China Launches Initial Batch of Qianfan Network Satellites
Sunday, 11 August 2024 19:40
China launched 18 communications satellites from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Shanxi province on Tuesday afternoon. The satellites, weighing a total of 4.8 metric tons, were the first group of the Qianfan network, carried by a Long March 6A rocket that launched at 2:42 pm and successfully reached their designated orbit.
The Qianfan network, developed by the Shanghai-based company 
Mars and Jupiter get chummy in the night sky. The planets won't get this close again until 2033
Sunday, 11 August 2024 09:35
Mars and Jupiter are cozying up in the night sky for their closest rendezvous this decade.
They'll be so close Wednesday, at least from our perspective, that just a sliver of moon could fit between them. In reality, our solar system's biggest planet and its dimmer, reddish neighbor will be more than 350 million miles (575 million kilometers) apart in their respective orbits.
The two planets will reach their minimum separation—one-third of 1 degree or about one-third the width of the moon—during daylight hours Wednesday in most of the Americas, Europe and Africa.
Chinese satellite launch rocket breaks into hundred of pieces in orbit
Saturday, 10 August 2024 23:26
A Chinese Long March 6A rocket broke apart in low-Earth orbit and formed a debris field with hundreds of pieces, confirmed by U.S. Space Command.
"USSPACECOM has observed no immediate threats and continues to conduct routine conjunction assessments to support the safety and sustainability of the space domain," a U.S. Space Command spokesperson said.
NASA public affairs officer Rob Ma ClearSpace and Plextek Strengthen Alliance for Enhanced In-Orbit Services
Saturday, 10 August 2024 23:26
ClearSpace, a leader in space logistics and orbital servicing, has reaffirmed its partnership with Plextek, an engineering consultancy renowned for its technical expertise. Together, they are addressing critical challenges in space debris removal and satellite servicing. This collaboration combines the strengths of both companies to improve the reliability and accuracy of in-orbit operations. New Coordination System Allows Satellite Internet and Radio Astronomy to Share the Sky
Saturday, 10 August 2024 23:26
Astronomers rely on clear skies and undisturbed frequencies to explore the universe. But as satellite technology grows, so does the potential for interference with these sensitive observations. A new collaboration between the U.S. National Science Foundation's National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NSF NRAO) and SpaceX demonstrates how radio astronomers and satellite internet providers can effect Prepare for the Perseids and a pretty planetary pairing
Saturday, 10 August 2024 23:26
The year's long-awaited Perseid meteor shower will be accompanied by a graceful planetary conjunction. It's well worth staying up all night to watch.
The Perseid meteor shower, a celestial event eagerly awaited by millions of skywatchers around the world, is about to make its annual return to the night sky. The shower is predicted to reach its peak the morning of Monday, August 12th, but v NASA near-Earth defense telescope retired after more than a decade
Saturday, 10 August 2024 23:26
After more than a decade of tracking asteroids and comets that could pose a threat to Earth, NASA's Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer is now officially shut down.
The space agency sent the final command to the NEOWISE craft Thursday from its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California, ending its so-called planetary defense mission after more than 10 years NASA Invites Proposals for Utilizing VIPER Moon Rover
Saturday, 10 August 2024 23:26
As part of its commitment to advancing lunar exploration, NASA has issued a Request for Information (RFI) to identify potential interest from American companies and institutions in deploying the VIPER Moon rover for a mission.
The Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) was developed to identify and map resources, such as lunar ice, at the Moon's South Pole. Despite NASA's A 'FURST' of its Kind: Sounding Rocket Mission to Study Sun as a Star
Saturday, 10 August 2024 23:26
From Earth, one might be tempted to view the Sun as a unique celestial object like no other, as it's the star our home planet orbits and the one our planet relies on most for heat and light. But if you took a step back and compared the Sun to the other stars NASA has studied over the years, how would it compare? Would it still be so unique?
The Full-sun Ultraviolet Rocket SpecTrograph (FUR US, Australia collaborate to enhance GPS resilience in contested environments
Saturday, 10 August 2024 23:26
Members of the Australian Department of Defence recently joined forces with the Joint Navigation Warfare Center to put GPS devices to the test. The goal was to assess their performance under simulated jamming conditions and enhance their resilience in contested environments.
The combined effort brought together experts from both nations. Personnel from the Australian Joint Positioning, Nav EQT in Exclusive Talks to Acquire Majority Stake in Eutelsat's Satellite Ground Station Business
Saturday, 10 August 2024 23:26
EQT Infrastructure VI fund ("EQT") has initiated exclusive negotiations to acquire an 80% majority stake in Eutelsat Group's Ground Station Infrastructure Business. Eutelsat will retain a 20% share in the newly formed company, valued at an enterprise value of EUR 790 million.
The Ground Station Business is a global infrastructure platform with an extensive footprint of satellite ground sta 
Archaeologists conduct first 'space excavation' on ISS and discover surprising quirks of zero-G life
Saturday, 10 August 2024 14:30
New results from the first archaeological fieldwork conducted in space show the International Space Station is a rich cultural landscape where crew create their own "gravity" to replace Earth's, and adapt module spaces to suit their needs.
Archaeology is usually thought of as the study of the distant past, but it's ideally suited for revealing how people adapt to long-duration spaceflight.
In the SQuARE experiment described in our new paper in PLOS ONE, we re-imagined a standard archaeological method for use in space, and got astronauts to carry it out for us.
Archaeology … in … spaaaaace!
The International Space Station is the first permanent human settlement in space. Close to 280 people have visited it in the past 23 years.
Our team has studied displays of photos, religious icons and artworks made by crew members from different countries, observed the cargo that is returned to Earth, and used NASA's historic photo archive to examine the relationships between crew members who serve together.
Blue Origin tests out New Glenn rocket recovery crane at Port Canaveral
Saturday, 10 August 2024 09:20
With the first launch of Blue Origin's massive New Glenn rocket still in the works before the end of the year, Jeff Bezos' company got to work testing out its recovery operations with the huge crane parked at Port Canaveral on August 8.
"Port Canaveral spectators got a sneak peek of our recovery operations today as we demonstrated the process of transitioning New Glenn's first stage from vertical to horizontal using our 200-foot-tall simulator," the company posted on X. "The operation validated our tooling and procedures for recovering our first stage from the landing vessel, bringing us another step closer to our first launch."
The 375-foot-tall crane arrived to the port from Germany last October and will be used when New Glenn's booster returns to the port on its "sea-based landing platform," similar to how SpaceX lands its Falcon 9 boosters on droneships.
Since it's a taller rocket, Blue Origin needed a taller crane, and it's the highest point in Port Canaveral, sitting adjacent to SpaceX recovery operations, which use mobile cranes owned and operated by the port nearby.