Ariane 6: Arrives
Tuesday, 27 February 2024 15:00The largest components for the first flight model of Europe’s new rocket Ariane 6 arrived at the port of Pariacabo in Kourou, French Guiana on 21 February 2024 via the novel ship, Canopée (canopy in French).
The Ariane 6 stages and components are all manufactured across Europe. On this trip, Canopée brought the central core for Ariane 6’s first flight. The main engine and the main stage were integrated in Les Mureaux, France, while the upper stage and insulation for the rocket’s exterior were built up in Bremen, Germany.
The various Ariane 6 components are then offloaded and transported
Korean researchers create an electrostatic environment that simulates the moon's surface
Tuesday, 27 February 2024 14:50Continuous research is being conducted globally on using the moon as an advanced base for deep space exploration, and Korea is no exception in these efforts. The Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT) successfully implemented an electrostatic environment that simulates the moon's surface conditions, not in space but on Earth. The researchers also assessed its performance and effectiveness.
Among the most serious threats in executing lunar missions is the moon's surface environment, which is electrostatically charged. Due to its extremely thin atmosphere, the moon is directly exposed to solar ultraviolet rays, X-rays, solar wind, Earth plasma, etc. Thus, clouds of dust on the moon exhibit strong static electricity. The moon's electrostatic environment is positively charged during the day and negatively charged during the night.
Given that the moon has nearly no atmosphere, dust can be easily blown away even by small impacts due to the minimal air resistance.
Northrop Grumman warns space sector employees of potential layoffs
Tuesday, 27 February 2024 14:10Rough landing cuts short historic private moon lander mission
Tuesday, 27 February 2024 13:23After the historic return of the U.S. to the surface of the moon after more than 50 years last week, a private company's lunar lander will likely have its mission cut short because of how it landed.
Houston-based Intuitive Machines managed to touch down on the moon with its Nova-C lander Odysseus, but the craft tipped over to one side, likely because it had one of its landing gear catch, company officials said. The lunar lander is not expected to be able to maintain power or communicate with mission managers beyond tomorrow.
"Flight controllers intend to collect data until the lander's solar panels are no longer exposed to light. Based on Earth and moon positioning, we believe flight controllers will continue to communicate with Odysseus until Tuesday morning," reads an update from the company's website.
That's bad news for NASA, which paid the company $118 million as part of its Commercial Lunar Lander Services program, which tasks private companies to build hardware capable of bringing payloads to the moon. NASA has six payloads on board worth about $12 million that were aiming for eight to nine days of life before the sun set on that part of the moon, although Intuitive Machines' pre-launch target was seven days.
Redwire opens new facility in Virginia to support national security programs
Tuesday, 27 February 2024 13:00FAA closes investigation into second Starship test flight
Tuesday, 27 February 2024 12:02Argentina authorizes Starlink, rival Amazon Kuiper
Tuesday, 27 February 2024 06:24Argentina on Monday gave authorization for the deployment of Starlink, the satellite internet service of Elon Musk—a fan of the South American country's self-styled new "anarcho-capitalist" President Javier Milei.
In a decision published in the government gazette, Argentina's Enacom communications authority authorized Starlink but also its new competitor from Amazon, Project Kuiper, which is due to launch this year, and the London-headquartered OneWeb.
"This means... greater freedom, greater investment and greater competition in everything related to the satellite internet market," presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni told reporters in Buenos Aires.
Adorni said the move would bring internet connectivity to "companies and people for whom, for whatever reason, other technologies don't allow" such access.
According to the Starlink website, its satellite internet service will be available in Argentina in the second quarter of 2024.
Investors inject $92 million into French maritime surveillance constellation
Tuesday, 27 February 2024 04:01Image: ERS-2 buckles and bends during final farewell
Monday, 26 February 2024 20:14Following a hugely successful mission and almost 30 years in orbit, ESA's ERS-2 reentered Earth's atmosphere at approximately 18:17 CET (17:17 UTC) on 21 February 2024.
Predicting the exact time and location of ERS-2's natural reentry was made more difficult by the lack of new observations of the satellite during its final revolutions around Earth.
This GIF combines some of the final images of ERS-2 tumbling through the sky. They were captured by the Tracking and Imaging Radar (TIRA) at the Fraunhofer Institute for High-Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques FHR in Germany.
TIRA's 34-m antenna tracked the satellite as it passed overhead for a few minutes on 19, 20, and 21 February. The final session took place around 8:00 CET on 21 February, still roughly 10 orbits before reentry.
By comparing the images from the three TIRA tracking sessions, we can see that ERS-2's solar array was already coming loose and no longer firmly attached to the rest of the satellite the day before re-entry.
When predicting a satellite's reentry trajectory, experts treat it as one rigid object until almost the very end.
Japan Moon lander revives after lunar night
Monday, 26 February 2024 18:17Japan's Moon lander has produced another surprise by waking up after the two-week lunar night, the country's space agency said Monday. The unmanned Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) touched down last month at a wonky angle that left its solar panels facing the wrong way. As the sun's angle shifted, it came back to life for two days and carried out scientific observations of a cr
Long March 5 deploys Communication Technology Demonstrator 11 satellite
Monday, 26 February 2024 18:17China's latest space mission has successfully placed an experimental telecommunications satellite into orbit, utilizing the Long March 5 carrier rocket. This initiative, orchestrated by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp (CASC), marks a significant step in China's efforts to develop high-speed, multi-band communication technologies. The launch occurred on Friday evening from t
Chang'e Lunar missions to benefit from new relay satellite launch
Monday, 26 February 2024 18:17The China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced the arrival of the Long March 8 carrier rocket at the Wenchang Space Launch Center, Hainan province. Tasked with launching the Queqiao 2 relay satellite, pre-launch preparations, including assembly and ground testing of the rocket and satellite, are now underway, with the launch slated for the first half of this year. Queqiao 2, the
Emirates mission to the asteroid belt complets PDR
Monday, 26 February 2024 18:17The United Arab Emirates Space Agency has successfully completed the critical preliminary design review (CDR) for the Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt (EMA). This important milestone, achieved between February 19 and 21, marks a significant advancement in the mission's progress, transitioning it into the production phase. The EMA mission, characterized by a six-year spacecraft design
International Crew Prepares for Launch to ISS Aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon
Monday, 26 February 2024 18:17Three NASA astronauts and one Roscosmos cosmonaut have arrived at the Kennedy Space Center to prepare for a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Scheduled for launch on Friday, March 1, at 12:04 a.m. EST (0504 UTC), the mission underscores the continued reliance on and success of partnerships between national space agencies and private sector pioneers like SpaceX.
Ariane 6 readies for summer launch after eco-efficient transport to Europe's Spaceport
Monday, 26 February 2024 18:17The Ariane 6 rocket components have arrived at the port of Pariacabo in Kourou, French Guiana, signaling a key phase in the preparation for its launch this summer. This event marks a significant step for European space initiatives, emphasizing an innovative approach to reducing environmental impact in space logistics. The Canopee, a ship designed for this specific purpose, transported the