Washington DC (UPI) Aug 20, 2024
SpaceX debuted a new Falcon 9 first stage booster as it launched a batch of Starlink satellites on Tuesday morning. The Falcon 9 lifted off from the Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex in Florida at about 9:20 a.m. EDT, near the end of the launch window, as weather conditions improved. The rocket was carrying 22 Starlink satellites. Lifting off with a new first stage, the Falcon

Launched in May, ESA’s EarthCARE satellite has been making waves, with the first images from three of its scientific instruments already delivered. Now, the spotlight is firmly on the atmospheric lidar, the most advanced of the satellite’s four instruments.

This cutting-edge sensor has captured detailed 20 km-high vertical profiles of atmospheric aerosols – tiny particles and droplets from natural sources like wildfires, dust, and sea spray, and from human activities like industrial emissions or burning of wood – and clouds across various regions of the globe.

ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) has successfully completed a world-first lunar-Earth flyby, using the gravity of Earth to send it Venus-bound, on a shortcut to Jupiter through the inner Solar System.

London (AFP) Aug 20, 2024
A rocket engine exploded during a test launch at Britain's new spaceport in northern Scotland, officials said Tuesday, in a setback for the UK's fledgling space sector. No one was injured in Monday evening's incident at SaxaVord Spaceport on the remote island of Unst, said the operator, German rocket manufacturer Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA). The company hopes to launch the UK's first v

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Aug 20, 2024
NASA is set to launch a new solicitation under its Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships-2 (NextSTEP-2) initiative, inviting industry to propose studies that will enhance logistics and mobility systems on the lunar surface. This call for proposals is part of NASA's ongoing efforts to develop the necessary infrastructure for long-term human and robotic exploration of the Moon and e

London, Ontario, Canada (SPX) Aug 20, 2024
An international research team has identified the specific origins of most of the Martian meteorites that are now on Earth. They've traced the meteorites to five craters where they were launched off Mars after impact. The craters are located within two volcanic regions on the red planet called Tharsis (the region containing Olympus Mons, the largest shield volcano in the solar system) and Elysiu