Framatome Space: A New Player in Space Exploration and Nuclear Power
With more than six decades of experience in the nuclear and industrial sectors, Framatome announced the establishment of a new subsidiary focused explicitly on the burgeoning space industryFramatome Space. This new venture aims to leverage Framatome's expertise in nuclear energy to drive advancements in space exploration and habitation.
Bernard Fontana, CEO of Framatome, conveyed the compa Scientific Systems wins SpaceWERX contract for space debris solutions
Scientific Systems, renowned for its autonomous system solutions, has clinched a $1.5 million Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase II contract from SpaceWERX, as part of the latter's Orbital Prime Program. The contract focuses on Scientific Systems' vision-based technology, known as US-RIPTIDE (Unknown Satellite Realtime Inspection, Pose, Tracking and IDEntification). The technology a Northrop Grumman Completes Key Review for Future Pacific Missile Warning Satellites
In a significant development for the U.S. Space Force's Space Systems Command, Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) has successfully completed a Critical Design Review (CDR) for the Relay Ground Station-Asia (RGS-A). Conducted in collaboration with the U.S. Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific, the review paves the way for the installation of advanced missile-warning systems in th RADARSAT+: over $1 billion for the future of satellite Earth observation
The Government of Canada recently allocated $1.012 billion to the Canadian Space Agency to support immediate and future satellite Earth observation (EO) data needs. This funding will be used to:
+ design and develop a replacement satellite for the RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM)
+ design a next-generation satellite system to succeed the RCM
This initiative is called RADARS Varda partners with Australian range for capsule landings
European Flight Ticket Initiative now open to launch service providers
Today, the European Commission and the European Space Agency are calling on established and aspiring European launch service providers to apply to join the European Flight Ticket Initiative. The objective of the Flight Ticket initiative is to stimulate new European launch systems through open competition starting with In-orbit Demonstration and Validation (IOD/IOV) needs.
Two groups look at the economic viability of mining asteroids
Two teams of economists have conducted economic assessments of mining asteroids—one of them is a trio with one member each from the University of Tor Rome Vergata, the University of Maryland and Middlebury College. They looked at asteroid mining as part of the next logical step in monetizing space exploration.
The second group, with three members from the Colorado School of Mines and a fourth with the International Monetary Fund, focused more on the challenges that would have to be surmounted for industry to capitalize on assets that are currently free for the taking on asteroids. Both groups have published papers describing their efforts in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Prior research has shown that there are valuable materials on asteroids. This includes diamonds and perhaps other gems, but the truly valuable materials are more likely to be metals that are highly valued but in short supply here on Earth, such as cobalt, nickel and platinum. Such metals have seen a rise in value in recent years as they have been used in a host of modern technology products such as batteries, solar panels and windmill parts.
Space Force identifying priorities for modernizing spaceports
A Russian satellite has shifted within 60 km of another spacecraft
When it comes to saber-rattling, few countries employ it as much as Russia does. During their ongoing invasion and occupation of Ukraine, the country's leadership has repeatedly threatened to use atomic weapons. But the threats don't stop there.
A private company called Slingshot Aerospace says Russia has maneuvered one of their Luch satellites uncomfortably close to Western spacecraft in GEO (geostationary orbit.)
And it's not the first time.
The satellite in question is named Luch (Olymp) 2 and its Norad ID is 55841. Russia launched it in March of 2023, and it's a successor to Luch (Olymp) Norad ID 40258. The naming conventions are a little confusing, but Luch 1 was a well-known interloper.
