New L3Harris space boss says it’s time to rethink risk tolerance
Monday, 04 April 2022 21:27
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With China and Russia embracing hypersonic weapons capable of evading U.S. missile shields, the Pentagon is spending billions of dollars on infrared sensor satellites to counter the threat. Kelle Wendling, the new president of L3Harris Technologies’ Space Systems sector, says U.S.
Head of U.S. Space Force launch operations ‘watching Starship closely’
Monday, 04 April 2022 21:23 Write a comment
Brig. Gen. Stephen Purdy was in Boca Chica, Texas, last month visiting Starship manufacturing and testing operations.
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Space industry struggling to attract more skilled workers
Monday, 04 April 2022 21:09 Write a comment
While the space industry workforce continues to increase, there are signs the industry may be struggling to attract people, which could stifle its long-term growth.
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Xplore acquires Kubos and Major Tom software
Monday, 04 April 2022 20:52 Write a comment
Xplore Inc. announced the acquisition April 4 of spacecraft software developer Kubos Corp. including Major Tom, Kubos’ flight control software platform.
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Space investors predict more acquisitions to combat hiring challenges
Monday, 04 April 2022 19:14 Write a comment
Hiring challenges in the space industry will lead to more acquisitions as way for companies to access talent and expand their workforces, investors said during an April 4 space finance session at the 37th Space Symposium.
NASA plans talks with partners on ISS and Artemis
Monday, 04 April 2022 18:06 Write a comment
NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy plans to use this week’s Space Symposium to meet with international partners on both the long-term future of the International Space Station and roles in later phases of NASA’s Artemis lunar exploration effort.
Millennium prepares for mass manufacturing
Monday, 04 April 2022 17:47 Write a comment
For the moment, Millennium Space System’s new small satellite factory looks like a series of huge rooms that are mostly empty except for powerful yellow cranes in the corners and impressive power strips lining the walls.
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German environmental satellite EnMAP successfully launched into space
Monday, 04 April 2022 17:46 Write a comment
The German environmental satellite EnMAP was successfully launched into space on Friday evening from Cape Canaveral in Florida on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The "science" team of the EnMAP mission at the German Research Centre for Geosciences Potsdam celebrated the exciting minutes before and during the launch with a diverse and informative event. Lectures, talks and live broadcasts gave an impression of the scientific background, many years of preparations and various current and future fields of application of the mission. Also joining the event was Potsdam's Lord Mayor Mike Schubert, who was equally excited and congratulated on the successful launch.
Over the next few years, the hyperspectral mission will take pictures of the Earth's surface in around 250 colors ("spectral bands") and thus provide information on the condition of vegetation, soils and waters more precisely than ever before. Even short-term changes can be recorded with the help of the satellite, which is about the size of a wardrobe.
Shake and bake: NASA's Psyche is tested in spacelike conditions
Monday, 04 April 2022 17:46 Write a comment
To prepare for its launch in August, the Psyche spacecraft has been tested to ensure it can operate in the extreme conditions it will face on its trip to a metal-rich asteroid.
The conditions that a NASA spacecraft endures are extreme: the violent shaking and cacophony of a rocket launch, the jolt of separating from the launch vehicle, the extreme temperature fluctuations in and out of the sun's rays, the unforgiving vacuum of space.
Before launch, engineers do their best to replicate these harsh conditions in a rigorous series of tests to ensure the spacecraft can withstand them. NASA's Psyche spacecraft has just completed its own gauntlet of electromagnetic, thermal-vacuum, vibration, shock, and acoustic testing at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
Millennium works with Boeing to address smallsat demand
Monday, 04 April 2022 17:45 Write a comment
Millennium Space Systems is working closely with Boeing, its corporate parent, to gear up for rapid production of spacecraft for government and commercial constellations.
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Spaceborne Computer-2 completes 24 experiments on ISS
Monday, 04 April 2022 17:00 Write a comment
Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Microsoft and NASA will share details at the 37th Space Symposium on 24 research experiments completed to date on the International Space Station’s HPE Spaceborne Computer-2.
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NASA uses moonlight to improve satellite accuracy
Monday, 04 April 2022 15:50 Write a comment
NASA's airborne Lunar Spectral Irradiance, or air-LUSI, flew aboard NASA's ER-2 aircraft from March 12 to 16 to accurately measure the amount of light reflected off the Moon. Reflected moonlight is a steady source of light that researchers are taking advantage of to improve the accuracy and consistency of measurements among Earth-observing satellites.
"The Moon is extremely stable and not influenced by factors on Earth like climate to any large degree. It becomes a very good calibration reference, an independent benchmark, by which we can set our instruments and see what's happening with our planet," said air-LUSI's principal investigator, Kevin Turpie, a research professor at the University of Maryland, College Park.
Space debris found in rural India likely from 'China rocket'
Monday, 04 April 2022 14:27 Write a comment
A large metal ring and sphere that villagers in rural western India said fell from the sky over the weekend could be from a Chinese rocket launched into space last year, officials told local media.
The metal ring—reportedly two to three metres (6.5-10 feet) in diameter and weighing over 40 kilogrammes (90 pounds)—was discovered in a village field in Maharashtra state late on Saturday, district collector Ajay Gulhane told the Press Trust of India.
"We were preparing a community feast, when the sky blazed with the red disc which fell with a bang on an open plot in the village," an unnamed woman in Maharashtra's Chandrapur district told The Times of India.
"People ran to their home fearing (an) explosion and remained inside for nearly half an hour."
Another object—a large, metal ball around half a metre (1.5 feet) in diameter—fell in another village in the district, Gulhane told PTI.
"It has been collected for examination. We had sent (junior officials) to every village in the district to find if more parts of objects, if any, are lying scattered."
There were no reports of injuries or structural damage.
An Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) official told the Times that the timing of the objects' arrival was the "closest match" to the re-entry times on Saturday for debris from a Chinese rocket launched in February 2021.
Telesat adjusts polar satellite design to tackle supply issues
Monday, 04 April 2022 14:16 Write a comment
Telesat has upgraded a quarter of its planned low Earth orbit constellation as supply chain issues force it to consider ordering fewer satellites for the delayed broadband network.
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Op-ed | Assembling America’s Future in Space
Monday, 04 April 2022 14:14 Write a comment
From satellite refueling, to recycling of orbital debris, to increasing capability delivered on order through robotic manufacturing and assembly in space, in-space servicing, assembly, and manufacturing will transform space architectures and provide strategic and commercial advantages to those who lead in its development and implementation.