Space Force not buying large satellites for the foreseeable future
Tuesday, 24 January 2023 18:04
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The era of massive satellites needs to be in the rear view mirror for the Department of Defense, the head of military space acquisitions Frank Calvelli said Jan. 24.
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Europe's JUICE spacecraft ready to explore Jupiter's icy moons
Tuesday, 24 January 2023 17:40 Write a comment
Europe's JUICE spacecraft is all ready to embark on an eight-year odyssey through the Solar System to find out whether the oceans hidden under the surface of Jupiter's icy moons have the potential to host extraterrestrial life.
For now, the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) is in a white room of its manufacturer Airbus in the southwestern French city of Toulouse. But its days on this planet are numbered.
Soon the spacecraft will be put in a container, wings carefully folded away, ahead of traveling to Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana off the coast of South America in early February.
From there, one of Europe's most ambitious space missions ever is scheduled to launch in April.
The scientists and engineers in Toulouse who have spent years working on the project are clearly emotional at the thought of saying goodbye to what they call "the beast".
NASA, Pentagon developing nuclear-powered rocket for Mars voyage
Tuesday, 24 January 2023 17:39 Write a comment
NASA is partnering with a Pentagon research agency to develop a nuclear-powered rocket engine in preparation for sending astronauts to Mars.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said Tuesday that the US space agency will team up with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to "develop and demonstrate advanced nuclear thermal propulsion technology as soon as 2027."
"With the help of this new technology, astronauts could journey to and from deep space faster than ever –- a major capability to prepare for crewed missions to Mars," Nelson said in a statement.
DARPA is the Pentagon's research and development arm and has played a role in many of the notable innovations of the 20th century including the internet.
NASA said nuclear thermal rockets can be three or more times more efficient than conventional chemical propulsion and would reduce transit time, essential for an eventual mission to Mars.
In a nuclear thermal engine, a fission reactor is used to generate extremely high temperatures.
Heat from the reactor is transferred to liquid propellant which is then converted into gas, which expands through a nozzle and provides thrust.
NASA and DARPA to partner on nuclear thermal propulsion demonstration
Tuesday, 24 January 2023 17:04 Write a comment
NASA and DARPA will cooperate on the development and flight demonstration of a nuclear propulsion system with applications for both national security and space exploration.
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Buckle up, it could get bumpy: The space economy’s vaunted resilience will be tested in 2023
Tuesday, 24 January 2023 16:06 Write a comment
While challenging economic conditions this year will hit some space companies harder than others, the industry as a whole is expected to remain robust as multiple headwinds rock the sector.
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European Commission to present space defence plan in March
Tuesday, 24 January 2023 14:26 Write a comment
The European Commission will present a strategy to bolster the EU's security and defence efforts in space in March, Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton said Tuesday, with Russia's war in Ukraine raising tensions in space.
Moscow's invasion last year led to Europe and Russia calling off their previously close cooperation in space, delaying a range of missions and affecting European efforts to launch satellites.
"In the current geopolitical context, we need to enhance the Union's strategic posture to be able to defend our interests, protect our space systems and services and become a more assertive space power," Breton told the opening of the European Space Conference in Brussels.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called Russia's invasion of Ukraine a "wake-up call", saying that the bloc needs to examine "how space assets and services are crucial" to common European action.
A little less than 10 percent of the roughly 5,500 satellites currently orbiting the globe are run by militaries, Borrell said.
"But many others are dual use and they provide critical information to support our security and defence," he added.
Breton said Europe's space strategy would be based on four pillars.
New Galileo service set to deliver 20 cm accuracy
Tuesday, 24 January 2023 13:41 Write a comment
Galileo’s capabilities have grown with the addition of a new High Accuracy Service, freely available worldwide to anyone with a suitably equipped receiver. Delivering horizontal accuracy down to 20 cm and vertical accuracy of 40 cm, the High Accuracy Service is enabled through an additional level of real-time positioning corrections, delivered through a new data stream within the existing Galileo signal.
Thales Alenia Space leading another ESA push to develop quantum comms
Tuesday, 24 January 2023 13:39 Write a comment
Thales Alenia Space has signed a contract to develop quantum technologies in another push by the European Space Agency to use the behavior of subatomic particles to make communications more secure.
Quindar raises seed round to provide mission management software services
Tuesday, 24 January 2023 13:17 Write a comment
A startup has raised $2.5 million in seed funding to further development of a software system to make it easier for companies to operate satellite constellations.
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ESA and the European Commission uniting on Earth observation for the Philippines
Tuesday, 24 January 2023 12:00 Write a comment
ESA and the European Commission have signed a contribution agreement to build a Copernicus mirror site in the Philippines – the first of its kind in southeast Asia. The new CopPhil initiative will enhance the response capability and resilience of the Philippines to natural and human made disasters through the strategic use of space data. This will help reduce vulnerability of the nation to climate hazards, support climate adaption, food security and environmental protection.
SpaceX completes Starship wet dress rehearsal
Tuesday, 24 January 2023 11:07 Write a comment
SpaceX conducted a fueling test of its full Starship launch vehicle Jan. 23, taking the vehicle one step closer to its first orbital launch attempt.
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Orion's European Service Module for Artemis: propulsion overview
Tuesday, 24 January 2023 08:00 Write a comment
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Orion's European Service Module for Artemis: propulsion overview How ESA works with the EU to advance European space
Tuesday, 24 January 2023 06:00 Write a comment
ESA has formed a formidable partnership with the EU to secure the future of Europe in space, developing Earth observation, navigation, secure connectivity and space entrepreneurship, people attending the 15th European space conference held on 24 and 25 January in Brussels will hear.
Our Solar System is filled with asteroids that are particularly hard to destroy
Tuesday, 24 January 2023 04:10 Write a comment
A vast amount of rocks and other material are hurtling around our Solar System as asteroids and comets. If one of these came towards us, could we successfully prevent the collision between an asteroid and Earth?
Well, maybe. But there appears to be one type of asteroid that might be particularly hard to destroy.
Asteroids are chunks of rocky debris in space, remnants of a more violen Milky Way found to be more unique than previously thought
Tuesday, 24 January 2023 04:10 Write a comment
Is the Milky Way special, or, at least, is it in a special place in the Universe? An international team of astronomers has found that the answer to that question is yes, in a way not previously appreciated. A new study shows that the Milky Way is too big for its "cosmological wall", something yet to be seen in other galaxies. The new research is published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronom