Washington DC (UPI) Mar 23, 2021
Scientists have revealed the global nature of magnetospheric substorms, the space weather phenomena responsible for the Northern Lights. The discovery was made possible by the same algorithms that help social networking sites match like-minded friends. Researchers amassed data on disturbances in the Earth's magnetic field collected by magnetometers positioned all over the Norther

Warwick UK (SPX) Mar 24, 2021
Space weather often manifests as substorms, where a beautiful auroral display such as the Northern Lights is accompanied by an electrical current in space which has effects at earth that can interfere with and damage power distribution and electrical systems. Now, the lifecycle of these auroral substorms has been revealed using social media-inspired mathematical tools to analyse space weather ob

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Mar 24, 2021
It took a large hangar to unfold the four ultra-lightweight booms, each made of carbon fibre-reinforced composites and 13.5 metres long, arranged in a cross shape. Researchers from the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) tested the booms twice in the aircraft hangar at the DLR site in Braunschweig. In cooperation with the US space agency NASA, the aim i

WASHINGTON — A small helicopter that hitched a ride on NASA’s Perseverance rover will attempt its first flight on Mars in early April, demonstrating technology that could be used on future missions.

At a March 23 briefing, NASA officials discussed plans to perform the first flights of Ingenuity, a 1.8-kilogram helicopter currently attached to the underside of Perseverance.

WASHINGTON — Bluestaq announced March 23 it has received a $280 million contract from the U.S. Space Force to expand an existing library of space objects that integrates data from commercial and government sources.

TAMPA, Fla. — Global Eagle Entertainment, a provider of media services and satellite Wi-Fi to aircraft, boats and remote locations, has exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Around half a dozen of the satellite communication provider’s lenders took control of the company March 23, shedding about $488 million of its debt in the process.

Overnight, or so it seems, space has become “red-hot,” facilitating new financing and exit options for space entrepreneurs and investors. A frequent question is whether this change in market sentiment is a flash in the pan or the beginning of a new, sustainable era? If the former, investors and executives would be well-advised to hastily run for the exit while the gates are still open.

TAMPA, Fla. — Lithuanian nanosatellite maker NanoAvionics is moving into the heavier microsatellite market as it looks to grow fivefold by 2025.

Vytenis Buzas, CEO of NanoAvionics, claims its 50-kilogram-plus ‘MP42’ product will be the microsat industry’s first commercially available modular bus.

WASHINGTON — Lockheed Martin announced March 23 it has signed an agreement with Omnispace to share business and technical information on the deployment of 5G networking technology in space.

Virginia-based Omnispace is developing a hybrid space and ground network to provide 5G and internet of things services.

For Bessemer Venture Partners, March 1 was a red-letter day. Specifically, the letters S, P, A and C. In separate announcements only minutes apart on that Monday morning, two space companies that Bessemer had invested in, Rocket Lab and Spire, announced deals to go public through mergers with special-purpose acquisition corporations, or SPACs.