Space Force establishes intelligence unit to put sharper focus on orbital threats
Friday, 24 June 2022 16:55The Space Force on June 24 established Space Delta 18, a unit that will run the National Space Intelligence Center at Wright Patterson Air Force Base
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NASA Announces Launch Delay for Psyche Asteroid Mission
Friday, 24 June 2022 16:41NASA declares SLS countdown rehearsal complete
Friday, 24 June 2022 16:22NASA managers say they have completed testing of the Space Launch System after a recent countdown rehearsal and are ready to move into preparations for a launch as soon as late August.
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NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spots rocket impact site on moon
Friday, 24 June 2022 15:45Astronomers discovered a rocket body heading toward a lunar collision late last year. Impact occurred March 4, with NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter later spotting the resulting crater. Surprisingly the crater is actually two craters, an eastern crater (18-meter diameter, about 19.5 yards) superimposed on a western crater (16-meter diameter, about 17.5 yards).
The double crater was unexpected and may indicate that the rocket body had large masses at each end. Typically a spent rocket has mass concentrated at the motor end; the rest of the rocket stage mainly consists of an empty fuel tank.
Orbion to supply propulsion for General Atomics weather satellite
Friday, 24 June 2022 15:34Propulsion startup Orbion Space Technology will supply thrusters for a U.S. Space Force prototype weather satellite under a contract with General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems.
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For the first time NanoAvionics has sold one of its orbital satellites
Friday, 24 June 2022 12:12Mission integrator and smallsat bus manufacturer NanoAvionics has sold, for the first time, one of its operational satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) including ongoing mission operations. Launched last year, NanoAvionics's shared 6U satellite mission "D2 / Atlacom-1" includes one of the world's first 1U-sized hyperspectral imager for remote sensing, which will be used by a yet unnamed Earth obs
Rocket Lab Prepares to Launch CAPSTONE Mission to the Moon for NASA
Friday, 24 June 2022 12:12Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) is preparing to launch a satellite to the Moon for NASA as early as June 27th. The launch will take place from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand's Mahia Peninsula. The launch window opens 09:50 UTC on June 27th (21:50 NZST, June 27th). Back-up opportunities are available through July 27th to accommodate potential weather or technical delays to the lau
Busek scales thruster production for Airbus OneWeb satellites
Friday, 24 June 2022 12:12The in-space propulsion firm Busek Co. confirmed its supply of BHT-350 Hall effect thrusters for a range of missions supported by Airbus OneWeb Satellites (AOS). The Busek thrusters have been engineered and qualified to rigorous standards and are suitable for high-reliability, long-lifetime applications where thrusters are used for orbit raising, maintenance, and end-of-life de-orbit. "We
BlackSky awarded Five-Year Joint Artificial Intelligence Center Contract for AI Data Readiness
Friday, 24 June 2022 12:12BlackSky Technologies Inc. (NYSE: BKSY) was awarded a basic order agreement from the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) to create and optimize data sets for use in DoD AI models and applications. The JAIC agreement has a ceiling value of $241 million over five years. "With demonstrated AI expertise in space-based dynamic monitoring, this agreement will open even more doors for Bla
NASA Mars Orbiter Releasing One of Its Last Rainbow-Colored Maps
Friday, 24 June 2022 12:12Scientists are about to get a new look at Mars, thanks to a multicolored 5.6-gigapixel map. Covering 86% of the Red Planet's surface, the map reveals the distribution of dozens of key minerals. By looking at mineral distribution, scientists can better understand Mars' watery past and can prioritize which regions need to be studied in more depth. The first portions of this map were released
Fine-grained rocks at Hogwallow Flats
Friday, 24 June 2022 12:12Perseverance's exploration of the Hawksbill Gap area of the Jezero Delta continues! The rover has abraded at two different locations over the last few weeks. First, the rover abraded in the Devil's Tanyard area. Unfortunately, the crumbly rocks at Devils Tanyard were broken and moved by the force of the abrasion. Nevertheless, the team was able to use the SuperCam and Mastcam-Z instruments
Drilling Again - Sols 3512-3513
Friday, 24 June 2022 12:12Today was an exciting day of planning (and not just because of the thunderstorms here in southern California!). We planned a full drill of Avanavero, our first drill in over 6 months! The MAHLI image shows the spot after the DRT brush and our drill preload test. In November 2021 we faced an anomaly with the brake mechanisms in the arm and out of an abundance of caution, the team decided to
China launches new batch of remote sensing satellites
Friday, 24 June 2022 12:12China successfully launched three new remote sensing satellites from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province Thursday. The satellites were launched as the second batch of the Yaogan-35 family at 10:22 a.m. (Beijing Time) by a Long March-2D carrier rocket and entered the planned orbit successfully. The satellites will be mainly used to conduct science
A novel crystal structure sheds light on the dynamics of extrasolar planets
Friday, 24 June 2022 12:12For decades, scientists have looked to the strange worlds beyond our solar system to understand more about our home planet. A team of researchers using the resources of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory recently discovered more about those planets without leaving Earth. More than 5,000 extrasolar planets have been discovered since 1992. These planets are lar
How do you process space data and imagery in low earth orbit?
Friday, 24 June 2022 12:12Aerospace organizations around the globe, including Axiom Space, are developing new ideas for how humans will explore, conduct research, and do business in low Earth orbit (LEO) when the International Space Station (ISS) is retired at the end of this decade. Regardless of what the next commercial space stations may look like, one thing is certain: humanity's desire for on-orbit scientific resear