Smallsat specialist OrbAstro busy building downstream dreams
Thursday, 23 September 2021 15:02
OrbAstro, a space-as-a-service startup with visions of flying “tiny satellites in large flocks,” is gearing up to launch its first half-dozen smallsats in 2022 — including its just-announced first micro satellite.
Next commercial Falcon Heavy mission to launch debut Astranis satellite
Thursday, 23 September 2021 14:30
Astranis said Sept. 23 that SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket will launch its first commercial satellite in a direct-inject mission to geostationary orbit in spring 2022.
Life support cooked up from lunar rocks
Thursday, 23 September 2021 13:59
Engineers have successfully shown how water and oxygen can be extracted by cooking up lunar soil, in order to support future Moon bases. A laboratory demonstrator, developed by a consortium of the Politecnico Milano, the European Space Agency, the Italian Space Agency and the OHB Group, is presented this week at the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) 2021.
The set-up uses a two-step process, well known in industrial chemistry for terrestrial applications, that has been customized to work with a mineral mixture that mimics the lunar soil. Around 50% of lunar soil in all regions of the Moon is made up of silicon- or iron-oxides, and these in turn are around 26% oxygen. This means that a system that efficiently extracts oxygen from the soil could operate at any landing site or installation on the Moon.
In the experimental set-up, the soil simulant is vaporized in the presence of hydrogen and methane, then "washed" with hydrogen gas.
NASA Announces Virtual Webb STEAM Day Event for Students, Educators
Thursday, 23 September 2021 13:20
NASA invites learners of all ages, including students and teachers who recently returned to the classroom environment, to register for a special event ahead of the upcoming launch of the James Webb Space Telescope. Op-ed | Sound space industry regulation matters for the 4th Industrial Revolution
Thursday, 23 September 2021 13:13
Space station crew to relocate Soyuz, make room for new crewmates
Thursday, 23 September 2021 13:13
Three residents of the International Space Station will take a short ride aboard a Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft Tuesday, Sept. 28, relocating the spacecraft to prepare for the arrival of the next set of station crew members.
Expedition 65 flight engineers Mark Vande Hei of NASA and Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov of the Russian Space Agency Roscosmos will undock from the station's Earth-facing Rassvet module at 8:21 a.m. EDT. They will dock again at the Nauka Multipurpose Laboratory Module at 9 a.m. This will be the first time a spacecraft has attached to the new Nauka module, which arrived at the station in July.
Live coverage of the maneuver will begin at 8 a.m. on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency's website.
NASA ballistic air gun hurls rocks at space suits to test their micrometeorite protection
Thursday, 23 September 2021 12:32
Shock testing is commonly used throughout engineering to determine how a product will do when impacted by something. That something could be anything from the ground to a cruise missile. Like so much else in space exploration, engineers at NASA are performing the same type of test, just scaled up. Instead of simply dropping the object under test, as is common in most settings, they shoot it with a steel ball going 3000 ft/second.
Researchers at the Ballistics Impact Lab use a 40-foot-long gun to simulate what it would be like to be hit by a micrometeorite in space. Recently, the team has focused on testing different types of fabric for use in space suits. A rapid decompression from a micrometeorite strike anywhere on a suit would be fatal to any astronaut unlucky enough to suffer one.
Understanding how a piece of fabric would fail in such a situation is critical to improving its design. Some forms of failure are worse than others. The lab has a series of high-speed cameras and sensors surrounding the material under test to ensure it can capture as much data about those failure modes as possible.
Rocket Lab to launch Astroscale inspection satellite
Thursday, 23 September 2021 11:02
Rocket Lab will launch an Astroscale mission to rendezvous with a spent rocket stage in low Earth orbit, a prelude to eventually deorbiting the stage.
Xplore receives $2M contract from NSIC to accelerate Xcraft Platform Development
Thursday, 23 September 2021 07:35
Xplore Inc., a commercial space company providing Space as a Service, has announced it has received a $2M contract from National Security Innovation Capital (NSIC) within the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) of the Department of Defense (DoD). This funding will accelerate the development of the Xcraft spacecraft platform, culminating with launch in 2023.
Lisa Rich, Founder and COO of Xplore s Raymond describes Space Force achievements, plans, challenges ahead
Thursday, 23 September 2021 07:35
Chief of Space Operations, Gen. John W. "Jay" Raymond used a list of "firsts" and achievements across the Space Force's brief history Sept. 21 to illustrate how the nation's newest military service is "purpose built" for success at a time when the nation "can no longer take space for granted."
"Space is clearly a warfighting domain and we're convinced that if deterrence were to fail, we're Delta-X helps with disaster response in wake of Hurricane Ida
Thursday, 23 September 2021 07:35
Charged with studying the Mississippi River Delta, NASA's Delta-X project was gearing up to collect data on Louisiana's coastal wetlands when Hurricane Ida barreled ashore in late August. The storm - a high-end Category 4 when it made landfall near Port Fourchon, Louisiana, on Aug. 29 - damaged buildings and infrastructure alike, resulting in power outages, flooding, and oil slicks in the Gulf o US Space Force to take over SATCOM operations from Army, Navy
Thursday, 23 September 2021 07:35
The U.S. Space Force will take over satellite communications billets, funding and mission responsibility from the U.S. Army and Navy, the Department of Defense announced Wednesday.
The transfer, which includes a total of 15 global units with 319 military and 259 civilian billets, is scheduled to be effective Oct. 1, if the Defense Department budget is passed and signed.
"We're on Glasgow Prestwick Spaceport announces Launch Partner
Thursday, 23 September 2021 07:35
Prestwick Spaceport has secured a launch partner for its spaceport development in a landmark deal that will boost Scotland's space industry ambitions and create an important strategic asset for the UK.
The spaceport, represented by Glasgow Prestwick Airport and South Ayrs0hire Council, yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Astraius, the leading UK based, commercially op CSO unveils Guardian Ideal, Space Force values at AFA
Thursday, 23 September 2021 07:35
Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. "Jay" Raymond unveiled the Guardian Ideal and Space Force values during his speech Sept. 20, 2021, at the Air Force Association Air, Space, and Cyber Conference in National Harbor, Maryland.
The Guardian Ideal is the Space Force's foundational document outlining the service's boundary-pushing, innovative approach to talent management, from accession t US Space Force Commander claims Russia has armed satellite in orbit
Thursday, 23 September 2021 07:35
Russia already has deployed in low-earth orbit a "nesting doll" satellite armed with a weapon that can destroy US satellites vital for communications, command and control and precision targeting, Space Force Commander General John Raymond said on Tuesday.
"Russia has a nesting doll satellite [in orbit] to destroy US satellites, armed with a weapon to destroy US satellites," Raymond told th