Seraphim’s investment trust gets firepower for bigger space deals
Wednesday, 14 July 2021 17:36TAMPA, Fla. — Space startup investor Seraphim Capital’s investment trust started trading on the London Stock Exchange July 14, raising about $250 million for larger international acquisitions.
The listing gives the group “the firepower to become really impactful in this market,” Seraphim Capital CEO Mark Boggett told SpaceNews.
National Reconnaissance Office official picked to run Space Force acquisitions command
Wednesday, 14 July 2021 14:37WASHINGTON — President Biden has nominated the deputy director of the National Reconnaissance Office Maj. Gen. Michael Guetlein for promotion to lieutenant general and assignment as commander of the U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command.
NASA and ESA sign agreement on climate science cooperation
Wednesday, 14 July 2021 10:22WASHINGTON — NASA and the European Space Agency have agreed to cooperate on future Earth science missions and related activities in an effort to better understand climate change.
The leaders of the two agencies signed a joint statement of intent in a virtual meeting July 13, declaring their plans to cooperate on Earth science research, particularly involving climate change, ranging from missions to research and applications.
Chinese rocket companies are preparing for hop tests
Wednesday, 14 July 2021 10:15HELSINKI — A number of Chinese rocket firms are preparing to carry out first hop tests in a bid to develop reusable launch vehicles.
Video: Making Juice's thermal vacuum test happen
Wednesday, 14 July 2021 08:14Video: making Juice's thermal vacuum test happen
NASA, European Space Agency join forces on climate change
Wednesday, 14 July 2021 07:18NASA and the European Space Agency joined forces Tuesday in the battle against climate change, a move they said paves the way to a global response to the problem.
"To ensure that data from Earth-observing satellites are used to their best advantage, further science and, ultimately, bring the most benefit to humankind, ESA and NASA have formed a strategic partnership for Earth science and climate change," ESA said in a statement.
The partnership was formalised on Tuesday with a statement of intent signed by ESA's Director General Josef Aschbacher and NASA's Administrator Bill Nelson.
This aims "to pave the way to leading a global response to climate change, through the monitoring of the Earth and its environment with their combined efforts in Earth science observations, research and applications," the statement said.
The US and European space agencies have already worked together on environmental issues, notably on the Copernicus Sentinel-6 programme in which satellites about the size and shape of a large minivan measure sea level rise, tracking changes threatening to disrupt tens of millions of lives within a generation.
NASA Launches Entrepreneurs Challenge to identify innovative ideas
Wednesday, 14 July 2021 05:23NASA is announcing its 2021 Entrepreneurs Challenge to invite fresh ideas and new participants that will lead to new instruments and technologies with the potential to advance the agency's science mission goals. The agency's Science Mission Directorate is seeking novel ideas that focus on priority areas for the commercial sector. The Entrepreneurs Challenge aligns with NASA's goal to foste
Mars Helicopter reveals intriguing terrain for rover team
Wednesday, 14 July 2021 05:23Images snapped on July 5 by NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter on its ambitious ninth flight have offered scientists and engineers working with the agency's Perseverance Mars rover an unprecedented opportunity to scout out the road ahead. Ingenuity provided new insight into where different rock layers begin and end, each layer serving as a time capsule for how conditions in the ancient climate cha
Training an AI eye on the moon
Wednesday, 14 July 2021 05:23A Moon-scanning method that can automatically classify important lunar features from telescope images could significantly improve the efficiency of selecting sites for exploration. There is more than meets the eye to picking a landing or exploration site on the Moon. The visible area of the lunar surface is larger than Russia and is pockmarked by thousands of craters and crisscrossed by ca
The mystery of what causes Jupiter's X-ray auroras is solved
Wednesday, 14 July 2021 05:23The 40-year-old mystery of what causes Jupiter's X-ray auroras has been solved. For the first time, astronomers have seen the entire mechanism at work - and it could be a process occurring in many other parts of the Universe too. Planetary astronomers have studied Jupiter's spectacular X-ray auroral emission for decades. The X-ray 'colours' of these auroras show that they are triggered by
Nanosatellites could play pivotal role in defense against enemy missiles
Wednesday, 14 July 2021 05:23The CubeSat Networked Communications Experiment Block 1 - part of MDA's Nanosat Testbed Initiative - uses small, low-cost satellites to demonstrate networked radio communications between nanosatellites while in orbit. MDA will conduct a 90-day demonstration, with a mission extension of up to one year, to ensure the two CubeSats can navigate properly, receive and send signals to radios and networ
MDA deploys tiny satellites with potential big impact on missile defense development
Wednesday, 14 July 2021 05:23The Missile Defense Agency deployed two tiny satellites to space June 30 that successfully began communicating with ground stations over the Fourth of July weekend, the first step on the way to an experiment that will eventually see them communicate with each other, a feat that could play a major role in the development of U.S. missile defense technology. The CubeSat Networked Communicatio
How more than 30 years of China's meteorological satellite data is used by the world
Wednesday, 14 July 2021 05:23China's first meteorological satellite launched in 1988. It was named Fengyun, which roughly translates to "wind and cloud". Since then, 17 more Fengyun meteorological satellites were launched, with seven still in operation, to monitor Earth's wind, clouds and, more recently, extreme weather events such as hurricanes and wildfires. With more than 30 years of Earth observational data freely
China Shares New Images of Mars Taken by Zhurong Rover
Wednesday, 14 July 2021 05:23The rover, named after the Chinese god of fire, is being used by the Chinese agency to examine Martian soil and atmosphere, take pictures, create maps, and search for water and evidence of past life. The rover is equipped with a variety of equipment and can communicate with Earth via the Tianwen-1 orbiter's "high-speed data relay." The China National Space Administration released five new