Satellites in orbit can become absentminded. Space radiation randomly flips onboard memory bits, potentially corrupting mission data and functionality. To better understand how this invisible onslaught works in practice, a team systematically analysed how radiation affected the memories of ESA’s three Swarm spacecraft during a decade of mapping Earth’s magnetic field.

Less than a week after its launch, the Copernicus Sentinel-1C satellite has delivered its first radar images of Earth – offering a glimpse into its capabilities for environmental monitoring. These initial images feature regions of interest, including Svalbard in Norway, the Netherlands, and Brussels, Belgium.

Today, ESA’s powerful X-ray observatory, XMM-Newton, celebrates 25 years in space. From planets to black holes, the space telescope has delivered many ground-breaking observations of a variety of celestial objects. And the mission is still going strong as recent results testify. We take a look at five fascinating discoveries from the last five years.

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 10, 2024
China's Long March 10, the next-generation manned launch vehicle, is set to significantly enhance the nation's lunar mission capabilities, increasing its lunar transfer orbit payload capacity from 8.2 tonnes to an impressive 27 tonnes. This development was announced by Long Lehao, a senior rocket designer at the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT). Long March 10 is designed t

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Dec 10, 2024
Photonic time crystals, materials with consistent spatial composition but periodically varying properties over time, offer innovative pathways for optical information processing. These materials can modulate and amplify light's spectral composition, enabling advanced functionality. "This gives us new degrees of freedom but also poses a lot of challenges," said Professor Carsten Rockstuhl from Ka

Paris, France (SPX) Dec 10, 2024
Space42 (ADX: SPACE42), a leading UAE-based AI-driven SpaceTech firm, and ICEYE, a global authority in Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite operations, have announced a joint venture to produce SAR satellites in the UAE. This partnership builds on their collaboration, highlighted by the successful launch of the UAE's first SAR satellite, Foresight-1, in August 2024. The joint venture f

Paris, France (SPX) Dec 05, 2024
A team of international astronomers has used the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope to uncover previously hidden galaxies in the Spiderweb protocluster. These findings challenge earlier assumptions about the role of gravitational interactions in dense cosmic regions, offering fresh insights into galaxy formation within these large-scale structures. The Spiderweb protocluster, a well-d

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 08, 2024
The International Space Station (ISS) wrapped up the week with a focus on robotics, microbiology, and space agriculture as the Expedition 72 crew tackled an intensive schedule of scientific investigations and maintenance. Preparations for an upcoming spacewalk and continued work on the station's systems rounded out the crew's activities. NASA astronaut and station commander Suni Williams c

Paris, France (SPX) Dec 10, 2024
On December 1, 2024, the European Space Agency's BepiColombo mission completed its fifth flyby of Mercury, marking a historic first by capturing the planet in mid-infrared light. The unprecedented images provide fresh insights into the temperature and mineral composition of Mercury's cratered surface. Mercury, the least-explored terrestrial planet in the Solar System, has only been visited

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 05, 2024
The longevity of space telescopes is improving as researchers devise serviceable designs for future observatories. Inspired by current missions like the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the European Space Agency's Gaia, a new servicing plan has been developed to ensure these powerful tools can operate for longer periods. "Although the next generation of large space telescopes are bein