Nelco invests in router maker to improve Indian satcoms network
Thursday, 08 June 2023 20:16Indian satellite communications provider Nelco has invested around $122 million in a network equipment startup based in Mumbai, India, to bolster its services amid a growing competitive threat from international players.
Space Force assigns 12 national security missions to SpaceX and ULA
Thursday, 08 June 2023 19:52The U.S. Space Force launch procurement office on June 8 announced an additional 12 missions assigned to SpaceX and United Launch Alliance under the National Security Space Launch Phase 2 contract.
How and why NASA gives a name to every spot it studies on Mars
Thursday, 08 June 2023 19:44Martian maps are full of monikers recognizing places on Earth, explorers, and even cartoon characters.
NASA's Perseverance rover is currently investigating rock outcrops alongside the rim of Mars's Belva Crater. Some 2,300 miles (3,700 kilometers) away, NASA's Curiosity rover recently drilled a sample at a location called "Ubajara." The crater bears an official name; the drill location is identified by a nickname, hence the quotation marks.
Both names are among thousands applied by NASA missions not just to craters and hills, but also to every boulder, pebble, and rock surface they study.
Firefly Aerospace acquires Spaceflight Inc.
Thursday, 08 June 2023 16:52Firefly Aerospace announced June 8 it has acquired Spaceflight Inc.
Ariane 6 joint update report, 8 June 2023
Thursday, 08 June 2023 15:45As anticipated in May, here is an update of the progress being made towards inaugural flight of the new Ariane 6 launcher.
The next update is expected end July.
Frequent lengthy space travel takes a toll on astronauts' brains, study shows
Thursday, 08 June 2023 14:00As we enter a new era in space travel, a study looking at how the human brain reacts to traveling outside Earth's gravity suggests frequent flyers should wait three years after longer missions to allow the physiological changes in their brains to reset.
Researchers studied brain scans of 30 astronauts from before and after space travel. Their findings, reported in Scientific Reports, reveal that the brain's ventricles expand significantly in those who completed longer missions of at least six months, and that less than three years may not provide enough time for the ventricles to fully recover.
Ventricles are cavities in the brain filled with cerebrospinal fluid, which provides protection, nourishment and waste removal to the brain. Mechanisms in the human body effectively distribute fluids throughout the body, but in the absence of gravity, the fluid shifts upward, pushing the brain higher within the skull and causing the ventricles to expand.
"We found that the more time people spent in space, the larger their ventricles became," said Rachael Seidler, a professor of applied physiology and kinesiology at the University of Florida and an author of the study.
SAIC to develop ‘software factory’ for Space Development Agency
Thursday, 08 June 2023 13:46The Space Development Agency awarded a $64 million contract to Science Applications International Corp.
Hydrosat acquires IrriWatch
Thursday, 08 June 2023 11:38IrriWatch, founded in 2019 by Wim Bastiaanssen, an expert on remote sensing and water resource management, feeds imagery and data, much of it provided by thermal sensors on government satellites, into proprietary algorithms to gauge leaf and soil temperatures, soil moisture content, water consumption and agricultural production.
European Navigation Conference at ESTEC discusses more resilient satnav
Thursday, 08 June 2023 11:35This year’s European Navigation Conference took place from 31 May to 2 June at ESA’s ESTEC technical centre in Noordwijk, home to the Agency’s navigation efforts. The ENC is organised each year under the umbrella the European Group of Institutes of Navigation (EUGIN) and this year by the Netherlands Institute of Navigation (NIN). Top of the list of discussion points? Enhancing the resilience of the positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) systems all of us have come to depend on.
African space tech? Don't rule it out, says Nigeria's startup king
Thursday, 08 June 2023 11:18Iyinoluwa Aboyeji might not have the personal wealth of Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg, but his level of success as an African entrepreneur bears comparison with any Silicon Valley tech titan. While still in his twenties, the Nigerian co-founded two "unicorns", an industry term for companies that achieve a valuation of more than $1 billion. By most counts, Africa has produced only seven un
How activity in outer space will affect regional inequalities in the future
Thursday, 08 June 2023 11:18Science fiction has always been a tool for processing life on Earth. Norwegian sci-fi expert Karl Kristian Swane Bambini has said that the space-bound genre is well placed to "interrogate and reimagine real-world economic disparities". He gives the examples of, among other things, the 2013 blockbuster Elysium, wherein healthcare is only accessible off-world, to people with spaceships, and
What made the brightest cosmic explosion of all time so exceptional?
Thursday, 08 June 2023 11:18Few cosmic explosions have attracted as much attention from space scientists as the one recorded on October 22 last year and aptly named the Brightest of All Time (BOAT). The event, produced by the collapse of a highly massive star and the subsequent birth of a black hole, was witnessed as an immensely bright flash of gamma rays followed by a slow-fading afterglow of light across frequencies.
Rwanda leaps forward in its journey to build a robust and vibrant space innovation ecosystem
Thursday, 08 June 2023 11:18The Research Institute for Innovation and Sustainability (RIIS) and the Rwanda Space Agency (RSA) recently hosted a multi-stakeholder workshop in Rwanda in support of the space agency's drive to harness emerging space opportunities and support Rwanda's socio-economic development goals by building a vibrant and robust space innovation ecosystem. The project to develop this ecosystem is fund
Sidus to launch LizzieSat with Edge AI, hyperspectral and multispectral imaging
Thursday, 08 June 2023 11:18Sidus Space (NASDAQ: SIDU) will launch industry leading hyperspectral and multispectral imaging and Edge Artificial Intelligence (AI) in its LizzieSat satellite on SpaceX Transporter missions beginning in 2024. LizzieSat's hyperspectral and multispectral imaging capability will be provided by the Owl 1280 and Hawk 1920 HD cameras made by Raptor Photonics. Sidus is building its space-based infras
LeoLabs accelerates radar coverage in Europe with commissioning of the Azores Space Radar
Thursday, 08 June 2023 11:18LeoLabs, the leading commercial provider of Space Domain Awareness (SDA) services and low Earth orbit (LEO) mapping, has announced the commissioning of the LeoLabs Azores Space Radar. This radar site, located on Santa Maria Island in the Azores, Portugal adds critical coverage in Europe and supports regional and national commitments to space safety, security, and sustainability. The Azores site