Endurosat and Exolaunch announce launch agreements for Spacex Falcon 9 Rideshare Missions
Tuesday, 05 October 2021 09:35EnduroSat and Exolaunch have signed f launch agreements for sending two EnduroSat NanoSats into orbit aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9. The 6U XL SharedSat nanosatellites, built by EnduroSat for its customers, will be launched via Exolaunch in H1 2022 as part of SpaceX's SmallSat Rideshare Program. The SharedSats are 6U XL NanoSats with several multi-purpose payloads on a single bus. By simplifyin
China's space refueling vehicle makes debut at Airshow China 2021
Tuesday, 05 October 2021 09:35A space refueling vehicle built by China made its debut at the ongoing 13th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition (Airshow China 2021). The refueling vehicle has been developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST) under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. Lifespans of satellites could be extended thanks to the space refueling ve
China plans to build special site for weekly launch of Long March 8 rockets
Tuesday, 05 October 2021 09:35China plans to build a special pad at the Wenchang Space Launch Site in Hainan to launch the next-generation Long March 8 rockets on a weekly basis, the head of the Long March 8 project at the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), Xiao Yun, said on 4 October. "Our current preliminary plan is that we will be able to carry out one launch every seven days to meet public n
BepiColombo's first views of Mercury
Tuesday, 05 October 2021 09:35The ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission has captured its first views of its destination planet Mercury as it swooped past in a close gravity assist flyby last night. The closest approach took place at 23:34 UTC on 1 October at an altitude of 199 km from the planet's surface. Images from the spacecraft's monitoring cameras, along with scientific data from a number of instruments, were collected during t
New small satellite platform debuts
Tuesday, 05 October 2021 09:35China is offering a small communication satellite platform to countries seeking an affordable solution for their own space-based internet networks. The DFH-3E satellite platform was designed by the China Academy of Space Technology, a subsidiary of the State-owned space conglomerate, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. It is the country's first small satellite platform designed fo
GomSpace signs a contract with SpaceAble to enhance the sustainability of Low Earth Orbit
Tuesday, 05 October 2021 09:35GomSpace signs a contract with SpaceAble to enhance the sustainability of Low Earth Orbit GomSpace enters into an agreement with SpaceAble, to enhance the sustainability of Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The contract is worth 21MSEK (US$2.4M) and the project will begin in 2021 with expected delivery in late 2023. The mission is designed to enhance the sustainability of LEO. By tracking the i
Space Force selects more than 900 personnel to transfer FY22
Tuesday, 05 October 2021 09:35The Space Force, working with the Army, Navy and Marine Corps, has selected 670 active-duty service members and 259 civilians to transfer into the Space Force during fiscal year 2022. These volunteers come from the pool of candidates who applied in March 2021 and members who are currently assigned to Army and Navy units slated to transfer into the new service. These new selects join the in
Zeroing in on the origins of Earth's "single most important evolutionary innovation"
Tuesday, 05 October 2021 09:35Some time in Earth's early history, the planet took a turn toward habitability when a group of enterprising microbes known as cyanobacteria evolved oxygenic photosynthesis - the ability to turn light and water into energy, releasing oxygen in the process. This evolutionary moment made it possible for oxygen to eventually accumulate in the atmosphere and oceans, setting off a domino effect
Arianespace to launch GSAT-24 satellite for NSIL with Ariane 5
Tuesday, 05 October 2021 09:35On September 28, 2021, NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) entrusted Arianespace with the launch of its GSAT-24 telecommunications satellite. GSAT-24 is scheduled for launch in the 1st quarter of 2022, from the Guiana Space Center, Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on one of the seven Ariane 5 missions remaining to be performed with the heavy-lift launcher. This Ku-band satellite is a
Aerojet Rocketdyne completes Space Launch System rocket engine test series
Tuesday, 05 October 2021 09:35The latest RS-25 engine test at NASA's Stennis Space Center completed the Retrofit-2 test series, which validated modernized, lower-cost components for new RS-25 engines to be used on the Space Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift rocket. RS-25 development test engine No. 0528 completed a full duration firing of 500 seconds and reached 109% of its originally designed Space Shuttle Main Engine po
NASA issues contracts to mature electrified aircraft propulsion technologies
Tuesday, 05 October 2021 09:35NASA has selected two U.S. companies to support its Electric Powertrain Flight Demonstration (EPFD) that will rapidly mature Electrified Aircraft Propulsion (EAP) technologies through ground and flight demonstrations. Through the EPFD program, NASA seeks to introduce EAP technologies to U.S. aviation fleets no later than 2035, supporting short-range and regional commercial air travel, as w
UAE to launch probe targeting asteroid between Mars, Jupiter
Tuesday, 05 October 2021 08:55The United Arab Emirates on Tuesday announced plans to send a probe to land on an asteroid between Mars and Jupiter to collect data on the origins of the universe, the latest project in the oil-rich federation's ambitious space program.
