Video: How to clear Earth's orbit of space debris
Monday, 12 April 2021 14:52
On 20 April 2021, ESA will host the 8th European Conference on Space Debris from Darmstadt, in Germany. Scientists, engineers, industry experts and policy makers will spend the virtual four-day conference discussing the latest issues surrounding space debris. They will exchange the latest research, try to come up with solutions for potential problems and define the future direction of any necessary action.
There are currently over 129 million objects larger than a millimeter in orbits around Earth. These range from inactive satellites to flakes of paint. But no matter how small the item of debris, anything traveling up to 56,000 km/h in an orbit is dangerous if it comes into contact with the many satellites that connect us around the world, be it for GPS, mobile phone data or internet connectivity. The solution is to take action before it's too late. This is why ESA has commissioned ClearSpace-1—the world's first mission to remove space debris—for launch in 2025.
This film contains interviews with ESA Head of Space Debris Office Tim Flohrer; ESA Head of Clean Space Office Luisa Innocenti; and Xanthi Oikonomidou, ESA Space Debris Office.
York Space Systems automates ground system operations
Monday, 12 April 2021 14:43
SAN FRANCISCO – York Space Systems has learned a lot from operating its first production-model spacecraft in orbit for two years. The biggest takeaway, though, has been the need to automate satellite handling on the ground.
“In the first few months, it became clear it was going to require as many as 15 different people to operate a constellation for a specific customer,” Charles Beames, York Space Systems executive chairman, told SpaceNews.
Korea Aerospace Industries to invest $880 million to expand space business
Monday, 12 April 2021 13:58
SEOUL, South Korea — Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), which played a key role in developing South Korea’s recently launched CAS500-1 remote sensing satellite, will invest 1 trillion won ($880 million) over the next five years to expand its space business, including satellite production, according to its chief executive.
Astrobotic selects Falcon Heavy to launch NASA’s VIPER lunar rover
Monday, 12 April 2021 13:00
WASHINGTON — Astrobotic has signed a contract with SpaceX for the launch of its Griffin lunar lander, carrying a NASA lunar rover, on a Falcon Heavy in 2023.
Astrobotic announced April 13 that it selected SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy for its Griffin Mission 1 lunar lander mission, which will deliver the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) spacecraft to the south pole of the moon in late 2023.
Slingshot developing graphics tool for missile-warning satellite operators
Monday, 12 April 2021 13:00
WASHINGTON — Slingshot Aerospace announced April 13 it won a $1.2 million Space Force contract for the development of software to help satellite operators visualize missile detection.
Slingshot teamed with Zoic Labs to develop a graphics tool that makes it easier for operators to view and interact with complex data collected by the Space Force’s overhead persistent infrared (OPIR) sensor satellites, said Melanie Stricklan, Slingshot’s co-founder and CEO.
First results from Fermilab's Muon g-2 experiment strengthen evidence of new physics
Monday, 12 April 2021 09:48
The long-awaited first results from the Muon g-2 experiment at the U.S. Department of Energy's Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory show fundamental particles called muons behaving in a way that is not predicted by scientists' best theory, the Standard Model of particle physics. This landmark result, made with unprecedented precision, confirms a discrepancy that has been gnawing at researchers Roscosmos has lost several contracts for satellite launches due to 'mean' US sanctions
Monday, 12 April 2021 09:48
The Russian State Space Corporation Roscosmos has lost several potential contracts for launching foreign satellites due to Washington's sanctions, Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin told Sputnik on Monday.
"I am aware of several similar situations when the customers would like to use our rockets but were forced to refuse because of the mean US sanctions. This happens if the spacecra China preparing Tianzhou-2 cargo mission to follow upcoming space station launch
Monday, 12 April 2021 08:33
HELSINKI — A Long March 7 rocket has arrived at China’s coastal Wenchang spaceport to facilitate the Tianzhou-2 supply mission to a soon-to-launch space station module.
Space Debris
Monday, 12 April 2021 08:00
Video:
00:04:15
On 20 April 2021, ESA will host the 8th European Conference on Space Debris from Darmstadt, in Germany. Scientists, engineers, industry experts and policy makers will spend the virtual four day conference discussing the latest issues surrounding space debris. They will exchange the latest research, try to come up with solutions for potential problems and define the future direction of any necessary action.
There are currently over 129 million objects larger than a millimetre in orbits around Earth. These range from inactive satellites to flakes of paint. But no matter how small the item of debris, anything travelling up
Four satellites planned to start space-based network
Monday, 12 April 2021 07:08
The southernmost province of Hainan plans to launch four satellites around the end of this year, thus beginning construction of the island's first space-based network, according to a project official.
Yang Tianliang, chief designer of the Hainan Earth-Observation Satellite Constellation System, said recently that four Hainan 1-series optical Earth-observation satellites have been assembled Chinese rocket for space station mission arrives at launch site
Monday, 12 April 2021 07:08
China's Long March-7 Y3 rocket, which will launch the cargo craft of China's space station, has arrived at its launch site in southern China's Hainan Province.
The rocket, alongside the Tianzhou-2 cargo craft that has already been transported to the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site, will be assembled and tested at the launch site, the China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO) said on Mo On Gagarin anniversary, Putin says Russia must remain 'space power'
Monday, 12 April 2021 07:08
President Vladimir Putin called on Monday for Russia to remain a great power in space, as the country celebrated the 60th anniversary of the legendary flight that made Yuri Gagarin the first person in orbit.
Russia's space industry has struggled in recent years and been hit by a series of mishaps, but the sending of the first human into space on April 12, 1961 remains a major source of natio Roscosmos Has Lost Several Contracts for Satellite Launches Due to 'Mean US Sanctions'
Monday, 12 April 2021 07:08
The Russian State Space Corporation Roscosmos has lost several potential contracts for launching foreign satellites due to Washington's sanctions, Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin told Sputnik on Monday.
"I am aware of several similar situations when the customers would like to use our rockets but were forced to refuse because of the mean US sanctions. This happens if the spacecra Exolaunch Introduces Eco Space Tug Program
Monday, 12 April 2021 07:08
Exolaunch, the leading rideshare services provider for the NewSpace industry and trendsetter in deployment solutions, has introduced its space tug program, featuring a new line of revolutionary orbital transfer vehicles (OTVs) that will launch satellites to custom orbits in an environmentally responsible way - the first of its kind in the OTV industry. The company's space tug testing and flight DARPA Selects Performers for Phase 1 of Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) Program
Monday, 12 April 2021 07:08
DARPA has awarded contracts for the first phase of the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) program. The goal of the DRACO program is to demonstrate a nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) system above low Earth orbit in 2025. The three prime contractors are General Atomics, Blue Origin, and Lockheed Martin.
Rapid maneuver is a core tenet of modern Department of Defense (D