Vega-C: Launcher integration begins for inaugural flight VV21
Thursday, 21 April 2022 12:30
Launcher integration for the inaugural flight of Vega-C began with the P120C solid-fuel first stage being delivered to the Vega Launch Zone (Zone de Lancement Vega, or ZLV) at Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana on 15 April 2022. P120C will also fly on Ariane 6, with two or four units serving as boosters depending on mission requirements.
The interstage segment to join the P120C first stage with the Z40 second stage followed on the 22nd.
For flight VV21, the principal payload will be LARES-2, a scientific mission of the Italian Space Agency (ASI). Also onboard will be six European
Planet Pelicans to offer high resolution and revisit rates
Thursday, 21 April 2022 11:00
The Pelican constellation, scheduled to begin launching in early 2023 will offer at least 10 daily views of Earth’s land mass and as many as 32 views of midlatitude locations with a resolution of 30 centimeters per pixel.
Astrobotic lunar lander on track for late 2022 launch
Thursday, 21 April 2022 08:37
Astrobotic Technology showed off its nearly complete lunar lander it is building for NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program and said the spacecraft remains on schedule to launch this year.
The post Astrobotic lunar lander on track for late 2022 launch appeared first on SpaceNews.
Highlights from the test campaign of the Smile payload module in Europe
Thursday, 21 April 2022 08:00
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This video shows the payload module for the Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (Smile) undergoing a series of different environmental tests at both Airbus Madrid, Spain, and the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, the Netherlands.
These milestones include integration of the Soft X-ray Imager and ultraviolet instruments on the payload module (October 2021, Airbus Madrid); preparing and completing thermal testing of the payload module (11–24 Jan 2022, ESA/ESTEC); deploying the 3 m-long magnetometer boom under helium-filled balloons to simulate the weightlessness of space (27 Jan 2022, ESA/ESTEC); vibration testing (Feb 2022, Airbus Madrid);
South Korea’s double-digit space budget boost
Thursday, 21 April 2022 07:13
South Korea is boosting its space spending this year by 19% over 2021 levels as it seeks to bounce back from October’s failed attempt to prove it can put up a satellite without Russian rocket hardware.
NASA selects six companies to demonstrate commercial successors to TDRS
Thursday, 21 April 2022 07:05
Six companies, including both traditional satellite operators and constellation developers, have won NASA awards to demonstrate services that could ultimately replace the agency’s existing fleet of communications satellites.
The post NASA selects six companies to demonstrate commercial successors to TDRS appeared first on SpaceNews.
Ground-based rover’s touch shared with astronaut in space
Thursday, 21 April 2022 03:55
If man’s best friend is a dog, then in the future astronauts’ closest companions might well be rovers. A technique allowing astronauts in orbit to control rovers exploring planetary surfaces has been developed by a research team from ESA, the German Aerospace Center DLR and European academia and industry, culminating in an Earth-based rover session commanded from the International Space Station. A paper published in the prestigious Science Robotics journal this week details their results.
NASA Crew-4 preps for launch but liftoff delayed as Ax-1 mission waits to leave ISS
Thursday, 21 April 2022 02:30
NASA's next crew of astronauts planned to launch no earlier than Saturday, but space agency officials are preparing to delay the flight because of weather problems preventing the return of Axiom Space's first mission crew from the International Space Station.
The Ax-1 crew originally planned for a 10-day mission, part of the first-ever private astronaut mission to the International Spac Mars rover searches for evidence of past life at ancient river delta
Thursday, 21 April 2022 02:30
NASA's Perseverance rover, searching for evidence of past life on Mars, has completed a 31-Martian-day journey of roughly 3 miles after collecting eight rock-core samples from its first science campaign.
As of April 13, the rover was "at the doorstep of Jezero Crater's ancient Martian river delta" searching for signs of microscopic life, according to NASA.
"The delta at Jezero Cr Space Security Challenge 2022: Hack-A-Sat 3 Registration Opens
Thursday, 21 April 2022 02:30
The U.S. Air and Space Force, in collaboration with the security research community, opened registration April 8 for the qualification round of the third annual Space Security Challenge: Hack-A-Sat satellite hacking competition.
Hack-A-Sat enables and encourages security researchers of all levels to focus their skills, creativity and innovative thinking on solving cybersecurity challenges Will LISA see the gravity waves 10 picoseconds after the Big Bang
Thursday, 21 April 2022 02:30
The early universe may chirp about unknown physics. A University of Helsinki research team has demonstrated how an early universe phase transition will lead to gravitational wave signals potentially visible in the upcoming satellite missions. The research results were recently published in the prestigious journal Physical Review Letters.
Phase transitions, such as the boiling of water or t NASA's X-59 arrives back in California following critical ground tests
Thursday, 21 April 2022 02:30
The X-59, NASA's quiet supersonic experimental aircraft, has arrived back at Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California, following several months of critical ground tests in Ft. Worth, Texas.
Ground tests on the X-59 were done to ensure the aircraft's ability to withstand the loads and stresses of supersonic flight - or flight at speeds faster than Mach 1. The vehicle's Chinese satellite obtains global gravity field data
Thursday, 21 April 2022 02:30
China's Tianqin-1 satellite has acquired the global gravity field data during its in-orbit operation, according to Sun Yat-sen University in south China's Guangdong Province.
The satellite was launched in December 2019 to test the technologies of the space-based gravitational wave detection program "Tianqin." The program Tianqin, meaning "harp in the sky," was initiated by the university i California field campaign is helping scientists protect diverse ecosystems
Thursday, 21 April 2022 02:30
With a plane crisscrossing the sky and researchers working on land and sea, the Surface Biology and Geology High-Frequency Time Series campaign (SHIFT) combines the ability of airborne science instruments to gather data over widespread areas with the more concentrated observations scientists conduct in the field to study natural environments.
SHIFT is jointly led by NASA's Jet Propulsion L Planet Partners with SynMax to Provide Energy Intelligence and Monitor Dark Vessels
Thursday, 21 April 2022 02:30
Planet Labs PBC (NYSE: PL), a leading provider of daily data and insights about Earth, has partnered with SynMax, a Houston-based satellite analytics and intelligence company, to provide data-informed insights on the energy industry within the United States and monitor the movements of dark vessels around the globe.
With Planet's daily PlanetScope imagery, SynMax monitors the location of h