Earth from Space: Fucino, Italy
Tucked away in the Fucino Valley, in central Italy, lies the Fucino Space Centre, where Telespazio will manage the early orbit activities of the Meteosat Third Generation Imager, set to launch on 13 December from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.
NASA preparing for Orion splashdown to conclude Artemis 1
NASA’s Orion spacecraft is in the home stretch of the Artemis 1 uncrewed test flight as the agency prepares for the vehicle’s ultimate test: reentry and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
China launches 14 satellites with new solid rocket from mobile sea platform
China launched its new Jielong-3 rocket from a mobile sea platform in the Yellow Sea Friday, successfully sending 14 satellites into orbit.
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SpaceX gives rival's internet satellites ride to orbit
SpaceX launched internet satellites for a competitor Thursday, stepping in to help after the London-based OneWeb company halted its flights with Russia over the invasion of Ukraine.
The Falcon rocket blasted off at sunset with 40 mini satellites bound for polar orbit. They will expand OneWeb's constellation to just over 500, nearly 80% of the planned total of about 630 satellites.
Elon Musk's SpaceX has more than 3,200 Starlink satellites in orbit, providing high-speed, broadband internet to remote corners of the world.
Deep-space optical communication demonstration project forges ahead
Researchers report new results from the NASA Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) technology demonstration project, which develops and tests new advanced laser sources for deep-space optical communication. The ability to perform free-space optical communication throughout the solar system would go beyond the capabilities of the radio communication systems used now and provide the bandwidth necessary for future space missions to transmit large amounts of data, including high-definition images and video.
The demonstration system consists of a flight laser transceiver, a ground laser transmitter and a ground laser receiver. The downlink transmitter has been installed on the Psyche spacecraft, which will travel to a unique metal asteroid also called Psyche, which orbits the sun between Mars and Jupiter.
Malcolm. W. Wright, from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, will present the functional and environmental test results of the DSOC downlink flight laser transmitter assembly and ground uplink transmitter assembly at the Optica Laser Congress, 11-15 December 2022.
Japanese billionaire selects crew for circumlunar Starship flight
A Japanese billionaire has selected an eclectic group of people who will accompany him on a SpaceX Starship flight around the moon, although it remains uncertain when that mission will take place.
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Looking back from beyond the moon: How views from space have changed the way we see Earth
A photograph taken by NASA's Orion spacecraft has given us a new perspective on our home planet.
The snap was taken during the Artemis I mission, which sent an uncrewed vehicle on a journey around the Moon and back in preparation for astronauts' planned lunar return in 2025.
We get pictures of Earth every day from satellites and the International Space Station. But there's something different about seeing ourselves from the other side of the Moon.
How does this image compare to other iconic views of Earth from the outside?
Earthrise
In December 1968, three astronauts were orbiting the Moon to test systems in preparation for the Apollo 11 landing. When they saw Earth rise over the lunar horizon, they knew this was something special. The crew scrambled to find color film in time to capture it.
Photographer Galen Rowell called the resulting image "the most influential environmental photograph ever taken.
House committee leaders introduce bipartisan bills to update satellite rules
The top Democrat and Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee introduced bipartisan legislation Dec. 8 to reform the Federal Communication Commission’s satellite licensing rules.
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Space Development Agency’s first launch slips to March due to satellite glitch
The first launch of the Space Development Agency’s constellation planned for mid-December will slip to March 2023 due to an anomaly detected in York Space’s satellites.
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