Quantum sensing in outer space
Saturday, 18 March 2023 13:47Texas Engineers are leading a multi-university research team that will build technology and tools to improve measurement of important climate factors by observing atoms in outer space. They will focus on the concept of quantum sensing, which use quantum physics principles to potentially collect more precise data and enable unprecedented science measurements. These sensors could help satell
Rocket Lab to launch twin satellites for BlackSky from New Zealand
Saturday, 18 March 2023 13:47Rocket Lab USA, Inc (Nasdaq: RKLB) will launch a pair of satellites on a dedicated Electron mission for BlackSky (NYSE: BKSY) through global launch services provider Spaceflight, Inc., during a launch window opening March 22, 2023 UTC. The mission, named "The Beat Goes On," will launch two of BlackSky's Gen-2 Earth-imaging satellites from Pad B at Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New
Toodle-oo Tapo Caparo: Sols 3771-3772
Saturday, 18 March 2023 13:47Today, we finally leave Tapo Caparo and begin something new. But... actually, we are not going very far. Whilst sitting at Tapo Caparo, we spent some time looking around at the neighbourhood using Mastcam and ChemCam imaging. Not too far away, we spotted a workspace that includes two types of bedrock - a finely laminated bedrock (which is what we just drilled) and some bedrock with abundant nodu
Dragonfly Mass Spectrometer could reveal chemistry leading to life on Titan
Saturday, 18 March 2023 13:47A new NASA mission to Saturn's giant moon, Titan, is due to launch in 2027. When it arrives in the mid-2030s, it will begin a journey of discovery that could bring about a new understanding of the development of life in the universe. This mission, called Dragonfly, will carry an instrument called the Dragonfly Mass Spectrometer (DraMS), designed to help scientists hone in on the chemistry at wor
SpaceX lofts SES-18 and 19 C-Bands birds for US coverage
Saturday, 18 March 2023 13:47SES reports that the SES-18 and SES-19 satellites, designed and assembled by Northrop Grumman, were successfully launched by SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, United States, at 7:38 pm local time on Friday, March 17. The two American-made satellites are the fourth and fifth - and final - satellites to be launched as part of SES's C-band transition
Rocket Lab launches 34th Electron in second mission from Virginia
Saturday, 18 March 2023 13:47Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) has successfully launched its 34th Electron rocket and second mission from its launch site on Wallops Island, Virginia deploying two spacecraft to low Earth orbit for Capella Space. The "Stronger Together" mission lifted off at 22:38 UTC, March 16 2023 from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2 at Virginia Space's Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport within NASA's Wall
NASA announces future launch for USU-led space weather mission
Saturday, 18 March 2023 13:47NASA has announced that the launch of the Utah State University Space Dynamics Laboratory and College of Science-led Atmospheric Waves Experiment, or AWE, is scheduled for December 2023. The NASA-funded instrument will launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to the International Space Station. AWE Principal Investigator Michael Taylor from USU's College of Science leads a team of sc
ReOrbit Signs a Deal With SatixFy to Co-Develop the On-Board Processor for ReOrbit's Highly Flexible Software-Defined Satellite Gluon
Saturday, 18 March 2023 13:47ReOrbit, a leading provider of software-defined satellites, and SatixFy Communications Ltd. (NYSE AMERICAN: SATX), a leader in next-generation satellite communication systems based on in-house developed chipsets, announced today a purchase deal of a communication subsystem for ReOrbit's Gluon platform. Gluon is a highly flexible software-defined satellite platform, capable of accommodating
Mit 3D-printed revolving devices can sense how they are moving
Saturday, 18 March 2023 13:47Integrating sensors into rotational mechanisms could make it possible for engineers to build smart hinges that know when a door has been opened, or gears inside a motor that tell a mechanic how fast they are rotating. MIT engineers have now developed a way to easily integrate sensors into these types of mechanisms, with 3D printing. Even though advances in 3D printing enable rapid fabricat
SpaceX sets a new doubleheader record launch for SES
Saturday, 18 March 2023 08:40Establishing a new record of only four hours between a launch of Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, earlier today and a pair of geostationary-bound satellites for SES from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS), Florida. A Luxembourg-based telecommunications company, SES S.A., sent two C-band television broadcasting satellites atop a 229-foot-tall (70-met
SpaceX launches final two satellites in SES C-band clearing plan
Saturday, 18 March 2023 00:32SpaceX launched the last two satellites March 17 that SES needs to claim C-band spectrum clearing proceeds worth nearly $4 billion in total.
NASA weighing continuing VERITAS versus future Discovery mission
Friday, 17 March 2023 22:33Budget pressures in NASA’s planetary science program could force the agency to choose between continuing a mission to Venus that has already been delayed or requesting proposals for a future mission.
Intelsat buys capacity on Hispasat’s Amazonas Nexus satellite
Friday, 17 March 2023 21:15Intelsat has acquired a “significant amount” of capacity from the recently launched Amazonas Nexus satellite to meet demand for connectivity over the Americas, an executive for the company told SpaceNews.
FCC unveils proposed satellite direct-to-device regulatory framework
Friday, 17 March 2023 19:56The U.S. Federal Communications Commission unveiled its proposed framework March 17 for regulating the use of terrestrial wireless spectrum from space for connecting smartphones beyond the reach of cell towers.
The best way to learn about Venus could be with a fleet of balloons
Friday, 17 March 2023 17:10Interest in the exploration of Venus has kicked up a notch lately, especially after a contested recent discovery of phosphine, a potential biosignature, in the planet's atmosphere. Plenty of missions to Venus have been proposed, and NASA and ESA have recently funded several. However, they are mainly orbiters, trying to peer into the planet's interior from above. But they are challenged by having to see through dozens of kilometers of an atmosphere made up of sulfuric acid.
That same atmosphere is challenging for ground missions. While some of the recently funded missions include a component on the ground, they are missing an opportunity that isn't afforded on many other planets in the solar system—riding along in the atmosphere. Technologists have proposed everything from simple balloons to entire floating cities—we even heard of a plan to enclose the entirety of Venus in a shell and live on the surface of that shell.