Launcher announces customers for first Orbiter space tug mission
Launch vehicle and in-space transportation services company Launcher has filled the manifest for the first flight of its space tug later this year with a mix of commercial and academic payloads.
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Video: How Galileo works, for its 2 billion global users
Video: How Galileo works, for its 2 billion global users
U.S. Space Force sees future demand for surveillance beyond Earth orbit
Space Force Lt. Gen. Whiting said the U.S. military will likely have to pay more attention to what’s happening in cislunar space
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Chinese satellite propulsion startup secures funding as country’s constellation projects grow
A Chinese satellite electric propulsion company has secured multi-million yuan angel round financing amid a proliferation of Chinese constellation plans.
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Humans have big plans for mining in space, but there are many things holding us back
Like Earth, planetary bodies such as the moon, Mars, asteroids and comets contain substantial deposits of valuable resources. This has caught the attention of both researchers and industry, with hopes of one day mining them to support a space economy.
But setting up any kind of off-Earth mining industry will be no small feat. Let's look at what we're up against.
In-situ resource utilization
When you think of off-Earth mining, you might imagine extracting materials from various bodies in space and bringing them back to Earth. But this is unlikely to be the first commercially viable example.
If we wanted to establish a permanent human presence on the moon, as NASA has proposed, we would need to resupply astronauts living there. Resources such as water can only be recycled to an extent.
At the same time, resources are extremely expensive to launch from Earth. As of 2018, it cost about A$3,645 to launch one kilogram of material into low Earth orbit, and more to launch it higher, or onto the moon.
Peek-a-boo Moon
Image:
Lunar eclipse captured by Samantha Cristoforetti aboard the International Space Station Spacecom plots maritime expansion after netting first customer
Israeli satellite operator Spacecom is adjusting its business to serve maritime customers as the market shows signs of recovering from the pandemic.
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India hit by more suspected space debris
Indian authorities are examining several pieces of suspected space debris that fell into rural western India on May 12, with the timing of the incident suggesting they could be parts of a Chinese rocket that reentered the atmosphere that day.
A CubeSat is flying to the moon to make sure Lunar Gateway's orbit is stable
Before this decade is over, NASA will send astronauts to the moon for the first time since the Apollo Era. As part of the Artemis Program, NASA also plans to establish the infrastructure that will allow for a "sustained program of lunar exploration." A key part of this is the Lunar Gateway, an orbiting space station that will facilitate regular trips to and from the lunar surface. In addition to being a docking point for ships going to and from Earth, the station will also allow for long-duration missions to Mars.
The Gateway will have what is known in orbital mechanics as a "near rectilinear halo orbit" (NRHO), meaning it will orbit the moon from pole to pole. To test the long-term stability of this orbit, NASA will be sending the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) to the moon by the end of May.
