Northrop Grumman planning Cygnus upgrades
Thursday, 03 August 2023 10:49
Northrop Grumman is planning upgrades to its Cygnus cargo vehicle, such as increased payload capacity, to support both the International Space Station and future commercial space stations.
Just add AI for smarter satnav... from rogue drone detection to safer driving
Thursday, 03 August 2023 07:54
With our society producing more data than ever before, Artificial Intelligence, AI, is allowing us to gather, analyse and make use of it in novel ways, including in space programmes. Now AI is also being applied to satellite navigation by the engineering teams of ESA’s NAVISP programme, working with European industry and academia to invent the future of navigation. The result is a growing portfolio of prototype services, variously employed to improve space and Earth weather forecasting, enhance the performance of autonomous cars and boats, and help identify rogue drones in sensitive airspace.
Simulating Aeolus’s demise: a bird’s eye view
Thursday, 03 August 2023 07:30
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Aeolus’s mission is over, but weather forecasting is improved forever, and a new precedent has been set for safe satellite reentries. The trailblazing Earth Explorer returned through our atmosphere on 28 July, following the path it was guided on by ESA’s mission control over Earth’s most uninhabited regions, finally disintegrating over the Antarctic.
A week-long series of manoeuvres led to this point. They had never been performed before and pushed the satellite to its limits. Aeolus was never designed to fly at such low altitudes – its thrusters and fuel reserves were
Recycling parts for life on the Moon
Thursday, 03 August 2023 07:19
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Recycling parts for life on the Moon Probing the origin and evolution of water-rich asteroids
Thursday, 03 August 2023 02:07
More than half the work of the Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt is expected to be performed by UAE companies.
U.S. intelligence agency selects vendors for space debris tracking project
Wednesday, 02 August 2023 18:14
The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity selected four vendors to develop technologies and new approaches for tracking small debris objects in space.
Download the August issue of SpaceNews
Wednesday, 02 August 2023 17:18
Download a free copy of the August 2023 issue of SpaceNews presented by ReOrbit at SmallSat. **By downloading the issue you consent to SN marketing and partner communications, you can opt-out […]
Startup iRocket signs agreement to develop and test hardware at U.S. Air Force facility
Wednesday, 02 August 2023 13:00
Innovative Rocket Technologies, known as iRocket, has signed an agreement with the Air Force Research Laboratory to jointly develop and test rocket propulsion hardware.
Voyager Space and Airbus create commercial space station joint venture
Wednesday, 02 August 2023 10:54
Voyager Space is joining forces with Airbus Defence and Space on a joint venture for the development of the Starlab commercial space station.
Airbus partners with Voyager Space to build ISS replacement
Wednesday, 02 August 2023 10:39
Airbus and US space exploration firm Voyager Space announced Wednesday a joint venture to develop Starlab, a commercial alternative to replace the International Space Station (ISS) by the end of the decade.
The US-led venture with footing in Germany, where a number of Airbus Defence and Space sites are located, will "reliably meet the known demand from global space agencies while opening ne Science enabling heat and air conditioning for long-term space habitats is almost fully available
Wednesday, 02 August 2023 10:39
To live on the moon or Mars, humans will need heat and air conditioning that can operate long term in reduced gravity and temperatures hundreds of degrees above or below what we experience on Earth.
Building these systems requires knowing how reduced gravity affects boiling and condensation, which all heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems use to operate in Earth's gravity. Frosty the ChemCam: Sols 3902-3904
Wednesday, 02 August 2023 10:39
Earth planning date: Friday, July 28, 2023: Our Thursday drive on sol 3901 was successful and put us ~30 meters further from Bradbury Landing! That's a pretty typical-length drive for us, with the longest I've seen in my 3 years on this mission being ~100 meters or so. We've had a good luck streak recently - being able to get arm, remote sensing, and drives in all week! The only tight constraint Pixxel lands iDEX funding for miniaturized satellites development
Wednesday, 02 August 2023 10:39
In a remarkable development in the Indian space industry, Pixxel, a prominent name in the realm of hyperspectral earth-imaging technology, has been awarded a substantial grant by iDEX (Innovations for Defence Excellence). The grant, furnished under the aegis of the Ministry of Defence, is part of the Mission DefSpace Challenge under iDEX Prime (Space). It will facilitate the production of miniat NASA hears 'heartbeat' from Voyager 2 after inadvertant blackout
Wednesday, 02 August 2023 10:39
NASA's distant Voyager 2 probe has sent a "heartbeat" signal to Earth after mission control mistakenly cut contact, the US space agency said Tuesday.
Launched in 1977 to explore the outer planets and serve as a beacon of humanity to the wider universe, it is currently more than 12.3 billion miles (19.9 billion kilometers) from our planet - well beyond the solar system.
A series of plann Alabama Republicans blast decision to keep U.S. Space Command in Colorado
Wednesday, 02 August 2023 10:39
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., blasted President Joe Biden's decision Monday to keep the headquarters of U.S. Space Command in Colorado, after rejecting former President Donald Trump's plan to move it to Alabama, saying "this is absolutely not over."
According to a senior U.S. official, Biden decided against relocating the headquarters - which oversee the military's operations of space