An Indian startup has raised $10 million to start development of commercial space situational awareness (SSA) capabilities that will include data from spacecraft.

German startup Vyoma said June 20 it has raised 8.5 million euros ($9.3 million) to develop space debris-monitoring satellites from investors that include French aerospace giant Safran, which will help develop the constellation.

McLean VA (SPX) Jun 21, 2023
Intelsat, operator of one of the world's largest integrated satellite and terrestrial networks and leading provider of inflight connectivity (IFC), ordered its second Mission Extension Pod (MEP) from Northrop Grumman Corporation's SpaceLogistics, which will add life to an Intelsat satellite, providing uninterrupted services to many customers. The new contract represents the fourth deal with Spac

Minneapolis MN (SPX) Jun 21, 2023
Reducing orbital launch costs by 100-fold would be world changing, and that's what Electromagnetic Launch Inc. (EML) and Robinson Research Institute of Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand aim to do in a new partnership agreement and demonstration experiment announced May 30, 2023. The partners intend to prove the physics and demonstrate the engineering for a "Quench Launcher,"

Houston TX (SPX) Jun 21, 2023
If everything goes according to plan, OSIRIS-REx's sample return capsule will separate from the spacecraft, enter the Earth's atmosphere and parachute safely to Earth for recovery at the Department of Defense's Utah Test and Training Range, located about 70 miles west of Salt Lake City. "The OSIRIS-REx curation team is excitedly preparing for the Bennu samples," said Nicole Lunning, OSIRIS-REx l

Beijing (XNA) Jun 21, 2023
China used a Long March 6 carrier rocket to transport an experimental satellite into space on Tuesday morning, according to China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, a leading State-owned space contractor. The company said in a news release that the rocket blasted off at 11:18 am at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Shanxi province and soon placed the Shiyan 25 satellite into its p

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Jun 21, 2023
The origin of the martian moons Phobos and Deimos is still an unsolved mystery in planetary research. Both moons will be the targets of the Japanese Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission. A German-French rover will land on Phobos as part of the mission and conduct a mobile exploration - despite the extremely low gravity. At the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agen

Pasadena CA (JPL) Jun 21, 2023
Earth planning date: Friday, June 16, 2023 Hearing today's drive completed as planned for the third time in a row was a refreshing change from last week when Curiosity was struggling to get up a rocky and sandy slope. Our alternate route takes us laterally along this challenging terrain, rather than straight uphill, and this small change certainly seems to be helping. I really hope we cont

Paris (ESA) Jun 21, 2023
Seven CubeSat missions that demonstrate a variety of services including connectivity and secure communications are being developed by small and medium-sized companies and universities in Greece, following an open call and selection by ESA. The initiative underpins efforts - led by ESA on behalf of the Greek Ministry of Digital Governance - to expand the nascent space industry in Greece, en

McLean VA (SPX) Jun 21, 2023
Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: IRDM) has announced the results of an Uncrewed Aircraft System (UAS) flight trial highlighting Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) capabilities in the National Airspace System (NAS), with a published a whitepaper titled "Monitored BVLOS: A New Model for UAS Integration in the National Airspace System." The whitepaper highlights and solves for challenges faced