The project targets a 2028 launch with a landing in 2033, a five-year journey in which the spacecraft will travel some 3.6 billion kilometers (2.2 billion miles).
The UAE's Space Agency said it will partner with the Laboratory for Atmospheric Science and Physics at the University of Colorado on the project. It declined to immediately offer a cost for the effort.
The project comes after the Emirates successfully put its Amal, or "Hope," probe in orbit around Mars in February. The car-size Amal cost $200 million to build and launch. That excludes operating costs at Mars.
The Emirates plans to send an unmanned spacecraft to the moon in 2024. The country, which is home to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, also has set the ambitious goal to build a human colony on Mars by 2117.
Explore further
Russian crew docks at ISS to film first movie in space (Update)
Tuesday, 05 October 2021 08:44A Russian actress and director blasted off to the International Space Station on Tuesday in a historic bid to best the United States to film the first movie in orbit.
The Russian crew is set to beat a Hollywood project that was announced last year by "Mission Impossible" star Tom Cruise together with NASA and Elon Musk's SpaceX.
Actress Yulia Peresild, 37, and film director Klim Shipenko, 38, took off from the Russia-leased Baikonur Cosmodrome in ex-Soviet Kazakhstan at the expected time of 0855 GMT, with docking scheduled for 1212 GMT.
"Launch as planned," the head of the Roscosmos space agency, Dmitry Rogozin, said on Twitter.
Led by veteran cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, the film crew will travel in a Soyuz MS-19 spaceship for a 12-day mission at the ISS to film scenes for "The Challenge".
A live broadcast on Russian TV showed the Soyuz spacecraft ascending into a cloudless sky.
Russian crew arrives at space station to film first movie in orbit
Tuesday, 05 October 2021 08:44A Russian actress and director blasted off to the International Space Station on Tuesday in a historic bid to best the United States to film the first movie in orbit.
The Russian crew is set to beat a Hollywood project that was announced last year by "Mission Impossible" star Tom Cruise together with NASA and Elon Musk's SpaceX.
Actress Yulia Peresild, 37, and film director Klim Shipenko, 38, took off from the Russia-leased Baikonur Cosmodrome in ex-Soviet Kazakhstan at the expected time of 0855 GMT, with docking scheduled for 1212 GMT.
"Launch as planned," the head of the Roscosmos space agency, Dmitry Rogozin, said on Twitter.
Led by veteran cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, the film crew will travel in a Soyuz MS-19 spaceship for a 12-day mission at the ISS to film scenes for "The Challenge".
A live broadcast on Russian TV showed the Soyuz spacecraft ascending into a cloudless sky.
HySpecIQ turns to BridgeComm for optical downlinks
Tuesday, 05 October 2021 02:46Hyperspectral analytics company HySpecIQ and optical communications specialist BridgeComm announced an agreement to integrate BridgeComm's high-speed optical downlink with HySpecIQ satellites destined for low Earth orbit.