Iceye unveils new wide-area imaging capability
Monday, 10 May 2021 11:00
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SAN FRANCISCO – Iceye unveiled a new product May 10, wide-area Scan imaging focused on areas as large as 10,000 square kilometers.
Since Iceye flew the first small synthetic-aperture radar satellites in 2018, the company has developed a variety of products to help customers zoom in on specific areas or detect changes over time.
SpaceX to launch lunar mission paid with cryptocurrency Dogecoin
Monday, 10 May 2021 07:10 Write a comment
SpaceX will launch a satellite to the Moon next year funded entirely with the cryptocurrency Dogecoin, Canadian company Geometric Energy Corporation, which will lead the lunar mission, announced Sunday.
The satellite, dubbed DOGE-1, will be launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in the first quarter of 2022, the Calgary-based company said in a statement.
The cubic satellite, weighing 88 pounds (40 kilograms), will aim to obtain "lunar-spatial intelligence from sensors and cameras on-board," according to the statement.
The "DOGE-1 Mission to the Moon" will be "the first-ever commercial lunar payload in history paid entirely with" Dogecoin, Geometric Energy Corporation said, without specifying how much the project cost.
"We're excited to launch DOGE-1 to the Moon!" Tom Ochinero, SpaceX vice president of commercial sales, said in the statement.
"This mission will demonstrate the application of cryptocurrency beyond Earth orbit and set the foundation for interplanetary commerce."
The announcement comes the day after SpaceX founder Elon Musk hosted the live sketch comedy show "Saturday Night Live" (SNL), during which he praised Dogecoin, originally created as a joke but legitimized through the eccentric tech entrepreneur's tweets.
Installing Juice at ESTEC
Monday, 10 May 2021 06:36 Write a comment
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Installing Juice at ESTEC SpaceX sets booster reuse milestone on Starlink launch
Sunday, 09 May 2021 14:05 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — SpaceX launched a set of Starlink satellites May 9 on a Falcon 9 whose first stage was making its tenth flight, a long-awaited goal in the company’s reusability efforts.
The Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 2:42 a.m.
String of satellites baffles residents, bugs astronomers
Sunday, 09 May 2021 08:20 Write a comment
A string of lights that lobbed across the night sky in parts of the U.S. on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday had some people wondering if a fleet of UFOs was coming, but it had others— mostly amateur stargazers and professional astronomers— lamenting the industrialization of space.
Large Chinese rocket segment disintegrates over Indian Ocean
Sunday, 09 May 2021 08:18 Write a comment
A large segment of a Chinese rocket re-entered the Earth's atmosphere and disintegrated over the Indian Ocean on Sunday, the Chinese space agency said, following fevered speculation over where the 18-tonne object would come down.
Officials in Beijing had said there was little risk from the freefalling segment of the Long March-5B rocket, which had launched the first module of China's new space station into Earth orbit on April 29.
But the US space agency NASA and some experts said China had behaved irresponsibly, as an uncontrolled re-entry of such a large object risked damage and casualties.
"After monitoring and analysis, at 10:24 (0224 GMT) on May 9, 2021, the last-stage wreckage of the Long March 5B Yao-2 launch vehicle has re-entered the atmosphere," the China Manned Space Engineering Office said in a statement, providing coordinates for a point in the Indian Ocean near the Maldives.
Long March 5B falls into Indian Ocean after world follows rocket reentry
Sunday, 09 May 2021 03:20 Write a comment
HELSINKI — Debris from a large Chinese rocket stage fell into the Indian Ocean late May 8 Eastern as people around the world watched for signs of the fiery reentry event in the skies.
U.S. role in global greenhouse gas constellation still up in the air
Saturday, 08 May 2021 11:34 Write a comment
The United States is expected to play a supporting role in an international campaign to monitor greenhouse gas emissions from space.
Through the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites, nations are coordinating efforts for space-based monitoring of air quality, greenhouse gases, the ozone layer and natural climate drivers like solar energy.
NOAA tracks and analyzes the changing climate
Saturday, 08 May 2021 11:33 Write a comment
Earlier this month, atmospheric carbon dioxide reached a daily average of 421 parts per million, 50% higher than levels measured before the industrial revolution, according to data gathered at Hawaii’s Mauna Loa Observatory.
Chinese rocket to tumble back to Earth in uncontrolled re-entry
Saturday, 08 May 2021 08:55 Write a comment
A large segment of a Chinese rocket is expected to make an uncontrolled re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere on the weekend, but Beijing has downplayed fears and said there is a very low risk of any damage.
A Long March-5B rocket launched the first module of China's new space station into Earth's orbit on April 29. Its 18-tonne main segment is now in freefall and experts have said it is difficult to say precisely where and when it will re-enter the atmosphere.
Re-entry is expected to be around 2300 GMT on Saturday, according to the Pentagon, with a window of nine hours either side.
China's rocket out of control but risk of damage low, say experts
Friday, 07 May 2021 20:20 Write a comment
China's rogue rocket is in an uncontrolled free-fall towards Earth and no one knows where or exactly when it will burn through Earth's atmosphere, but the risk of debris hitting an inhabited area remains very small, experts told AFP Friday.
What happened?
On April 29, China launched the first module of its "Heavenly Palace" space station, a milestone in Beijing's ambitious plan to establish a permanent human presence in space.
The module was propelled by a powerful Long March 5B rocket, whose first stage is currently descending Earthward.
If Chinese ground engineers have no control over the booster stage's trajectory, it is not due to a technical failure or some unexplained glitch. The rocket was designed that way.
From a low Earth orbit, bodies are drawn gradually by gravity towards the surface of the planet.
NASA's new chief big on climate, hedges on 2024 moon landing
Friday, 07 May 2021 20:15 Write a comment
AP Interview: NASA chief big on climate, hedges on moon date
Friday, 07 May 2021 20:15 Write a comment
China acknowledges Long March 5B situation as rocket heads for weekend reentry
Friday, 07 May 2021 19:08 Write a comment
HELSINKI — China’s foreign ministry acknowledged the imminent uncontrolled reentry of the Long March 5B Friday as the orbit of the first stage continued to lose altitude.
NASA increases prices for ISS private astronaut missions
Friday, 07 May 2021 18:04 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — NASA has increased the prices it will charge for future private astronaut missions to the International Space Station, saying the new prices reflect the true costs of supporting those missions.
A revised price list, posted April 29, updates the prices NASA charges to private missions flying to the ISS for cargo, station resources, crew time and other services.