Copernical Team
US Space Force Cis-lunar Highway Patrol System to patrol around the moon
As human activity extends outward into the solar system, we'll need a way to keep track of space junk, and the growing number of missions around the moon and beyond.
Recently, the newly-formed U.S. Space Force announced plans to create CHPS, the Cis-lunar Highway Patrol System. Despite an acronym harking back to a certain cheesy TV series in the 1970s, CHPS will provide a serious look at space traffic further out in orbit around the Earth-moon system. Such a network is vital, as private companies and space agencies are set to return to the moon in a big way in the coming decade.
"The CHPS program will deliver space domain awareness, in a region that is one thousand times greater than our current area of responsibility," says CHPS program manager Michael Lopez in a recent press release. "AFRL is interested in hearing from companies that may have ideas that differ from ours, and could contribute to the satellite's capabilities."
The problem was highlighted recently with the impact of a rocket booster on the moon on March 4.
Zooming into the Sun with Solar Orbiter
Solar Orbiter’s latest images shows the full Sun in unprecedented detail. They were taken on 7 March, when the spacecraft was crossing directly between the Earth and Sun.
Tracking sunspots up close
ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen set to return to space
Danish ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen has been assigned a long-duration mission to the International Space Station and is expected to fly as the pilot of a Crew Dragon spacecraft in mid 2023 or early 2024.
High Throughput Satellites Poised To Become Leading Commercial Growers In Space Infrastructure, With Wholesale Capacity Revenues Projected To Top $100B By 2030
PARIS, WASHINGTON, MONTREAL, YOKOHAMA, SYDNEY, TOULOUSE, 23 March, 2022 – Euroconsult has released the 6th edition of its High Throughput Satellites (HTS) report – its in-depth analysis of geostationary (GEO) and non-geostationary (NGSO) HTS markets including major drivers, strategic issues, competitive landscape and detailed forecasts of capacity supply and associated demand take-up.
ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen and NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli
Russian Military Takes Command of Meridian-M Comms Satellite
The Meridian series of dual-use civilian/military communications satellites began to sent to space in the mid-2000s. In 2019, the first upgraded Meridian-M satellite was deployed. The Russian military has taken control over the Meridian-M communications satellite after its launch from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome aboard a Soyuz rocket on Tuesday, the Ministry of Defence has announced. "Th
Hughes selected to deploy Private 5G Network for DoD
Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HUGHES), an innovator in satellite and multi-transport technologies and networks for 50 years, has announced the award of an $18 million contract from the Department of Defense (DoD) to deploy a standalone 5G network at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Washington state. The Other Transaction Agreement (OTA) was issued through the Information Warfare Research
Trisept completes space simulation tests of TSEL satellite security system
TriSept Corporation, a leading provider of launch integration and mission management services, has announced its new TriSept Security Enhanced Layer (TSEL) satellite security solution has successfully completed a series of rigorous vacuum chamber tests at Old Dominion University's Space Engineering Lab ahead of an upcoming suborbital test launch. TriSept's software team and ODU aerospace e
Nearby star could help explain why our Sun didn't have sunspots for 70 years
he number of sunspots on our Sun typically ebbs and flows in a predictable 11-year cycle, but one unusual 70-year period when sunspots were incredibly rare has mystified scientists for three hundred years. Now a nearby Sun-like star seems to have paused its own cycles and entered a similar period of rare starspots, according to a team of researchers at Penn State. Continuing to observe this star