NASA seeking more than $10 billion in infrastructure bill
Wednesday, 19 May 2021 20:43WASHINGTON — NASA Administrator Bill Nelson told House appropriators May 19 that the agency is requesting more than $11 billion in an upcoming infrastructure bill that would go for the agency’s Human Landing System program and upgrading center facilities.
Horizon Technologies gets funding for maritime surveillance satellites
Wednesday, 19 May 2021 20:39TAMPA, Fla. — A British company that equips spy planes and drones to track satellite telephones has raised capital to launch a handful of tiny surveillance spacecraft to listen for signals from ships operating clandestinely.
China postpones launch of rocket carrying space station supplies
Wednesday, 19 May 2021 20:20China has postponed the planned launch Thursday of a rocket carrying supplies for its new space station due to technical reasons, state media said.
The China Manned Space Agency gave no details on what the reasons were, and said only that a new launch time would be "determined later," the Xinhua News Agency reported.
The blast-off was to have taken place just days after China landed a rover on Mars, as it hustles ahead with its extraterrestrial ambitions.
Beijing has pumped billions into its space programme in a bid to make up ground on pioneers Russia and the United States, with ambitious projects in Earth orbit and the landing of uncrewed craft on the Moon and Mars.
But it was heavily reprimanded by the United States and many experts for a potentially dangerous breach of space etiquette for letting a massive rocket segment free-fall to Earth earlier this month after launching the core module of China's space station.
China delays supply mission to newly launched space station
Wednesday, 19 May 2021 20:20China has postponed the planned launch Thursday of a rocket carrying supplies for its new space station due to technical reasons, state media said.
The China Manned Space Agency gave no details on what the reasons were, and said only that a new launch time would be "determined later," the Xinhua News Agency reported.
The blast-off was to have taken place just days after China landed a rover on Mars, as it hustles ahead with its extraterrestrial ambitions.
Beijing has pumped billions into its space programme in a bid to make up ground on pioneers Russia and the United States, with ambitious projects in Earth orbit and the landing of uncrewed craft on the Moon and Mars.
But it was heavily reprimanded by the United States and many experts for a potentially dangerous breach of space etiquette for letting a massive rocket segment free-fall to Earth earlier this month after launching the core module of China's space station.
ESA Astronaut Careers Fair Q&A
Wednesday, 19 May 2021 15:45This video is a summary compilation of the questions and answers sessions held during the ESA Astronaut Careers Fair on 22 April 2021. The ESA speakers are Florence Loustalot, Talent Acquisition Specialist; Antonella Costa, HR Business Partner; Dagmar Boos, Head of HR Competence and Policy Centre; and Guillaume Weerts, Space Medicine Team Leader. See the astronaut vacancy notice and other opportunities to work at ESA at https://jobs.esa.int
Further information on the astronaut selection may be found in the Astronaut Applicant Handbook and in the astronaut selection FAQs. If your question is not answered in these documents,
Op-ed | India at the Inflection Point: A New Era in the Space Ecosystem
Wednesday, 19 May 2021 14:52The Indian space ecosystem is transforming. Public sector space programs are orienting toward exploration, commercial space endeavors are proliferating, national space policy is shifting, and the students who will carry India to new achievements in space are increasingly looking to opportunities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
Back to the space cradle: ESA astronaut's ongoing experiments in the ISS
Wednesday, 19 May 2021 13:40Cool test of Proba-V companion during preparation for 'thermal balance' testing
Wednesday, 19 May 2021 13:36A test version of ESA's Proba-V Companion CubeSat seen during preparation for 'thermal balance' testing in the Agency's Mechanical Systems Laboratory at its ESTEC technical centre in the Netherlands.
Space is a place where it is possible to be hot and cold at the same time, if one part of your satellite is in sunlight and another face in shade. A satellite's interior needs to maintain a steady temperature to go on operating properly.
Accordingly this 'structural and thermal model' of the Proba-V Companion CubeSat was placed inside the Large Vacuum Facility of ESA's Mechanical Systems Laboratory—employed to test large satellite systems or complete small satellites—for a week-long exposure to temperature extremes in space-quality vacuum.
Developed by prime contractor Aerospacelab in Belgium for ESA, this mission is a 12-unit 'CubeSat' – a small, low-cost satellite built up from standardized 10-cm boxes. It will fly a cut-down version of the vegetation-monitoring instrument aboard the Earth-observing Proba-V to perform experimental combined observations with its predecessor.
