Exolaunch delivers 30 small sats on SpaceX's first dedicated rideshare launch
Monday, 25 January 2021 04:25Exolaunch, the leading rideshare launch and deployment services provider for the NewSpace industry, announced a successful launch of 30 commercial, space agency, and university satellites for its customers from Europe and the U.S. on the first dedicated rideshare mission of SpaceX's SmallSat Rideshare Program. The mission, named "Zeitgeist," lifted off on January 24 at 15:00 UTC on Falcon 9 "Tra
D-Orbit's ION satellite carrier rides SpaceX's Falcon 9 to orbit
Monday, 25 January 2021 04:25On January 24th, 2021, at 4:00 pm CET, D-Orbit, the first space logistics company on the market, launched another ION Satellite Carrier atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS), Florida. On the same day, 1 hour 16 minutes and 28 seconds the vehicle was successfully deployed into a polar orbit. The spacecraft, name
ABB sensor onboard SpaceX rocket to detect greenhouse gas emissions
Monday, 25 January 2021 04:25An optical sensor manufactured by ABB was deployed last night with the successful launch of satellite Hugo from GHGSat, the emerging leader in greenhouse gas sensing services in space. The ABB supplied optical sensor can map methane emissions from space at a resolution that is 100 times higher than any other sensors. Whilst previously only larger regions could be surveyed, for the first ti
Nanoracks completes first SpaceX Rideshare Mission
Monday, 25 January 2021 04:25Nanoracks is pleased to share the successful completion of the Company's first mission on a SpaceX rideshare launch. Nanoracks brokered the launch and deployment of eight Spire LEMUR-2 CubeSats and of an emissions monitoring microsatellite, GHGSAT-C2 ("Hugo"). Nanoracks' first rideshare mission, dubbed "Eyries-1," marks the Company's entrance into the rideshare brokering market and the bro
Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor Phase IIb Awards
Monday, 25 January 2021 04:25The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is pleased to announce award of Other Transaction Agreements (OTA) with L3Harris Technologies, Inc and Northrop Grumman Systems Cooporation for the Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) program's Phase IIb On-orbit Prototype Demonstration. Phase IIb will continue developing the capability to support Warfighter fire-control quality data requiremen
Record-breaking laser may help test Einstein's theory of relativity
Monday, 25 January 2021 04:25Scientists have set a new record for stable laser transmission, successfully sending laser signals from one point to another without interference from the atmosphere. The record transmission was made possible by a new "phase-stabilization" technology, which utilizes free-space, self-guiding optical terminals featuring mirrors to combat interference issues like phase noise and beam wande
Designing customized "brains" for robots
Monday, 25 January 2021 04:25Contemporary robots can move quickly. "The motors are fast, and they're powerful," says Sabrina Neuman. Yet in complex situations, like interactions with people, robots often don't move quickly. "The hang up is what's going on in the robot's head," she adds. Perceiving stimuli and calculating a response takes a "boatload of computation," which limits reaction time, says Neuman, who recentl
Clocking electron movements inside an atom
Monday, 25 January 2021 04:25An international consortium of scientists, initiated by Reinhard Kienberger, Professor of Laser and X-ray Physics at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), several years ago, has made significant measurements in the femtosecond range at the U.S. Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC). However, on these miniscule timescales, it is extremely difficult to synchronize the X-ray pulse tha
Nottingham opts for IoT solution in pilot project to optimize its electric vehicle fleet
Monday, 25 January 2021 04:25The City of Nottingham is developing an intelligent energy management system (iEMS) for its Clean Mobil Energy project using OpenRemote's open-source IoT platform. This new data management solution will control the distribution of power between all system components, including a fleet of electric vehicles (EVs), battery storage and solar power. This enables the city's energy managers to ma
Project BALIS - DLR is developing and testing fuel cells in the megawatt range for air transport
Monday, 25 January 2021 04:25With its BALIS project, the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) is developing the world's first fuel cell powertrain for aircraft with an output in the megawatt range. In doing so, DLR is taking another step towards making hydrogen-powered, emission-free flight possible. Steffen Bilger, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Transport
Bridenstine joins private equity firm
Monday, 25 January 2021 02:15WASHINGTON — Less than a week after leaving the agency, former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine is joining a private equity firm that invests in the aerospace and defense industries.
Acorn Growth Companies, a private equity firm based in Oklahoma City, said Jan.
Space Development Agency asks industry for input on available technologies
Sunday, 24 January 2021 21:13WASHINGTON — The Pentagon’s Space Development Agency issued an open call for information from the space industry covering a laundry list of technologies.
The “broad area announcement” published Jan. 25 asks companies to submit pitches for space technology projects that the SDA might be interested in funding if they meet specific needs.
Startup Albedo focuses on 10-centimeter Earth imagery
Sunday, 24 January 2021 20:51SAN FRANCISCO – Albedo, the latest space company to join the well-known Y Combinator startup accelerator, plans to establish a satellite constellation offering Earth imagery with a resolution of 10 centimeters per pixel.
That’s the same resolution that caused a stir when former President Trump tweeted images of a heavily damaged Iranian launchpad in August 2019.
ESA’s exoplanet watcher Cheops reveals unique planetary system
Sunday, 24 January 2021 15:00ESA’s exoplanet mission Cheops has revealed a unique planetary system consisting of six exoplanets, five of which are locked in a rare rhythmic dance as they orbit their central star. The sizes and masses of the planets, however, don’t follow such an orderly pattern. This finding challenges current theories of planet formation.
Op-ed | For China, space is both substance and symbol
Sunday, 24 January 2021 14:30In December, China successfully conducted its first lunar sample retrieval mission. Chang’e-5 landed on the moon, deployed a rover who then dug up various pieces of the lunar surface, then returned to Earth with about 5 pounds of material.