Space Test Program (STP)-3 mission for the U.S. Space Force (USSF) Space Systems Command (SSC) from Cape Canaveral, Fla. "This flight is a key milestone for us," said Dan Merenda, managing director RUAG Space USA. "For the very first time, a fully U.S.-made fairing from us will fly into space." It is also the first ti

Washington DC (UPI) Dec 6, 2021
Two Japanese businessmen plan to become the first paying tourists to visit the International Space Station since 2009 by rocketing into orbit from Kazakhstan on Wednesday. Billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, who made his fortune in the fashion industry, booked seats for himself and his production assistant, Yozo Hirano, aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft through Virginia-based spacecraft broker