Ice frozen under Mars' surface offers major resource to aid future settlements
Monday, 01 March 2021 05:58
Frozen water is hiding beneath the dust-covered surface of Mars, and scientist Ali Bramson wants to find it. She sees a chance to both sustain future human explorers and answer questions about the red planet's climate.
Bramson, a Purdue University assistant professor of planetary science, was part of recent research to determine the location and depth of the subsurface ice. The results of US Space Force Chief Sees 'Fused Connection' With Commercial Industry as Key to Success
Monday, 01 March 2021 05:58
Because of its small size and high dependency on advanced technology, the US Space Force is perhaps better positioned than any branch of the US military to become a cash-cow for private industry.
A top US Space Force official has praised the falling costs of space flight in recent years, saying that nearly all of its space activities are now capable of being performed by private industry. China has over 300 satellites in orbit
Monday, 01 March 2021 05:58
China's satellite application system has made great progress in 2020, with more than 300 satellites in orbit for various applications, according to a recent report released by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
Among them are Beidou navigation satellites, remote sensing satellites for meteorological and marine monitoring, and communication satellites.
China start AFRL rocket propulsion division hosts virtual AIAA meeting
Monday, 01 March 2021 05:58
The Air Force Research Laboratory's Rocket Propulsion Division hosted a virtual conference of the Management Committee (Integration and Outreach Division) of the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), chaired by Ray Flores, deputy director, Office of the Inspector General, HQ Air Force Materiel Command, February 23-24.
Dr. Suren Singhal, deputy manager, Office of the C New rocket, Firefly's Alpha, may be ready to launch by April
Monday, 01 March 2021 05:58
Texas-based Firefly Aerospace plans to launch its new Alpha rocket from California in April and send a lunar lander to the moon by 2023.
The 95-foot-high launch vehicle is designed to lift satellite payloads that weigh just over a ton into low-Earth orbit, or slightly lighter loads to a higher orbit.
Firefly has existed for only four years, and would join a small, but growing, group Engine shutdown led to failed Falcon 9 booster landing
Monday, 01 March 2021 02:24
WASHINGTON — A Falcon 9 first stage failed to land after a launch last month because one of its engines shut down during flight after hot gas breached a worn-out cover.
During a NASA press conference March 1 about the upcoming Crew-2 commercial crew flight, Benji Reed, senior director for human spaceflight programs at SpaceX, said that while the booster used on that Feb.
Op-ed | DoD weather capabilities have lagged; Space Force can turn that around
Sunday, 28 February 2021 22:45
Just before dawn on August 30, 1776, a bank of fog crawled over New York’s East River, concealing George Washington’s beleaguered Continentals as they slipped away to safety and out of reach of the surrounding British forces.
Spire Global joins rush to public markets with $1.6 billion SPAC deal
Sunday, 28 February 2021 22:21
TAMPA, Florida — Satellite operator Spire Global has unveiled the space-powered Big Data market’s second SPAC deal in just over a week, as the rush to public markets accelerates across commercial space sectors.
Spire’s merger with special-purpose acquisition company NavSight values the company at $1.6 billion.
SpaceX wins Air Force manufacturing research contract for hypersonic vehicle thermal shields
Sunday, 28 February 2021 20:37
WASHINGTON — The Air Force Research Laboratory awarded SpaceX an $8.5 million contract to investigate advanced materials and manufacturing techniques for heat shields that protect hypersonic vehicles in flight.
Heat protection is a critical technology to shield hypersonic vehicles from the intense heat experienced when flying at more than five times the speed of sound.
Space Development Agency experiment to fly on Northrop Grumman’s capsule to space station
Sunday, 28 February 2021 18:45
WASHINGTON — Northrop Grumman’s next cargo delivery mission to the International Space Station will carry a Space Development Agency payload to collect data for the development of missile-tracking sensors.
The experiment known as Persistent Infrared Payload is scheduled to launch in July on the NG-16 Cygnus cargo mission on a Northrop Grumman Antares rocket from Wallops Island, Virginia.
Op-ed | Representing the private astronaut is a new step for human spaceflight — and for space lawyers
Sunday, 28 February 2021 17:00
A new era of human spaceflight was launched with Axiom Space’s Jan. 26 announcement of the four private astronauts it will send to the International Space Station early next year aboard a chartered SpaceX Crew Dragon flight.
Astra’s 100-year plan: Q&A with CEO Chris Kemp
Sunday, 28 February 2021 16:40
In February 2020, Astra was just starting to open up to the public. The small launch vehicle developer, which had kept a profile so low that it called itself “Stealth Space Company” in job listings, began talking to the media about its plans as it was preparing its first orbital launch attempt from Kodiak, Alaska, as part of the DARPA Launch Challenge.
New brine processor increases water recycling on International Space Station
Sunday, 28 February 2021 15:59
NASA's newest technology demonstration, which launched on Northrop Grumman's 15th commercial resupply services mission, is designed to improve water recycling on the International Space Station and boost the efficiency of water recycling for the Artemis generation.
The space station's regenerative life support hardware, called the Environmental Control and Life Support System, provides clean air and water for station crews. A new Brine Processor Assembly (BPA) will be tied into the system and allow more water to be recovered from crew urine. This new piece of technology ultimately will help scientists build better systems that can be used on future Moon and Mars missions and habitats.
ECLSS has enabled more crew members to live aboard the station for longer expeditions with fewer resource shipments. The key components of the regenerative ECLSS are the Water Recovery System and the Air Revitalization System.
Veteran journalist Jason Rainbow joins SpaceNews
Sunday, 28 February 2021 13:38
WASHINGTON — SpaceNews has hired veteran satellite industry reporter Jason Rainbow to anchor the organization’s satellite telecommunications coverage and expand its reporting on existing and emerging commercial space markets.
Rainbow has spent more than a decade covering the global space industry as a business journalist.
ESA is working on a mission to explore caves on the moon
Sunday, 28 February 2021 13:00
Infrastructure is going to be one of the biggest components of any permanent human settlement on the moon. NASA Artemis missions are focused directly on building up the facilities and processes necessary to support a moon base. ESA is also contributing both material and knowledge. Most recently, they made another step in their path to explore lava tubes and caves in the subterranean lunar world.
ESA recently started the third round of a series of studies that focus on exploring lunar caves. The current round, called a concurrent design facility (CDF) study, builds on the work done in two previous rounds of Sysnova studies. Originally encompassing five studies ranging from how to lower a probe into a cave to how to communicate with and power any probes that make that descent, ideas were elicited from the public as part of the CAVES and PANGAEA programs.