China develops prototype Mars helicopter
Wednesday, 08 September 2021 06:36
The newly developed and recently unveiled prototype miniature helicopter drone, a possible means to support China's Mars missions, is designed to become a navigator for the Mars rover. It will greatly boost the latter's ability to explore valuable targets on the surface of the Red Planet, the project leader said on 6 September.
The newly developed and recently unveiled prototype miniature Gaofen 5-02 satellite launched from Taiyuan
Wednesday, 08 September 2021 06:36
China launched the Gaofen 5-02 Earth-observation satellite on Tuesday morning at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Shanxi province, according to the China National Space Administration.
The administration said the satellite was carried by a Long March 4C carrier rocket that blasted off at 11:01 am and then successfully entered orbit, marking the deployment of the 24th Gaofen-series sp Space Health Institute launches the first commercial spaceflight medical research program
Wednesday, 08 September 2021 06:36
The Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) at Baylor College of Medicine has announced the first-of-its-kind research platform to study human health and performance in private spaceflight participants. Working with commercial spaceflight providers and their passengers, TRISH's EXPAND (Enhancing eXploration Platforms and Analog Definition) Program will collect in-flight health Diamonds in the sky
Wednesday, 08 September 2021 06:36
Scientists from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) and Rutgers University have used simple concepts from granular physics to explain the curious diamond shapes of two "near Earth" asteroids.
Asteroids are rocky bodies that orbit the sun. What makes them fascinating to researchers is that they are made up of leftover materials-the matter that didn't g Bradford’s Comet production moves to Luxembourg
Tuesday, 07 September 2021 22:42
Bradford Space is updating its Comet electrothermal propulsion technology and transferring production of the small satellite thrusters from the United States to Luxembourg.
Exotrail to provide thrust for York cislunar mission
Tuesday, 07 September 2021 21:54
York Space Systems plans to rely on Exotrail electric propulsion for a mission to provide Earth-to-moon communications services from cislunar orbit.
Space Force awards ManTech $476 million contract for launch systems engineering services
Tuesday, 07 September 2021 21:34
The U.S. Space Force’s launch enterprise awarded ManTech a $476 million contract to provide systems engineering and integration services for the next 10 years.
DARPA awards Lockheed Martin $25 million contract modification for integration of Blackjack satellites
Tuesday, 07 September 2021 21:15
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency increased Lockheed Martin’s contract for satellite integration work for the Blackjack program by $25.3 million.
Inmarsat Q&A: Orchestrating a new multi-orbit broadband constellation
Tuesday, 07 September 2021 20:38
British satellite operator Inmarsat plans to spend $100 million over the next five years preparing to enter the increasingly competitive low-Earth-orbit market. SpaceNews caught up with Todd McDonell, Inmarsat’s president of global government, to find out what these plans mean for government customers that make up about a third of the company’s revenues.
Starbridge raises $12M in fresh capital for application-focused space startups
Tuesday, 07 September 2021 20:09
Starbridge Venture Capital is set to announce Sept. 8 that it has closed its second fund with $12.1 million in new capital.
UN space office seeks consensus on space traffic management
Tuesday, 07 September 2021 19:39
The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs is poised to assist the international community in tackling the challenges posed by an increasingly diverse set of actors launching and operating spacecraft.
SpaceX to increase Starlink antenna production rate
Tuesday, 07 September 2021 19:22
SpaceX plans to introduce a new version of its user terminal for its Starlink system later this year that will be less expensive to produce while also scaling up production.
Launch providers argue against a “magic number” for price to orbit
Tuesday, 07 September 2021 18:34
Companies offering smallsat launch services argue there is no “magic” price per kilogram that allows them to unlock greater demand, with customers willing to trade off price for responsiveness or other capabilities.
DoD a challenging customer for fast-moving satellite broadband industry
Tuesday, 07 September 2021 18:02
Companies that provide low Earth orbit satellite broadband view the U.S. Defense Department as a key customer but are being challenged to make their networks compatible with government ground systems and user terminals.
Kymeta announces successful OneWeb antenna tests
Tuesday, 07 September 2021 17:18
Kymeta said Sept. 7 that it successfully tested its u8 broadband terminal on OneWeb’s low-Earth-orbit constellation, achieving 200 megabits per second (Mbps) downlink speeds ahead of the network’s partial launch this year.