Space law is an important part of the fight against space debris
Thursday, 15 April 2021 12:40
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Space is getting crowded. More than 100 million tiny pieces of debris are spinning in Earth orbit, along with tens of thousands of bigger chunks and around 3,300 functioning satellites.
Large satellite constellations such as Starlink are becoming more common, infuriating astronomers and baffling casual skywatchers. In the coming decade, we may see many more satellites launched than in all of history up to now.
Collisions between objects in orbit are getting harder to avoid. Several technologies for getting space debris out of harm's way have been proposed, most recently the plan from Australian company Electro Optic Systems (EOS) to use a pair of ground-based lasers to track debris and "nudge" it away from potential collisions or even out of orbit altogether.
Tools like this will be in high demand in coming years. But alongside new technology, we also need to work out the best ways to regulate activity in space and decide who is responsible for what.
Active debris removal
EOS's laser system is just one of a host of "active debris removal" (ADR) technologies proposed over the past decade.
Satellite imagery key to powering Google Earth
Thursday, 15 April 2021 12:00 Write a comment
One of the most comprehensive pictures of our changing planet is now available to the public. Thanks to the close collaboration between Google Earth, ESA, the European Commission, NASA and the US Geological Survey, 24 million satellite photos from the past 37 years have been embedded into a new layer of Google Earth – creating a new, explorable view of time on our planet.
Galileo sunspot sketches versus modern 'deep learning' AI
Thursday, 15 April 2021 11:29 Write a comment
It's a fascinating thought to consider.
What exactly did the Sun look like, centuries ago? What would we see, if astronomers back in the time of Kepler and Galileo had modern technology monitoring the Sun across the electromagnetic spectrum, available to them?
Thanks to modern artificial intelligence, there may be a way to actually 'see' just what state the Sun was in, way back in those days of yore. A recent study, titled "Generation of Modern Satellite Data from Galileo Sunspot Drawings in 1612 by Deep Learning" out February 2021 in the Astrophysical Journal of the American Astronomical Society used an innovative set of deductions to compare sketches of sunspots with modern views from ground and space-based observations. The study was led by Harim Lee from Kyung Hee University in the Republic of South Korea.
Galileo and the Sun
Sunspot records represent one of the longest sets of astronomical data available, going all the way back to Chinese observations in 1128 A.D.
Iceye establishes U.S. headquarters and manufacturing facility in Irvine, California
Thursday, 15 April 2021 11:00 Write a comment
SAN FRANCISCO – Iceye has established a satellite manufacturing facility, research and development laboratory, and mission operations center for U.S.-licensed spacecraft at its new Iceye U.S. headquarters in Irvine, California.
“A huge part of our nation’s space industrial base and centers for innovation are located here in Southern California,” Jerry Welsh, Iceye U.S.
SpaceX adds to latest funding round
Thursday, 15 April 2021 10:26 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — SpaceX has added more than $300 million to a fundraising round announced earlier this year to support continued work on its Starship launch system and Starlink satellite constellation.
In an amended filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission April 14, the company revised a filing in February that disclosed raising $850 million.
Study warns of 'oxygen false positives' in search for signs of life on other planets
Thursday, 15 April 2021 10:16 Write a comment
In the search for life on other planets, the presence of oxygen in a planet's atmosphere is one potential sign of biological activity that might be detected by future telescopes. A new study, however, describes several scenarios in which a lifeless rocky planet around a sun-like star could evolve to have oxygen in its atmosphere.
The new findings, published April 13 in AGU Advances, highli Blue Origin launches what may be final test flight before carrying people
Thursday, 15 April 2021 10:16 Write a comment
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin launched Wednesday from Texas what may be the last test flight for its New Shepard rocket before it carries people later this year.
The rocket lifted off about 12:50 p.m. EDT from the company's spaceport near Van Horn, about 120 miles southeast of El Paso. New Shepard soared into the hazy spring sky, reaching velocity of more than 2,200 mph.
"Now the antic Phantom Space raises $5M in seed funding to for space transportation concept
Thursday, 15 April 2021 10:16 Write a comment
Phantom Space Corporation, a space transportation technology development and manufacturing company, has announced it has raised $5 million in seed investment funding to make space commerce commonplace and to lower the barriers to space access. The round was led by New York City based Chenel Capital, who specializes in growth equity investments.
Phantom is a startup working to democratize s Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-68A engine completes final acceptance test for Delta 4 Heavy
Thursday, 15 April 2021 10:16 Write a comment
The world's most powerful hydrogen-fueled rocket engine built by Aerojet Rocketdyne, the RS-68A, has completed its final hot-fire acceptance test for use on the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV Heavy launch vehicle on the B-1 Test Stand at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.
ULA's Delta IV Heavy rocket uses three Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-68A engines; one on each of its three comm Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket nails 'astronaut rehearsal' vertical landing test
Thursday, 15 April 2021 10:16 Write a comment
With NASA's Space Shuttle program gone for nearly a decade, a slew of private firms have stepped up their efforts to provide manned space flight capabilities, not just for US governmental needs, but also for space tourism.
In a Wednesday test described by the company as an "astronaut rehearsal," Blue Origin successfully blasted a New Shepard rocket into suborbital space and then landed the China releases lunar sample data online
Thursday, 15 April 2021 10:16 Write a comment
China's space agency has released an online database of the first batch of the lunar samples brought back by the Chang'e-5 probe.
Researchers and the public can access the Lunar and Deep Space Exploration Scientific Data and Sample Release System via the website www.clep.org.cn, where they can apply for data and samples, according to the China National Space Administration, which announced Telescopes unite in unprecedented observations of famous black hole
Thursday, 15 April 2021 10:16 Write a comment
In April 2019, scientists released the first image of a black hole in the galaxy M87 using the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). However, that remarkable achievement was just the beginning of the science story to be told.
Data from 19 observatories are being released that promise to give unparalleled insight into this black hole and the system it powers, and to improve tests of Einstein's The Chinese Foreign Ministry calls for promptly starting talks on space arms control
Thursday, 15 April 2021 10:16 Write a comment
China is calling on the global community to urgently start the negotiations on the space arms control, which should be based on a document proposed by Beijing and Moscow, the foreign ministry's spokesman, Zhao Lijian, said on Tuesday.
"We are calling on the international community to start negotiations and reach agreement on arms control in order to ensure space safety as soon as possible, US space employment, investments resist pandemic in 2020, continue to climb in 2021
Thursday, 15 April 2021 10:16 Write a comment
Space Foundation, a nonprofit advocate organization founded in 1983 for the global space ecosystem, has released "The Space Report 2021 Q1," which determined that despite the global COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. space sector employment and investment grew in 2020 and are continuing to post gains in the first quarter of 2021.
Analysis by "The Space Report" of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for f NASA satellites detect signs of volcanic unrest years before eruptions
Thursday, 15 April 2021 10:16 Write a comment
Although there are telltale signs that a volcano is likely to erupt in the near future - an uptick in seismic activity, changes in gas emissions, and sudden ground deformation, for example - accurately predicting such eruptions is notoriously hard.
This is, in part, because no two volcanoes behave in exactly the same way and because few of the world's 1,500 or so active volcanoes have moni