Ariane 5’s 7 September 2022 launch made headlines for orbiting Europe’s tallest-ever telecommunications satellite, but the VA258 mission also stands out for its trajectory – one of the most extreme examples yet flown of a super-efficient path to geostationary (GEO) orbit.

With science at the core of the Earth Observation FutureEO programme, ESA has opened a new scientific facility, the Science Hub, which offers new opportunities for collaborative research to further boost the Agency’s and its Member States scientific output.

Despite being essential to life on Earth, the magnetic field isn’t something we can actually see in itself, or ever hear. But, remarkably, scientists at the Technical University of Denmark have taken magnetic signals measured by ESA’s Swarm satellite mission and converted them into sound – and for something that protects us, the result is pretty scary.

Canberra, Australia (SPX) Oct 19, 2022
Northrop Grumman Australia has recently integrated a Dynamic Satellite Simulator and Spacecraft Command and Control (C2) system into its state-of-the-art systems integration, advanced mission visualization and demonstration facility, Parallax Labs. This complex integration demonstrates the high level of technical readiness of Northrop Grumman Australia's end-to-end control system in prepar

Seoul, South Korea (SPX) Oct 19, 2022
Rivada Space Networks GmbH, a global network company launching a constellation of 600 low-earth-orbit satellites (LEO) to enable secure, global connectivity for governments and enterprises, has announced it has signed a partnership agreement with SpeQtral, an emerging leader in quantum-secure communications systems. Our world is increasingly data-driven, cloud-based and cybersecurity consc

San Diego CA (SPX) Oct 20, 2022
Space Micro Inc, powered by Voyager Space, has been awarded an Orbital Prime contract by the U.S. Space Force (USSF) as part of the first phase of the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program. Space Micro proposed the development of Control Moment Gyro Barnacle (Barnacle), a robotic spacecraft that would replace or restore Attitude Determination and Control Systems (ADCS) capabilities a

Beijing (XNA) Oct 24, 2022
China's deep space exploration laboratory launched campus recruitment, aiming to attract more young talents to devote themselves to the country's deep space exploration, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA). Co-established by the CNSA, Anhui Province, and the University of Science and Technology of China, the laboratory is headquartered in Hefei, the capital city of

Washington DC (SPX) Oct 17, 2022
Researchers have designed a state-of-the-art walking robot that could revolutionize large construction projects in space. They tested the feasibility of the robot for the in-space assembly of a 25m Large Aperture Space Telescope. They present their findings in Frontiers in Robotics and AI. A scaled-down prototype of the robot also showed promise for large construction applications on Earth.

Boston MA (SPX) Oct 24, 2022
Researchers have developed a new way to use femtosecond laser pulses to fabricate the high-precision ultrathin mirrors required for high-performance x-ray telescopes. The technique could help improve the space-based x-ray telescopes used to capture high-energy cosmic events involved in forming new stars and supermassive black holes. "Detecting cosmic x-rays is a crucial piece of our explor

Beijing, China (SPX) Oct 24, 2022
Active volcanic activity helped create the moon's surface minerology as recently as 2 billion years ago, leaving an iron-rich and high-calcium surface of basalts geographically younger than the lunar geology community previously thought, according to a study that analyzed soil samples brought back as part of the Chang'E - 5 (CE-5) mission in 2020. A team of researchers led by Prof. LI Chun