Pasadena CA (JPL) Apr 19, 2022
With a plane crisscrossing the sky and researchers working on land and sea, the Surface Biology and Geology High-Frequency Time Series campaign (SHIFT) combines the ability of airborne science instruments to gather data over widespread areas with the more concentrated observations scientists conduct in the field to study natural environments. SHIFT is jointly led by NASA's Jet Propulsion L

San Francisco CA (SPX) Apr 19, 2022
Planet Labs PBC (NYSE: PL), a leading provider of daily data and insights about Earth, has partnered with SynMax, a Houston-based satellite analytics and intelligence company, to provide data-informed insights on the energy industry within the United States and monitor the movements of dark vessels around the globe. With Planet's daily PlanetScope imagery, SynMax monitors the location of h

Beijing (XNA) Apr 19, 2022
Chinese scientists will soon have a new space-based tool to advance their research on the atmospheric environment and pollution. After in-orbit tests, the Atmospheric Environmental Surveyor satellite will start its monitoring operations and send data to scientists, according to its designers at the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology. The 2.6-metric ton satellite was launched

Washington DC (SPX) Apr 13, 2022
A magnetosphere forms around any magnetized object, such as a planet, that is immersed within a stream of ionized gas, called plasma. Because Earth possesses an intrinsic magnetic field, the planet is surrounded by a large magnetosphere that extends out into space, blocks lethal cosmic rays and particles from the sun and stars, and allows life itself to exist. In Physics of Plasmas, by AIP

Herndon VA (SPX) Apr 19, 2022
BlackSky (NYSE: BKSY) has demonstrated the ability to rapidly shift orbits, launch two new satellites, and collect images over Ukraine all within a 45-day window. In addition to generating a strategic increase in constellation capacity, customers received dawn-to-dusk analytics and imagery products of Ukraine within 24 hours of the company's most recent launch on April 2. "We're setting a

Lt. Gen. Michael Guetlein: The Space Force needs to “understand where we need tactically responsive launch, but more importantly, tactically responsive space.”

The post Space Force looking at U.S. needs for ‘responsive space’ appeared first on SpaceNews.

If man’s best friend is a dog, then in the future astronauts’ closest companions might well be rovers. A technique allowing astronauts in orbit to control rovers exploring planetary surfaces has been developed by a research team from ESA, the German Aerospace Center DLR and European academia and industry, culminating in an Earth-based rover session commanded from the International Space Station. A paper published in the prestigious Science Robotics journal this week details their results.

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This video shows the payload module for the Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (Smile) undergoing a series of different environmental tests at both Airbus Madrid, Spain, and the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. 

These milestones include integration of the Soft X-ray Imager and ultraviolet instruments on the payload module (October 2021, Airbus Madrid); preparing and completing thermal testing of the payload module (11–24 Jan 2022, ESA/ESTEC); deploying the 3 m-long magnetometer boom under helium-filled balloons to simulate the weightlessness of space (27 Jan 2022, ESA/ESTEC); vibration testing (Feb 2022, Airbus Madrid);

Astrobotic Technology showed off its nearly complete lunar lander it is building for NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program and said the spacecraft remains on schedule to launch this year.

The post Astrobotic lunar lander on track for late 2022 launch appeared first on SpaceNews.

South Korea is boosting its space spending this year by 19% over 2021 levels as it seeks to bounce back from October’s failed attempt to prove it can put up a satellite without Russian rocket hardware.