Wallops Island VA (SPX) Mar 17, 2025
NASA's Scientific Balloon Program has returned to Wanaka, New Zealand, for two scheduled flights to test and qualify the agency's super pressure balloon technology. These stadium-sized, heavy-lift balloons will travel the Southern Hemisphere's mid-latitudes for planned missions of 100 days or more. Launch operations are scheduled to begin in late March from Wanaka Airport, NASA's dedicated

Boston MA (SPX) Mar 14, 2025
In 2022, Randall Pietersen, a civil engineer in the U.S. Air Force, set out on a training mission to assess damage at an airfield runway, practicing "base recovery" protocol after a simulated attack. For hours, his team walked over the area in chemical protection gear, radioing in geocoordinates as they documented damage and looked for threats like unexploded munitions. The work is standar

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Mar 17, 2025
AeroVironment (AV), a prominent player in the defense technology sector, has earned a key contract from the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) aimed at fast-tracking the deployment of autonomous precision-strike drones. As part of its push into a critical segment of the defense industry, AV secured an Other Transaction Authority (OT) award from DIU under Project Artemis. This initiative is desi

Washington (AFP) Mar 18, 2025
Bone and muscle deterioration, radiation exposure, vision impairment - these are just a few of the challenges space travelers face on long-duration missions, even before considering the psychological toll of isolation. As US astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams prepare to return home after nine months aboard the International Space Station (ISS), some of the health risks they've faced

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Mar 18, 2025
THOR 8, the next-generation satellite from Space Norway, has secured Intelsat as its principal customer for broadcasting services. Scheduled for a 2027 launch, THOR 8 will deliver dual broadcasting payloads designed specifically for the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region and Nordic markets. Additionally, the satellite will support a wide range of government and commercial data communication

Paris, France (SPX) Mar 18, 2025
Asia's top satellite operator, SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation, has awarded Thales Alenia Space a contract to construct its latest geostationary satellite, JSAT-32. Set to operate on Ku and Ka bands, JSAT-32 will deliver enhanced communication services across Japan and nearby maritime regions. Notably, the satellite will introduce new spot beams specifically designed for mobility-related appl

Brest, France (AFP) Mar 17, 2025
Could lumpy metallic rocks in the deepest, darkest reaches of the ocean be making oxygen in the absence of sunlight? Some scientists think so, but others have challenged the claim that so-called "dark oxygen" is being produced in the lightless abyss of the seabed. The discovery - detailed last July in the journal Nature Geoscience - called into question long-held assumptions about the

Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Mar 18, 2025
ispace, inc. has entered into a formal agreement with Kurita Water Industries, Ltd., a Japanese specialist in water treatment and chemical manufacturing, to support the delivery of a water purification demonstration system to the Moon. The memorandum of understanding sets the stage for transporting this experimental payload to the lunar surface on a future ispace mission scheduled for post-2027.

Paris, France (SPX) Mar 18, 2025
The Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt (EMA) has successfully completed its Critical Design Review (CDR), a pivotal milestone in the project, held from February 24 to 26 with participation from Emirati and global experts. This review evaluated the detailed development of the MBR Explorer spacecraft, confirming its readiness to progress into the Assembly, Integration, and Test (AIT) phase.

San Antonio TX (SPX) Mar 18, 2025
Although NASA's Lucy spacecraft's upcoming encounter with the asteroid Donaldjohanson is primarily a mission rehearsal for later asteroid encounters, a new paper suggests that this small, main belt asteroid may have some surprises of its own. New modeling indicates that Donaldjohanson may have been formed about 150 million years ago when a larger parent asteroid broke apart; its orbit and spin p