Beijing (XNA) May 25, 2022
Chinese researchers have commenced breeding experiments on 12,000 seeds that were bred inside the Shenzhou-13 crewed spaceship in space for six months. The seeds, including alfalfa, oats and fungi, were selected by multiple research institutions last year. They were brought back to Earth by the Shenzhou-13 on April 16. Space breeding refers to the process of exposing seeds to cosmic

Burlington VT (SPX) May 25, 2022
With a new major propulsion contract signed to support Space Forge's in-space manufacturing mission, Benchmark Space Systems has announced it has opened a manufacturing and testing facility Northwest of London to build a regional team and its Starling and Halcyon propulsion systems to help empower the flourishing European space sector. The agreement brings together two of the fastest growi

Friedrichshafen, Germany (SPX) May 25, 2022
The Copernicus Polar Ice and Snow Topography Altimetry mission CRISTAL is clearly on track. Following an intensive review process the European Space Agency ESA has confirmed that the preliminary design of the satellite meets all system requirements. CRISTAL will carry an advanced multi-frequency altimeter that will measure sea ice thickness and ice sheet elevations - key climate change ind

Long Beach CA (SPX) May 25, 2022
Rocket Lab (Nasdaq: RKLB) and Varda Space Industries, the world's first In-space manufacturing and hypersonic Earth re-entry logistics company, report that Varda will procure a fourth Photon spacecraft. The deal follows on a previous bulk-order by Varda in August 2021 for three Photon spacecraft from Rocket Lab. The Rocket Lab-designed and built Photon spacecraft will provide power, commun

Greenbelt MD (SPX) May 25, 2022
NASA's Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator 3 (PTD-3) mission, carrying the TeraByte InfraRed Delivery (TBIRD) system, will debut on May 25 as part of SpaceX's Transporter-5 rideshare launch. TBIRD will showcase the high-data-rate capabilities of laser communications from a CubeSat in low-Earth orbit. At 200 gigabits per second (Gbps), TBIRD will downlink data at the highest optical rate ever achi

Accra, Ghana (SPX) May 25, 2022
TinSky Connect has successfully completed the installation of 15 OneWeb antennas and customer provided equipment at a Satellite Network Portal (SNP) or gateway facility in Accra, Ghana. OneWeb is a global communications network powered through space, enabling connectivity for governments, businesses, and communities. Tinsky Connect was selected as OneWeb's technical engineering partner for

Houston TX (SPX) May 25, 2022
The 25th SpaceX cargo resupply services mission (SpaceX CRS-25) carrying scientific research and technology demonstrations to the International Space Station is scheduled for launch June 7 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Experiments aboard the Dragon capsule include studies of the immune system, wound healing, soil communities, and cell-free biomarkers, along with mapping the compos

Washington DC (SPX) May 25, 2022
As NASA's exploration continues to push boundaries, a new solar sail concept selected by the agency for development toward a demonstration mission could carry science to new destinations. The Diffractive Solar Sailing project was selected for Phase III study under the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program. Phase III aims to strategically transition NIAC concepts with the highest

Pasadena CA (JPL) May 24, 2022
NASA's InSight Mars lander took this final selfie on April 24, 2022, the 1,211th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The lander is covered with far more dust than it was in its first selfie, taken in December 2018, not long after landing - or in its second selfie, composed of images taken in March and April 2019. The arm needs to move several times in order to capture a full selfie. Becau

Washington (AFP) May 25, 2022
Boeing's Starliner capsule is readying to return to Earth on Wednesday in the final step of a key test flight to prove itself worthy of providing rides for NASA astronauts to the International Space Station. The spaceship is scheduled to autonomously undock at 2:36 pm Eastern Time (1836 GMT) and touch down in New Mexico just over four hours later, at 2249 GMT, wrapping up a six-day mission c