SRI partners with Scout Space and Leidos for debris-tracking project
Wednesday, 04 October 2023 18:54
Space needs better 'parking spots' to stay usable, and an engineer is finding them
Wednesday, 04 October 2023 17:29
Any mission headed to space needs a "parking spot" at its destination. But these parking spots, regions located on orbits, are quickly becoming occupied or more vulnerable to collisions.
Most objects launching to space are satellites, which can travel faster than 4 miles per second in the regions where they park. About 10 times the number of satellites currently in space are expected to launch by 2030. Simultaneously, satellite constellations are increasing in number and size. These are groups of satellites working together as a system, such as for enabling GPS, observation of Earth, internet access and other types of communications.
SpaceX aims for its 50th Space Coast launch this year
Wednesday, 04 October 2023 16:37
SpaceX is targeting its 50th Space Coast launch of the year with another Starlink mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
A Falcon 9 carrying 22 of the company's Starlink satellites is slated for liftoff from Canaveral's Space Launch Complex 40 at 10:45 p.m. with four backup opportunities from 11:38 p.m. until 1:57 a.m. overnight and six backup opportunities late Thursday from 10:29 p.m. until 1:49 a.m. early Friday.
Space Launch Delta 45's weather squadron forecasts a 50% chance for good conditions with 70% chance in event of a 24-hour delay.
The booster on this flight is making its eighth flight and will attempt a recovery landing on the droneship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic Ocean.
This would be SpaceX's 70th orbital launch of the year across all of its launch pads in Florida and California. It's the 40th from Cape Canaveral with the other 10 Space Coast launches coming from Kennedy Space Center.
SpaceX will have managed 50 of the 53 total Space Coast launches this year with two so far from United Launch Alliance and one from Relativity Space making up the rest.
China to send new modules and co-orbiting spacecraft to Tiangong space station
Wednesday, 04 October 2023 13:08
Ozone hole goes large again
Wednesday, 04 October 2023 12:40
Measurements from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite show that this year’s ozone hole over Antarctica is one of the biggest on record. The hole, which is what scientists call an ‘ozone depleting area,’ reached a size of 26 million sq km on 16 September 2023. This is roughly three times the size of Brazil.
U.S. Space Force awards Booz Allen $630 million contract for satellite systems support
Wednesday, 04 October 2023 11:07
Big Earth imager to be tested on small Vega CubeSat
Wednesday, 04 October 2023 10:07
A briefcase-sized CubeSat being flown on Europe’s next Vega launcher this week will gather 340 km wide views of Earth’s vegetation growth, employing a spectral imager originally designed for ESA’s decade-in-flight Proba-V.
Study quantifies satellite brightness, challenges ground-based astronomy
Wednesday, 04 October 2023 09:46
The ability to have access to the Internet or use a mobile phone anywhere in the world is taken more and more for granted, but the brightness of Internet and telecommunications satellites that enable global communications networks could pose problems for ground-based astronomy. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign aerospace engineer Siegfried Eggl coordinated an international study confirming Space needs better 'parking spots' to stay usable
Wednesday, 04 October 2023 09:46
Any mission headed to space needs a "parking spot" at its destination. But these parking spots, regions located on orbits, are quickly becoming occupied or more vulnerable to collisions.
Most objects launching to space are satellites, which can travel faster than 4 miles per second in the regions where they park. About 10 times the number of satellites currently in space are expected to la China invites Chang'e-8 lunar probe mission global collaboration
Wednesday, 04 October 2023 09:46
The China National Space Administration (CNSA) is offering opportunities for international cooperation on payloads that will piggyback on the country's Chang'e-8 lunar exploration mission, slated for launch around 2028.
The Chang'e-8 mission is open to all countries and international organizations for collaboration at either mission, system or single-machine levels in order to encourage mo US slaps Satellite TV provider with first-ever space debris fine
Wednesday, 04 October 2023 09:46
US authorities said they have issued a "breakthrough" first-ever fine over space debris, slapping a $150,000 penalty on a TV company that failed to properly dispose of a satellite.
On Monday the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) came down on Dish for "failure to properly deorbit" a satellite called EchoStar-7, in orbit since 2002.
"This marks a first in space debris enforcement by SwRI scientists use Webb, Sofia telescopes to observe metallic asteroid
Wednesday, 04 October 2023 09:46
Southwest Research Institute scientists are using telescopes to observe the asteroid Psyche in the infrared, providing context for NASA's upcoming Psyche mission. Dr. Stephanie Jarmak is using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to look for water signatures on the metallic surface of Psyche, while Dr. Anicia Arredondo is using some of the last data collected by the Stratospheric Observatory fo Lunar ambitions boost space funding as investment set to reach $33 billion by 2032
Wednesday, 04 October 2023 09:46
Lunar exploration is the catalyst behind an unprecedented surge in the space exploration sector which saw global government investment rise to an impressive $26 billion during 2023. Ambitious lunar missions are projected to boost investment to nearly $33 billion by 2032, a growth trajectory which underscores lunar exploration's pivotal role in shaping the future of space exploration. The figures Large mound structures on Kuiper belt object Arrokoth may have common origin
Wednesday, 04 October 2023 09:46
A new study led by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) Planetary Scientist and Associate Vice President Dr. Alan Stern posits that the large, approximately 5-kilometer-long mounds that dominate the appearance of the larger lobe of the pristine Kuiper Belt object Arrokoth are similar enough to suggest a common origin. The SwRI study suggests that these "building blocks" could guide further work o Spain's MIURA 1 launch campaign kicks off
Wednesday, 04 October 2023 09:46
MIURA 1 launch campaign kicks off. PLD Space has successfully concluded the two pre-launch tests of the first flight unit of the Spanish launcher, specifically the umbilical cable tests and the Wet Dress Rehearsal (WDR). The positive results obtained during these tests effectively give the green light to the flight mission of the suborbital microlauncher.
The launch will take place this Oc