Space Force officially ends launch partnerships with Blue Origin and Northrop Grumman
Tuesday, 26 January 2021 00:31
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WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force on Dec. 31 officially terminated launch technology partnerships signed in October 2018 with Blue Origin and Northrop Grumman.
The Air Force awarded Launch Service Agreements to Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman and United Launch Alliance.
Axiom announces crew for first private ISS mission
Tuesday, 26 January 2021 00:17 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — A commercial Crew Dragon mission to the International Space Station early next year chartered by Axiom Space will carry four private astronauts — but not a superstar actor.
Axiom Space revealed Jan. 26 the crew of its first mission to the ISS, called Ax-1 and scheduled for launch no earlier than January 2022.
U.S. Space Command chief makes case for civilian space traffic control
Monday, 25 January 2021 21:43 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force has air traffic controllers to handle military airspace issues but the Federal Aviation Administration has overall responsibility for air safety. A similar arrangement is needed for the space domain, the commander of U.S.
SpaceX’s rideshare carried small satellite technology of interest to U.S. military
Monday, 25 January 2021 21:32 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — Among the 143 satellites that flew to orbit Jan. 24 on SpaceX’s record-breaking rideshare were technology demonstrations and payloads of interest to the U.S. military, including satellite components, in-space laser communications and remote sensing.
Speedcast to reorganize under Centerbridge Partners
Monday, 25 January 2021 21:27 Write a comment
SAN FRANCISCO — Satellite communications provider SpeedCast International Ltd. is scheduled to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy by March 31 after winning approval to reorganize under a new owner, private equity firm Centerbridge Partners.
Barbs fly over satellite projects from Musk, Bezos
Monday, 25 January 2021 20:32 Write a comment
A spat erupted Tuesday between Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk as the tech titans' space firms exchanged barbs over their rival satellite internet projects being evaluated by regulators.
Amazon, founded and led by Bezos, put out a statement claiming Musk's rival SpaceX project Starlink was seeking design changes that could "create a more dangerous environment for collisions in space" and also increase radio interference.
1st private space crew paying $55M each to fly to station
Monday, 25 January 2021 17:42 Write a comment
The first private space station crew was introduced Tuesday: Three men who are each paying $55 million to fly on a SpaceX rocket.
They'll be led by a former NASA astronaut now working for Axiom Space, the Houston company that arranged the trip for next January.
Ready to apply to become a YGT at ESA?
Monday, 25 January 2021 16:12 Write a comment
There are only six days to go until ESA publishes its Young Graduate Trainee opportunities on 1 February and they will remain open for a month. Mark the dates in your calendar! Find out more about this year's call for applications below.
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Mission Plans for May Asteroid Departure
Monday, 25 January 2021 15:48 Write a comment
On May 10, NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft will say farewell to asteroid Bennu and begin its journey back to Earth. New long-term dataset to analyse global fire trends
Monday, 25 January 2021 14:30 Write a comment
Fire affects an estimated four million square kilometres of Earth’s land each year and is responsible for releasing aerosols and greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Understanding the influence that this has on atmospheric chemistry and representing these emissions in future climate predictions is, however, complex and remains poorly understood. To improve the situation, a team of scientists working as part of ESA’s Climate Change Initiative is using satellite observations, such as from Copernicus Sentinel-3, to gain a global view of land burned by fire.
Five ways artificial intelligence can help space exploration
Monday, 25 January 2021 14:09 Write a comment
Artificial intelligence has been making waves in recent years, enabling us to solve problems faster than traditional computing could ever allow. Recently, for example, Google's artificial intelligence subsidiary DeepMind developed AlphaFold2, a program which solved the protein-folding problem. This is a problem which has had baffled scientists for 50 years.
Advances in AI have allowed us to make progress in all kinds of disciplines—and these are not limited to applications on this planet. From designing missions to clearing Earth's orbit of junk, here are a few ways artificial intelligence can help us venture further in space.
Astronaut assistants
Do you remember Tars and Case, the assistant robots from the film Interstellar? While these robots don't exist yet for real space missions, researchers are working towards something similar, creating intelligent assistants to help astronauts. These AI-based assistants, even though they may not look as fancy as those in the movies, could be incredibly useful to space exploration.
Solar Orbiter snaps Venus, Earth and Mars
Monday, 25 January 2021 14:00 Write a comment
Video:
00:00:04
This recording was made on 18 November 2020 by the Heliospheric Imager (SoloHI) camera on board the ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter spacecraft.
Three Solar System planets are visible in the foreground: Venus (left), Earth (middle), and Mars (right). Stars are visible in the background, appearing to move in Solar Orbiter’s recording while the spacecraft travels around the Sun. The planets are also moving slightly in the SoloHI field-of-view, but their apparent motions are different because of their individual orbital motions around the Sun.
Venus is the brightest object in the video, roughly 48 million kilometres away from Solar Orbiter.
JAXA ships new H3 rocket to Tanegashima Space Center for testing
Monday, 25 January 2021 13:41 Write a comment
HELSINKI — The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is moving ahead with testing of its new H3 rocket as it seeks to replace its aging flagship H-IIA launch vehicle.
Op-ed | How to convince China and Russia to join a space traffic management program for peace and prosperity
Monday, 25 January 2021 13:00 Write a comment
The omnibus spending bill the U.S. Congress enacted in December will provide $10 million in 2021 for the Commerce Department’s Office of Space Commerce to conduct a space traffic management (STM) “pilot program” with other agencies and industries.
SpaceX adds laser crosslinks to polar Starlink satellites
Monday, 25 January 2021 12:08 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — The first Starlink satellites launched to polar orbit are equipped with laser crosslinks, a technology the company plans to add to other satellites next year.
SpaceX included 10 Starlink satellites on its Transporter-1 dedicated rideshare launch Jan.