Study: Milky Way evolved slowly, peacefully, just like a lot of other galaxies
Tuesday, 25 May 2021 08:04It turns out the Milky Way isn't the product of a big, violent collision, new research says. According to a study published Monday in the journal Astrophyiscal Journal Letters, Earth's home galaxy evolved slowly and relatively peacefully - and researchers say that makes it a pretty average galaxy. Being inside the subject matter complicates studies of the Milky Way, so astronome
SES Prices EUR 625 Million Hybrid Bond Offering
Tuesday, 25 May 2021 08:04SES S.A. announced the successful launch and pricing of a hybrid bond offering in which it has agreed to sell Deeply Subordinated Fixed Rate Resettable Securities for a total amount of EUR 625 million, with a first reset date on 27 August 2026. The notes will bear a Coupon of 2.875% per annum and were priced at 99.409% of their nominal value. The instrument's credit ratings are expected to
NanoAvionics aims for 30 percent US-market share for smallsats
Tuesday, 25 May 2021 08:04NanoAvionics has laid out its ambitious growth and business development plans for the USA via its existing facility in Columbia, Illinois. The smallsat bus manufacturer and mission integrator will develop the only satellite manufacturing facility in the state to become its main hub in the US. Through this hub, NanoAvionics will further grow the portfolio and expand into other locations acr
Iridium makes strategic investment in DDK Positioning for enhanced GNSS accuracy
Tuesday, 25 May 2021 08:04Iridium Communications has made a strategic investment in DDK Positioning (DDK), an Aberdeen, Scotland based provider of enhanced Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) accuracy solutions. DDK uses the Iridium network to provide global precision positioning services that can augment GNSS constellations, including GPS and Galileo, to significantly enhance their accuracy for critical indu
Manchester scientists to launch low-orbiting satellite on SpaceX mission
Tuesday, 25 May 2021 08:04The University of Manchester is leading a multi-million pound project to launch a satellite as part of a forthcoming SpaceX mission this coming summer. The DISCOVERER project is a 5.7 million euro project led by The University of Manchester. It aims to revolutionise Earth observation satellites, developing technologies to enable them to operate in very low Earth orbits, under 450km altitud
Astroscale UK to develop space debris removal technology innovations with OneWeb
Tuesday, 25 May 2021 08:04Astroscale UK announces funding award from partners OneWeb, the global satellite communications network, to mature their technology and capability towards a commercial service offering by 2024. This latest 2.5 million pound award forms part of a larger beam-hopping satellite programme, totalling over 32 million pounds, granted from the UK Space Agency, via the European Space Agency's Sunri
NASA Earth System Observatory to help address, mitigate climate change
Tuesday, 25 May 2021 08:04NASA will design a new set of Earth-focused missions to provide key information to guide efforts related to climate change, disaster mitigation, fighting forest fires, and improving real-time agricultural processes. With the Earth System Observatory, each satellite will be uniquely designed to complement the others, working in tandem to create a 3D, holistic view of Earth, from bedrock to atmosp
Acting SecAF and CSO visit Cape Canaveral SFS
Tuesday, 25 May 2021 08:04By Airman 1st Class Dakota Raub, Space Launch Delta 45 Public Affairs / Published May 20, 2021 The acting Secretary of the Air Force, John P. Roth, and the Chief of Space Operations, U.S. Space Force Gen. John W. "Jay" Raymond, visited Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, May 17, 2021. During the visit, Roth and Raymond toured the Morrell Operations Center, the Atlas Spacefli
Boeing X-37 could carry six nuke warheads warns Russian defence head
Tuesday, 25 May 2021 08:04US X-37 spacecraft could technically carry up to six warheads and, with the US planning to deploy eight of these by 2025, it looks like a serious challenge, the director-general of Russian defence technology company Almaz-Antey, Yan Novikov, said Saturday. "The official story is that these platforms were developed for scientific purposes and, well, surveillance. But we understand that havi
Who's an astronaut as private spaceflight picks up speed?
Tuesday, 25 May 2021 06:19As more companies start selling tickets to space, a question looms: Who gets to call themselves an astronaut?
It's already a complicated issue and about to get more so as the wealthy snap up spacecraft seats and even entire flights for themselves and their entourages.
Space Force warned to avoid past mistakes as it pursues new satellite acquisitions
Monday, 24 May 2021 19:20WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force has plans to acquire billions of dollars worth of new satellites over the coming years and needs to make sure it avoids the missteps that plagued previous acquisitions, said the Government Accountability Office.
Cosmic 2-for-1: Total lunar eclipse combines with supermoon
Monday, 24 May 2021 17:46Solar storms are back, threatening life as we know it on Earth
Monday, 24 May 2021 15:24A few days ago, millions of tons of super-heated gas shot off from the surface of the sun and hurtled 90 million miles toward Earth.
The eruption, called a coronal mass ejection, wasn't particularly powerful on the space-weather scale, but when it hit the Earth's magnetic field it triggered the strongest geomagnetic storm seen for years. There wasn't much disruption this time—few people probably even knew it happened—but it served as a reminder the sun has woken from a yearslong slumber.
While invisible and harmless to anyone on the Earth's surface, the geomagnetic waves unleashed by solar storms can cripple power grids, jam radio communications, bathe airline crews in dangerous levels of radiation and knock critical satellites off kilter. The sun began a new 11-year cycle last year and as it reaches its peak in 2025 the specter of powerful space weather creating havoc for humans grows, threatening chaos in a world that has become ever more reliant on technology since the last big storms hit 17 years ago. A recent study suggested hardening the grid could lead to $27 billion worth of benefits to the U.S.
UK funds beam-hopping satellite for OneWeb-led consortium in 2022
Monday, 24 May 2021 14:54TAMPA, Fla. — A OneWeb-led group has secured government funding to launch a beam-hopping satellite in 2022, demonstrating how a spacecraft could switch its coverage area in real-time to respond to surges in demand.
A race against time to replace aging military weather satellites
Monday, 24 May 2021 13:30The U.S. Defense Department may finally be on track to replace its aging polar-orbiting weather satellites more than a decade after pulling the plug on an ill-fated effort to cram civil and military requirements into a single system.