Privateer unveils technology for improved tracking of space objects
Friday, 04 March 2022 11:55
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A new venture that emerged from stealth this week promises better information about objects in orbit and more tailored space situational awareness services for satellite operators.
The post Privateer unveils technology for improved tracking of space objects appeared first on SpaceNews.
The International Space Station may become a casualty of the Russian war in Ukraine
Friday, 04 March 2022 11:29 Write a comment
Will the Russian war on Ukraine lead to the demise of the International Space Station (ISS)?
Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, says Western sanctions resulting from its invasion of Ukraine have led Russia to question its commitment to the space station beyond 2024—news that casts doubt on the program's future. "We're in an unknown situation here," Scott Pace, a former executive secretary of the National Space Council, told The Wall Street Journal.
The space station is currently orbiting Earth at a speed of five miles per second with a crew that includes Russians and Americans. It has been a refuge from international conflict since its construction in 1998, says Mai'a Cross, the Edward W. Brooke Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at Northeastern. But the reverberations of the new war may extend beyond the atmosphere.
"It is impossible for this space station to exist without teamwork," says Cross, who is serving as guest editor of a special edition of The Hague Journal of Diplomacy that will be focused on space diplomacy. "Many people have said it is the greatest, biggest, and most expensive example of civil cooperation that has existed.
Earth from Space: Snowy Pyrenees
Friday, 04 March 2022 08:00 Write a comment
Today, the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over the Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe. The mountain range forms a natural border between France and Spain with the small, landlocked country of Andorra sandwiched in between.
Seeking out Moon and Mars superoxides for oxygen farming
Friday, 04 March 2022 08:00 Write a comment
The dusty faces of the Moon and Mars conceal unseen hazards for future explorers. Areas of highly oxidising material could be sufficiently reactive that they would produce chemical burns on astronauts’ unprotected skin or lungs. Taking inspiration from a pioneering search for Martian life, a Greek team is developing a device to detect these ‘reactive oxygen species’ – as well as harvest sufficient oxygen from them to keep astronauts breathing indefinitely.
Moon and Mars superoxides for oxygen farming
Friday, 04 March 2022 08:00 Write a comment
The dusty faces of the Moon and Mars conceal unseen hazards for future explorers. Areas of highly oxidising material could be sufficiently reactive that they would produce chemical burns on astronauts’ unprotected skin or lungs. Taking inspiration from a pioneering search for Martian life, a Greek team is developing a device to detect these ‘reactive oxygen species’ – as well as harvest sufficient oxygen from them to keep astronauts breathing indefinitely.
How space engineering supports sustainable development
Friday, 04 March 2022 07:50 Write a comment
What do artificial hearts, crack-free wind turbines, and pig sewage treatments have in common? Perhaps surprisingly, they have all benefitted from technology developed for space.
How commercial satellites are shaping the Ukraine conflict
Friday, 04 March 2022 05:36 Write a comment
From a huge Russian military convoy snaking its way to Kyiv to missile strikes and refugee crossings, commercial satellite imagery of the Ukraine conflict is helping lift the fog of war, illuminating for the public what was previously the domain of spy agencies.
Technologies that can pierce cloud cover and work at night are also coming to the fore, as a growing army of open-source intelligen The state of planetary defense in the 2020s
Friday, 04 March 2022 05:36 Write a comment
The Earth exists in a dangerous environment. Cosmic bodies, like asteroids and comets, are constantly zooming through space and often crash into our planet. Most of these are too small to pose a threat, but some can be cause for concern.
As a scholar who studies space and international security, it is my job to ask what the likelihood of an object crashing into the planet really is - and w Integrated deterrence is key to protecting US, Allies and Partners
Friday, 04 March 2022 05:36 Write a comment
Strategic competitors China and Russia have watched the Defense Department's way of projecting power for at least two decades, if not longer, the commander of U.S. Northern Command said.
"They understand if we're allowed to project that force forward, that won't turn out well. So, they've developed capabilities below the nuclear threshold to hold us at risk with the idea that they can dela Roscosmos Chief warns cyberattacks against Russian satellites sre 'Casus Belli'
Friday, 04 March 2022 05:36 Write a comment
It was earlier claimed that a hacker group called "NB65" had "shut down" the control centre of Russia's space agency Roscosmos.
Attempts by hackers to attack Russian satellites are "casus belli", said Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin.
"I want to warn those who are trying to do this that this is a crime that should be very severely punished, because the removal of the space grouping of a Sanctions on Russia add to troubles facing global helium industry
Friday, 04 March 2022 05:36 Write a comment
Helium is the second most-abundant element in the known universe, but to the semiconductor fabricators and doctors who rely on it for their businesses, it is better known as the latest raw material to grow scarce - and the war in Ukraine could make the shortage worse.
Russia is expected to eventually begin producing the equivalent of a third of the world's current helium production from a m Robotic OSAM-1 mission completes its Critical Design Review
Friday, 04 March 2022 05:36 Write a comment
NASA's On-orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing 1 (OSAM-1), a mission that will be the first to robotically refuel a satellite not designed to be serviced, and will also demonstrate assembly and manufacturing technologies and capabilities, has passed its mission critical design review (CDR). This is an important milestone that paves the way for the construction of the spacecraft, payloads Satellite operator OneWeb suspends Baikonur launches
Friday, 04 March 2022 05:36 Write a comment
Global satellite communications company OneWeb announced on Thursday that its board had voted to suspend all launches from Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Russia's space agency Roscosmos has sought guarantees from OneWeb and Europe's Arianespace that satellites it plans to launch this year will not be used for military purposes.
It also demanded the UK government give up its SpaceX launches 47 Starlink satellites from Florida
Friday, 04 March 2022 05:36 Write a comment
SpaceX launched another cluster of 47 of its own Starlink Internet communications satellites from Florida on Thursday, as company founder and CEO Elon Musk has confirmed Starlink use by the government of Ukraine during the conflict with Russia.
The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off as planned into a mostly sunny, blue sky at 9:25 a.m. EST from Complex 39 at Kennedy Space Center.
At 40 s "Closest black hole" system found to contain no black hole
Friday, 04 March 2022 05:36 Write a comment
In 2020 a team led by European Southern Observatory (ESO) astronomers reported the closest black hole to Earth, located just 1000 light-years away in the HR 6819 system. But the results of their study were contested by other researchers, including by an international team based at KU Leuven, Belgium. In a paper published this week these two teams have united to report that there is in fact no bl