NGA warns U.S. lead in geospatial intelligence is being challenged
Monday, 01 March 2021 21:59
WASHINGTON — The United States is in a “great power competition” and the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency is being challenged to provide faster and better products and services, the agency’s deputy director Stacey Dixon said March 2.
Vega C, a new generation launcher
Monday, 01 March 2021 17:38
Vega C is the next generation of the European small lift launcher developed by Avio and is now ready for the maiden flight. The rocket will also launch the Space Rider in the near future and a new smaller and versatile version is under development.
Cristofoready
Monday, 01 March 2021 14:42
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Italian ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti poses in the Cupola module of the International Space Station with two 100-day patches to mark her 200th day in space. She is now set to return to her ‘home away from home’ for even more days in space.
Samantha first flew to the International Space Station on a Soyuz spacecraft in 2014 for a mission known as ‘Futura’. Her second flight follows the second missions of her fellow 2009 astronaut classmates Alexander Gerst in 2018, Luca Parmitano in 2019 and Thomas Pesquet in 2021. It could also see a direct on-Station handover with Matthias
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope completes final functional tests to prepare for launch
Monday, 01 March 2021 13:10
February marked significant progress for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, which completed its final functional performance tests at Northrop Grumman in Redondo Beach, California. Testing teams successfully completed two important milestones that confirmed the observatory's internal electronics are all functioning as intended, and that the spacecraft and its four scientific instruments can send and receive data properly through the same network they will use in space. These milestones move Webb closer to being ready to launch in October.
These tests are known as the comprehensive systems test, which took place at Northrop Grumman, and the ground segment test, which took place in collaboration with the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore.
Rocket Lab says SPAC deal will accelerate development of Neutron rocket
Monday, 01 March 2021 12:42
WASHINGTON — A growing realization of the need for a medium-class launch vehicle led Rocket Lab to speed up its plans to go public by merging with a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC).
Rocket Lab announced March 1 it would merge with Vector Acquisition Corporation, a SPAC established by venture fund Vector Capital.
Falling foam insulation caused Chinese commercial rocket failure
Monday, 01 March 2021 11:19
HELSINKI — Chinese commercial launch company iSpace said Monday that an errant piece of foam insulation caused the loss of its Hyperbola-1 launch vehicle in February.
Crew-2 on schedule for April launch while next Starliner flight delayed
Monday, 01 March 2021 11:14
WASHINGTON — NASA officials said March 1 that the next SpaceX commercial crew mission to the International Space Station remains on schedule for late April, but that a Boeing uncrewed test flight is facing further delays.
The Crew-2 mission, a flight of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying astronauts from NASA, the European Space Agency and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to the station, remains on track for a launch no earlier than April 20, agency officials said at a briefing.
Giant iceberg breaks off Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica
Monday, 01 March 2021 09:00
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New Copernicus Sentinel-1 radar images show a giant iceberg breaking off from the northern section of Antarctica’s Brunt Ice Shelf Boeing Starliner test flight postponed
Monday, 01 March 2021 05:58
An unmanned test mission of Boeing's Starliner space capsule, which is eventually to transport astronauts to the International Space Station, has had to be postponed, NASA said Monday.
The test, which had previously been postponed until early April, will suffer another delay, this time due to unprecedented cold temperatures in Texas that caused extensive power outages in the southern US stat NASA, SpaceX to launch 2nd Commercial Crew Rotation Mission to ISS
Monday, 01 March 2021 05:58
NASA and SpaceX are continuing a regular cadence of missions with astronauts launching on an American rocket from American soil to the International Space Station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. NASA's SpaceX Crew-2 is the second crew rotation mission with four astronauts flying on a commercial spacecraft, and the first with two international partner astronauts.
NASA's SpaceX Cr Kentucky firm plans orbital mini space station in two years
Monday, 01 March 2021 05:58
A Kentucky space firm that conducts science experiments on the International Space Station has plans to launch its own miniature, automated orbital research platform in about two years.
Lexington-based Space Tango has small research containers, or CubeLabs, on the space station. Bustling business and growing need for such experiments in microgravity led the company to plan its own space Rocket Lab unveils plans for bigger reusable rocket for mega-constellation deployment
Monday, 01 March 2021 05:58
Rocket Lab has unveiled plans for its Neutron rocket, an advanced 8-ton payload class launch vehicle tailored for mega-constellation deployment, interplanetary missions and human spaceflight.
Neutron will build on Rocket Lab's proven experience developing the reliable workhorse Electron launch vehicle, the second most frequently launched U.S. rocket annually since 2019. Where Electron prov India launches PSLV-C51 carrying Brazil's Amazonia-1 and 18 Satellites
Monday, 01 March 2021 05:58
The launch of the PSLV-C51 occurred on Sunday at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. The latter is located on Sriharikota Island in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully launched the Brazilian satellite Amazonia-1 along with 18 other co-passenger satellites via the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C51). The event occurred on Sund Getting your payload to orbit
Monday, 01 March 2021 05:58
Launch vehicles and satellites are commonly built by different contractors in separate locations by two different talent pools. Satellite engineers and managers are not generally intimately familiar with launch vehicle design, manufacture and operations. Launch vehicle engineers and managers are not generally intimately familiar with satellite design, manufacture and operations.
At some point Perseverance Hardware One Day after Landing
Monday, 01 March 2021 05:58
This first HiRISE image of the Perseverance Rover on the surface of Mars also shows many parts of the descent system that got it safely there. Each inset shows an area about 650 feet (200 meters) across.
The rover itself sits at the center of a blast pattern created by the hovering skycrane (labeled as "descent stage") that lowered it there. The skycrane flew off to crash as at a safe dist