China’s secretive spaceplane conducts proximity operations with small spacecraft
Thursday, 13 June 2024 11:15
Hera and its CubeSats speak with mission control
Thursday, 13 June 2024 10:55
ESA’s Hera asteroid mission and its two CubeSats interacted as if they were in space, within the foam pyramid-lined walls of the Agency’s Maxwell test chamber in the Netherlands. The trio communicated together, sharing data and ranging information at the same time as their Hera mothership received commands from its mission controllers at the European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany.
ESA prepares for its first open day in the UK
Thursday, 13 June 2024 10:40
ESA is getting ready to show thousands of visitors how space improves life on Earth at its very first open day to be held in the UK.
Astronauts set for spacewalk: Starliner crew staying at ISS longer
Thursday, 13 June 2024 10:10
A pair of NASA astronauts are scheduled to do a 6.5 hour spacewalk on the morning of June 13 outside the International Space Station.
At 8 a.m. Eastern time, astronauts Tracy C. Dyson and Matthew Dominick are expected to enter the vacuum of space to perform station maintenance and science work.
NASA said the two will remove some communications equipment from one of the ISS' laboratory modules, getting help from a robotic arm on the station. Astronauts Mike Barratt and Jeanette Epps will be maneuvering the Canadarm2 to assist Dyson and Dominick in their work.
Then, Dyson and Dominick will move on to a science experiment involving microorganisms. They will swab surfaces on the ISS to "determine if microorganisms released through station vents can survive the external microgravity environment," NASA said in a statement.
NASA TV will begin its spacewalk broadcast at 6:30 a.m. Thursday. Live coverage will air on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency's website.
Among those watching the spacewalk up close will be Butch Whitmore and Suni Williams, the crew of the Boeing Starliner which launched from the Kennedy Space Center on June 5 en route to the ISS.
Hughes Europe Enters Defense and Government Markets with Konnect VHTS Services
Thursday, 13 June 2024 08:30
Hughes Europe, a subsidiary of Hughes Network Systems, LLC, an EchoStar company (Nasdaq: SATS), announces its strategic expansion into the military, defense, and government sectors across pan-European nations. Troy Truman has joined Hughes and will act as the head of this initiative.
The initiative will meet the increasing demand for high-speed connectivity and the growing security concern NASA Selects Proposals for Space Weather Study
Thursday, 13 June 2024 08:30
NASA has selected three proposals for concept studies of missions to investigate the complex system of space weather that surrounds our planet and its connection to Earth's atmosphere.
The three concepts propose how to implement the DYNAMIC (Dynamical Neutral Atmosphere-Ionosphere Coupling) mission, recommended by the 2013 Decadal Survey for Solar and Space Physics. The DYNAMIC mission aim First Camera Integrated for Plato Exoplanet Explorer
Thursday, 13 June 2024 08:30
The integration of Plato's cameras has commenced at OHB's Space Centre and Optics facility in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. The first of 26 cameras has been successfully attached to Plato's optical bench, ensuring precise alignment for the mission.
"Plato will use 24 'normal' cameras and 2 'fast' cameras to look at more than 100 000 stars and search for planets around them." The mission uses Thales, Spire and ESSP to develop air traffic surveillance constellation
Thursday, 13 June 2024 07:00
NASA and ESA explore habitability of exoplanets with Chandra and XMM-Newton
Thursday, 13 June 2024 06:37
Astronomers using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and ESA's XMM-Newton are investigating nearby stars to determine if they could host habitable exoplanets. This research will aid future telescopes in making the first images of Earth-like planets.
Researchers examined stars close enough to Earth for future telescopes to capture images of planets in their habitable zones, where liquid water Green light for Galileo 2nd Generation satellite design
Thursday, 13 June 2024 06:37
Production of Galileo Second Generation satellites advances as two independent Satellite Critical Design Review boards confirm the satellite designs meet all mission and performance requirements. This milestone is part of the schedule to develop the first 12 satellites of the Galileo Second Generation fleet.
The European Galileo navigation system, known for its precision, is preparing for Blue Canyon to supply spacecraft buses for NASA's PolSIR mission
Thursday, 13 June 2024 06:37
RTX's (NYSE: RTX) small satellite manufacturer and mission services provider, Blue Canyon Technologies, has been chosen to construct two 12U CubeSat buses for NASA's PolSIR mission. This mission aims to study ice clouds that form at high altitudes in tropical and sub-tropical regions.
Blue Canyon will design and manufacture the bus platforms and provide mission operations services.
T Skyband chooses Hughes JUPITER for digital transformation of Saudi Arabia
Thursday, 13 June 2024 06:37
Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HUGHES), an EchoStar company (Nasdaq: SATS), announced that Luna Space Telecommunications Co. Ltd., a leading Saudi Arabia service provider under the Skyband Holding company, has purchased a JUPITER System Gateway and 1,200 Hughes JUPITER Terminals to transform its VSAT network. With the latest JUPITER technology, Skyband can provide higher speeds and throughput, rea Satellite megaconstellations could impact ozone hole recovery
Thursday, 13 June 2024 06:37
When old satellites fall into Earth's atmosphere and burn up, they leave behind tiny particles of aluminum oxide, which eat away at Earth's protective ozone layer. A new study finds these oxides have increased 8-fold between 2016 and 2022 and will continue to accumulate as the number of low-Earth-orbit satellites increases.
The 1987 Montreal Protocol successfully regulated ozone-damaging C