Beijing, China (SPX) Apr 11, 2023
Surface soil moisture (SSM) plays an important role in drought and flood monitoring, weather forecasting, among other natural resource activities, and is also critical in water and heat exchanges between land and atmosphere. SSM can be measured by instruments in the field or by remote sensing techniques. Satellite observations from active and passive microwave sensors are best suited for t

Relativity Space has decided to retire its Terran 1 small launch vehicle after a single flight that failed to reach orbit, focusing its resources on a revised version of its larger Terran R rocket.

Inmarsat and Taiwanese chipmaker MediaTek announced plans April 12 to jointly develop technologies needed to enable more mass market devices to connect directly to the British satellite operator’s network.

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Ariane 5 VA 260 with Juice integration and rollout timelapse at Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana.

Juice – Jupiter Icy moons Explorer – is humankind’s next bold mission to the outer Solar System. This ambitious mission will characterise Ganymede, Callisto and Europa with a powerful suite of remote sensing, geophysical and in situ instruments to discover more about these compelling destinations as potential habitats for past or present life. Juice will monitor Jupiter’s complex magnetic, radiation and plasma environment in depth and its interplay with the moons, studying the Jupiter system as an archetype for gas giant systems across the Universe.

Following launch, Juice will

Beijing (AFP) April 13, 2023
China will ban ships from entering an area north of Taiwan on Sunday due to "possible falling rocket wreckage", a provincial maritime authority said. The area around 100 miles (160 kilometres) from Taipei will be closed from 9 am (0100 GMT) to 3 pm (0700 GMT), the maritime safety administration of China's eastern Fujian province said Thursday, adding that ships will be "forbidden to enter".

Pasadena CA (JPL) Apr 13, 2023
As you can see in the above image, the terrain our rover drivers is navigating is challenging - slippery sand surrounding big, wheel-unfriendly rocks. These contrasting regimes contributed to us not-quite-arriving at our planned workspace with all six wheels confidently on known terrain. Thus, we had to pivot from a combined contact and remote science day, to one with remote science and a

Matsu, Taiwan (AFP) April 13, 2023
Taiwanese hostel worker Wang Chuang-jen's business took a hammering when undersea telecoms lines serving tiny Matsu archipelago were cut in February. "It was very inconvenient," said the 35-year-old from Matsu's Beigan island, where customers struggled to book or pay online due to slow connectivity. "We all heavily depend on the internet." The cut-off not only caused headaches for busine

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It takes a while for a new mission to wake up after the rigours of launch, but before it’s fully in flight configuration it’s still exposed to the harsh realities of space. During this critical period, known as the ‘Launch and Early Orbit Phase’ or ‘LEOP’, teams at ESA’s mission control in Darmstadt, Germany, have to work fast to establish contact with the fledgling mission, and ensure its solar arrays are correctly powering the mission.

Once ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, Juice, separates from its Ariane 5 rocket, there will be two key moments to look out for.

The head of a NASA Mars mission flying on Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket says he is confident the vehicle will be ready in time for a launch next year.