Camera captures the Southern Pinwheel galaxy in glorious detail
Sunday, 07 February 2021 20:40New technique used to discover how galaxies grow
Sunday, 07 February 2021 20:38For decades, space and ground telescopes have provided us with spectacular images of galaxies. These building blocks of the universe usually contain several million to over a trillion stars and can range in size from a few thousand to several hundred thousand light-years across.
Tricky terrain: Helping to assure a safe rover landing
Sunday, 07 February 2021 20:38After a nearly seven-month journey to Mars, NASA's Perseverance rover is slated to land at the Red Planet's Jezero Crater Feb.
Op-ed | In defense of regulation
Sunday, 07 February 2021 17:34Steve Blank’s op-ed of Feb. 5, “The FAA and SpaceX,” demands an informed rebuttal. Public debate over the appropriate level of regulation within any industry is appropriate in our democracy. However, Mr. Blank’s arguments lack grounding in the history and nature of private space activity regulation and he erroneously conflates that mission with the FAA’s primary task of regulating the safest transportation system in human history.
Mars missions from China and UAE are set to go into orbit – here's what they could discover
Sunday, 07 February 2021 15:06How times have changed since the Apollo era. Within the space of a few days, two space missions from China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), respectively, are set to reach Mars. The UAE's Hope mission will go into orbit around Mars on February 9. The next day, the Chinese Tianwen-1 mission – an orbiter and lander—will swing into orbit, with a predicted landing date sometime in May.
It is a very big moment for both countries. Hope is the first interplanetary mission by an Arab nation ever. And if China succeeds, it will be the first country ever to visit and land on Mars on its first try. The odds are stacked against them with nearly 50% of all Mars missions failing. China already lost a Mars orbiter mission (Yinghuo-1) back in 2011.
But before the missions can start doing science, tense moments await. As they arrive at the planet, they need to trigger a burn of their engines just at the right time to slow the probes down so they can be captured by Mars' gravitational field. Given the large distance from Earth, this needs to be carried out automatically by the probe.
Tianwen-1
If all goes well, the orbiter Tianwen, which means "Questions to Heaven" and the yet unnamed rover will attempt to measure Mars's climate and "ionosphere", a layer of electrically charged particles surrounding the planet.
Sentinel-6 passes in-orbit tests with flying colours
Sunday, 07 February 2021 14:00In November 2020, the Copernicus Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite was launched into orbit from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, US. Now, months later, the satellite has successfully passed what is known as the ‘in-orbit verification phase’, where its equipment is switched on and the instruments’ performance is checked.
Xenesis adopts revenue-sharing model for optical communications
Sunday, 07 February 2021 13:00SAN FRANCISCO – Xenesis is adopting an usual business model in its campaign to establish an optical communications constellation.
The Illinois startup is signing revenue-sharing agreements with key suppliers, including satellite component manufacturer Space Micro, Geost, a firm focused on sensors and electro-optics, and optical system specialist PlaneWave Instruments.
Call for media: ESA seeks new astronauts - applications open 31 March 2021
Sunday, 07 February 2021 12:00Press Release N° 3–2021
For the first time in 11 years, ESA is looking for new astronauts. These recruits will work alongside ESA’s existing astronauts as Europe enters a new era of space exploration.
Isotropic Systems raises $42 million
Sunday, 07 February 2021 11:17WASHINGTON — Isotropic Systems raised $42 million to continue development of broadband terminals for use by a wide range of satellite systems in a round led by satellite operator SES.
Isotropic announced Feb. 8 the new round, including equity investment as well as grant funding from the British government.
Happy new Mars year
Sunday, 07 February 2021 08:38Next stop Mars: 3 spacecraft arriving in quick succession
Sunday, 07 February 2021 07:46Lockheed Martin selects ABL Space Systems for UK launch
Sunday, 07 February 2021 00:02WASHINGTON — ABL Space Systems will conduct a launch for Lockheed Martin from a new spaceport in the Shetland Islands, fulfilling an agreement with the British government announced in 2018.
Lockheed said Feb. 7 that ABL will perform a launch of its RS1 rocket from the Shetland Space Centre, a spaceport to be developed on the island of Unst in the Shetlands, in 2022.
DARPA to survey private sector capabilities to build factories on the moon
Saturday, 06 February 2021 17:23WASHINGTON — The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency wants to hear from the space industry about their capabilities to manufacture large structures on the moon.
This is a new project that DARPA announced Feb. 5 called “Novel Orbital and Moon Manufacturing, Materials and Mass-efficient Design.
UAE's 'Hope' probe to be first in trio of Mars missions
Saturday, 06 February 2021 12:59The first Arab space mission, the UAE's "Hope" probe, is expected to reach Mars' orbit on Tuesday, making it the first of three spacecraft to arrive at the Red Planet this month. The United Arab Emirates, China and the United States all launched projects to Mars last July, taking advantage of a period when the Earth and Mars are nearest. If succesful, the wealthy Gulf state will become t
Sarah al-Amiri: young minister behind UAE mission to Mars
Saturday, 06 February 2021 12:59When Sarah al-Amiri was a child growing up in Abu Dhabi with a fascination for space, her young country seemed light years away from reaching for the stars. Now the 34-year-old is a government minister and one of the drivers of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) ambitious project behind the "Hope" probe that is due to reach the orbit of Mars on Tuesday. As a youngster poring over images of f