Week in images: 02 - 06 August 2021
Friday, 06 August 2021 12:38
Week in images: 02 - 06 August 2021
Discover our week through the lens
Virgin Galactic resumes ticket sales but delays start of commercial service
Friday, 06 August 2021 11:00
Virgin Galactic announced Aug. 5 it is restarting ticket sales at significantly higher prices but won’t begin flying its existing suborbital space tourism customers until the second half of next year.
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Crater trio Virgin Galactic restarts space-trip sales at $450,000 and up
Friday, 06 August 2021 06:45
China launches Zhongxing-2E communications satellite
Friday, 06 August 2021 06:08
China sent the Zhongxing-2E into geosynchronous transfer orbit Thursday with the launch of a Long March 3B rocket from Xichang.
Returning airline traffic boosts Viasat and Intelsat financials
Friday, 06 August 2021 00:24
The recovering in-flight connectivity (IFC) market is providing lift for satellite operators Viasat and Intelsat, which said their financial results got a boost from passengers returning to the skies.
Tory Bruno says the challenges with BE-4 are real but the engine is moving forward
Thursday, 05 August 2021 21:44
United Launch Alliance underestimated the challenges Blue Origin would face in the development, testing and manufacturing of the BE-4 rocket engine, said ULA’s CEO Tory Bruno.
Australia’s first space accelerator to showcase startups amid expansion plans
Thursday, 05 August 2021 20:00
Moonshot, Australia’s first space-focused accelerator, is showcasing five startups Aug. 6 to international investors as it prepares to raise its next fund.
New Zealand and LeoLabs sign multiyear deal for Space Regulatory platform
Thursday, 05 August 2021 18:00
LeoLabs and the New Zealand Space Agency (NZSA) are working together to develop a cloud-based software platform for monitoring space activity.
Astra to make next orbital launch attempt in late August for the Space Force
Thursday, 05 August 2021 16:56
Small launch vehicle developer Astra will carry a test payload for the U.S. Space Force on its next attempt to reach orbit in August.
Missile defense space sensor made by Northrop Grumman and Ball Aerospace clears design review
Thursday, 05 August 2021 14:43
A new sensor payload developed by Northrop Grumman Corporation and Ball Aerospace to detect missile launches has passed a critical design review.
What lies beneath the far side of the moon?
Thursday, 05 August 2021 13:50
A new technique for processing lunar radar data has allowed scientists to see what lies beneath the surface of the moon in the clearest ever detail.
In a study led by the University of Aberdeen, a team of researchers discovered multiple layers of soil that lie directly beneath an area on the far side of the moon's surface, overturning an existing theory of a single deep layer in the same area.
The area studied was the landing site of the Chang'E-4 spacecraft mission—the first to the far side of the moon.
Analysis of radar data captured by the mission's rover, Yutu-2, had suggested the existence of a single soil layer in the moon's regolith (subsurface). However, the data did not indicate the existence of different layers of soil, which were transparent to electromagnetic waves due to the smooth boundaries between them.
By developing a new method of processing the data captured by Yutu-2, which uses the shape of radar signatures of buried rocks and boulders to infer the properties of surrounding lunar soil and detect previously unseen layers with smooth boundaries, scientists were able to detect four distinct layers of soil, stacked to a depth of 12 meters.
Op-ed | China’s Success in Space Calls for Caution in Pursuing a New Treaty for Outer Space
Thursday, 05 August 2021 12:57
Any decision by the U.S. to pursue a new treaty for outer space should take into account whether the worldview espoused by the U.S. and its allies is solidified in international law and has the political will to prevail over attempts by China and its client states to subvert an enacted treaty.
Lunar samples solve mystery of the moon's supposed magnetic shield
Thursday, 05 August 2021 12:05
In 2024, a new age of space exploration will begin when NASA sends astronauts to the moon as part of their Artemis mission, a follow-up to the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 1970s.
Some of the biggest questions that scientists hope to explore include determining what resources are found in the moon's soil and how those resources might be used to sustain life.
In a paper published in the journal Science Advances, researchers at the University of Rochester, leading a team of colleagues at seven other institutions, report their findings on a major factor that influences the types of resources that may be found on the moon: whether or not the moon has had a long-lived magnetic shield at any point in its 4.53 billion-year history.
Planet and SpaceX announce multiyear launch agreement
Thursday, 05 August 2021 12:00
Planet announced a multiyear agreement Aug. 5 that designates SpaceX as the Earth-observation company’s “go-to-launch provider through the end of 2025.”