Launched in 2013, Proba-V was an innovative 'gap filler' mission between the Vegetation instruments monitoring global plant growth aboard the full-size Spot-4 and -5 satellites and compatible imagery coming from Copernicus Sentinel-3, the first of which flew in 2016.
China prepares to launch rocket carrying space station supplies
Wednesday, 19 May 2021 12:50China is preparing to launch a rocket carrying supplies for its new space station just days after landing a rover on Mars, as it hustles ahead with its extraterrestrial ambitions.
Beijing has pumped billions into its space programme in a bid to make up ground on pioneers Russia and the United States, with ambitious projects in Earth orbit and the landing of uncrewed craft on the Moon and Mars.
But it was heavily reprimanded by the United States and many experts for a potentially dangerous breach of space etiquette for letting a massive rocket segment free-fall to Earth earlier this month after launching the core module of China's space station.
In the upcoming mission, the Tianzhou-2 cargo craft will blast off on a 14-tonne Long March 7 rocket, and is expected to carry essentials such as food and space suits to the core module.
A solution to space junk: Satellites made of mushrooms?
Wednesday, 19 May 2021 12:48According to the latest numbers from the ESA's Space Debris Office (SDO), there are roughly 6,900 artificial satellites in orbit. The situation is going to become exponentially crowded in the coming years, thanks to the many telecommunications, internet, and small satellites that are expected to be launched. This creates all kinds of worries for collision risks and space debris, not to mention environmental concerns.
For this reason, engineers, designers, and satellite manufacturers are looking for ways to redesign their satellites. Enter Max Justice, a cybersecurity expert, former Marine, and "Cyber Farmer" who spent many years working in the space industry. Currently, he is working towards a new type of satellite that is made out of mycelium fibers. This tough, heat-resistant, and environmentally friendly material could trigger a revolution in the booming satellite industry.
As it stands, one of the biggest concerns with satellites is the risk of collision they pose once they become defunct. Until such time that their orbit decays and they burn up in the atmosphere, satellites are likely to collide with each other and produce small pieces of space debris.
Russia to sell Soyuz space module
Wednesday, 19 May 2021 12:38Russia has put up for sale one of its space modules, which in 2018 returned a Russian and two Americans from the International Space Station (ISS).
"Descent module No. 738 of the Soyuz MS-08 mission is available on the Glavcosmos web portal for purchase," read a statement issued late Tuesday by Glavkosmos, a subsidiary of Russia's Roscosmos space agency.
"This lander can become an excellent exhibition showpiece for any public or private exhibition dedicated to aerospace," the statement added.
Glavcosmos spokesman Yevgeny Kolomiyev told AFP that the price of the descent module was not being publically disclosed because it was a "trade secret" and that prospective buyers would need to submit requests through the agency's website.
The Soyuz MS-08 spacecraft in March 2018 sent cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev and NASA astronauts Andrew Feustel and Richard Arnold to the ISS.
In October the same year, its decent module, which is up for grabs, returned Artemyev, Faustale and Arnold to Earth landing in Kazakhstan.
Glavcosmos director Dmitry Loskutov told the RIA Novosti news agency he did not rule out in the future selling "other shuttles, once their mission is completed".
ESA to unveil its plans for lunar satellites
Wednesday, 19 May 2021 11:05ESA is backing a bold proposal to create a commercially viable constellation of satellites around the Moon.
Benchmark and Starfish Space Team to Enable Precision On-Orbit Services
Wednesday, 19 May 2021 08:45The future of the space economy relies heavily on servicing infrastructure and vehicles that can make precision maneuvers to successfully approach, inspect and dock with spacecraft in need of refueling, maintenance and a wide range of on-orbit services. Starfish Space, a satellite servicing company, and Benchmark Space Systems, a leading provider of in-space mobility systems and services,
Satellite navigation, positioning services valued at Y400 BN
Wednesday, 19 May 2021 08:45By the end of 2020, the overall value of satellite-enabled navigation and positioning services in China was 403.3 billion yuan ($62.8 billion), with a 16.9-percent increase year-on-year, according to a white paper published on Tuesday in Beijing. The 2021 White Paper on the Development of China's Satellite Navigation and Positioning Industries, compiled by the Global Navigation Satellite S