Thales Alenia Space wins $3.0 bn Canadian contract
Tuesday, 09 February 2021 00:01
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Franco-Italian group Thales Alenia Space has won a multi-billion dollar contract for a huge constellation of telecom satellites for the Canadian group Telesat, it said Tuesday.
Telesat is to spend around $3.0 billion for almost 300 Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites that will allow it to provide high-speed internet and communication services, a statement said.
The group already operates a Investors see multiple avenues for space sector exits
Monday, 08 February 2021 21:57 Write a comment
SAN FRANCISCO – Money will continue flowing into the space industry from government agencies, private equity firms and public markets, according to panelists at the 2021 SmallSat Symposium.
“It has never been a better time to raise money for ventures in and around space,” said James Murray, a partner at investment bank PJT Partners.
NASA's first mission to the trojan asteroids installs its final scientific instrument
Monday, 08 February 2021 21:46 Write a comment
With less than a year to launch, NASA's Lucy mission's third and final scientific instrument has been integrated onto the spacecraft.
Amazon Web Services sees role as technology enabler for space industry
Monday, 08 February 2021 21:41 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — Amazon Web Services is keeping its sights on the space sector. The cloud computing giant provides ground infrastructure for companies to process and analyze data from satellites, and is now looking to attract new customers by offering more customized services such as cloud-based satellite operations and mission control.
SpaceX sees strong demand for smallsat rideshare launch services
Monday, 08 February 2021 20:25 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — SpaceX is seeing strong demand for its dedicated smallsat rideshare missions, a program that is putting pricing pressure on small launch vehicle developers.
During a panel discussion at the 2021 SmallSat Symposium Feb. 9, a SpaceX official said the company has two more dedicated rideshare missions scheduled this year after its Falcon 9 Transporter-1 launch Jan.
Strong interest for SpaceX smallsat rideshare launch services
Monday, 08 February 2021 20:25 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — SpaceX is seeing strong demand for its dedicated smallsat rideshare missions, a program that is putting pricing pressure on small launch vehicle developers.
During a panel discussion at the 2021 SmallSat Symposium Feb. 9, a SpaceX official said the company has two more dedicated rideshare missions scheduled this year after its Falcon 9 Transporter-1 launch Jan.
Explainer: how the UAE probe reached Mars' orbit
Monday, 08 February 2021 20:10 Write a comment
The first Arab interplanetary mission reached Mars' orbit Tuesday in the most critical stage of its journey to unravel the secrets of weather on the Red Planet.
The unmanned probe—named "Al-Amal", Arabic for "Hope"—blasted off from Japan last year, the latest step in the UAE's ambitious space programme.
Here are some facts and figures about the oil-rich nation's project, which draws inspiration from the Middle East's golden age of cultural and scientific achievements.
Outsize plans
The United Arab Emirates, made up of seven members including Dubai and Abu Dhabi, has 12 satellites in orbit, with plans to launch several more in coming years.
In September 2019, it sent the first Emirati into space, Hazza al-Mansouri, who was part of a three-member crew. They blasted off from Kazakhstan, returning home after an eight-day mission in which he became the first Arab to visit the International Space Station.
But the UAE's ambitions go much further, with a goal of building a human settlement on Mars by 2117.
In the meantime, it plans to create a white-domed "Science City" in the deserts outside Dubai to simulate Martian conditions and develop the technology needed to colonise the planet.
Turkey unveils space program including 2023 moon mission
Monday, 08 February 2021 20:08 Write a comment
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan unveiled an ambitious 10-year space program for his country Tuesday that includes missions to the moon, sending Turkish astronauts into space and developing internationally viable satellite systems.
Erdogan announced the program, seen as part of his vision for placing Turkey in expanded regional and global role, during a live televised event laced with special effects.
Eutelsat awarded €100m contract for next-gen European navigation overlay service
Monday, 08 February 2021 19:21 Write a comment
JOHANNESBURG — The European GNSS Agency, GSA, has awarded a €100 million ($121 million) contract to Eutelsat Communications to develop and operate the agency’s next-generation EGNOS satellite navigation overlay service.
The European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) is used to improve the performance and accuracy of U.S.
Hope enters orbit around Mars
Monday, 08 February 2021 18:19 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — The United Arab Emirates’ first Mars mission, Hope, successfully entered orbit around the planet Feb. 9.
Hope completed a 27-minute burn of its main thrusters, slowing the spacecraft down enough to enter an initial “capture” orbit around Mars, at 10:57 a.m.
UAE's 'Hope' probe enters Mars orbit in first for Arab world
Monday, 08 February 2021 18:18 Write a comment
The United Arab Emirates' "Hope" probe on Monday successfully entered Mars' orbit, making history as the Arab world's first interplanetary mission.
The probe is designed to reveal the secrets of Martian weather, but the UAE also wants it to serve as an inspiration for the region's youth.
"To the people of the UAE, to the Arab and Muslim nations, we announce the succesful arrival to Mars' orbit. Praise be to God," said Omran Sharaf, the mission's project manager.
Super-Earth atmospheres probed at Sandia's Z machine
Monday, 08 February 2021 14:42 Write a comment
The huge forces generated by the Z machine at Sandia National Laboratories are being used to replicate the gravitational pressures on so-called "super-Earths" to determine which might maintain atmospheres that could support life.
Astronomers believe that super-Earths—collections of rocks up to eight times larger than Earth—exist in the millions in our galaxy.
Sentinel-6 passes in-orbit tests with flying colors
Monday, 08 February 2021 14:37
Keeping it fluid
Monday, 08 February 2021 14:31 Write a comment
Image:
NASA astronaut Victor Glover installs the Fluid Dynamics in Space experiment, or Fluidics for short. Fluidics is the black cylinder pictured in the foreground of the European Columbus module of the International Space Station.
Developed by French space agency CNES and co-funded by Airbus, the Fluidics experiment is probing how fluids behave in weightlessness.
The experiment is made up of six small, transparent spheres housed in the black centrifuge seen here and is studying two phenomena.
The first is ‘sloshing’ or how liquids move inside closed spaces, which is hard to predict both with and without gravity. Think how
Op-ed | Space weather bill will fizzle without funding
Monday, 08 February 2021 14:30 Write a comment
On Oct. 21, 2020, the Promoting Research and Observations of Space Weather to Improve the Forecasting of Tomorrow (PROSWIFT) Act was signed into law. This act culminates a multiyear bipartisan effort championed by Sens. Gary Peters (D-Mich.