Op-ed | Attention Silicon Valley: The Exposure of Space Startups to US Export Control Rules
Federal officials warn that many space startups are not aware of their export control obligations and are exposed to punitive sanctions. With five different export control mechanisms, this is no surprise. If your startup has an international client, supplier, expert, investor, or cooperation, you might just need a permit.
Private equity firm GI Partners plans to buy Orbcomm in $1.1 billion deal
TAMPA, Fla. — Private equity firm GI Partners plans to buy satellite operator Orbcomm, which specializes in connecting industrial monitoring devices, for about $1.1 billion including net debt.
Ningbo, Wenchang to construct Chinese commercial spaceports
HELSINKI — The coastal cities of Ningbo and Wenchang are planning construction of new commercial spaceports to meet growing demand for launch in China.
New ESA director general outlines priorities
WASHINGTON — The new head of the European Space Agency has outlined his priorities for the next several years, ranging from improving relations with the European Union to increasing commercialization activities.
The ESA Agenda 2025 document, released by the agency April 7, is an expression of how its new director general, Josef Aschbacher, wants to use the agency to ensure Europe retains a role as a global leader in space.
Lunar brightness temperature for calibration of microwave humidity sounders
Calibration and validation (CAL/VAL) is a key technology for quantitative application of space-borne remote sensing data. However, the complex space environment can cause many uncertainties and degrade calibration accuracy. In-flight calibration is always needed. The thermal emission of the Moon is stable over hundreds of years because there is no atmosphere and no significant physical or chemical change on its surface. The deep space view of the Microwave Humidity Sounder onboard NOAA-18 has viewed the Moon many times every year. Under solar illumination, the lunar surface shows stable and periodical variation in microwave brightness temperature (TB). The Moon is a potential calibration source for thermal calibration
The related work was published in Science China Earth Sciences as "Calibration of the space-borne microwave humidity sounder based on real-time thermal emission from lunar surface." Based on the heat conductive equation, the temperature profiles of lunar regolith at different regions and local time are simulated numerically with the real-time solar radiance and angle of incidence.
Mars didn't dry up in one go
The Perseverance rover has just landed on Mars. Meanwhile, its precursor Curiosity continues to explore the base of Mount Sharp (officially Aeolis Mons), a mountain several kilometers high at the center of the Gale crater. Using the telescope on the ChemCam instrument to make detailed observations of the steep terrain of Mount Sharp at a distance, a French-US team headed by William Rapin, CNRS researcher at the Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie (CNRS/Université Toulouse III/CNES), has discovered that the Martian climate recorded there alternated between dry and wetter periods, before drying up completely about 3 billion years ago.
NASA's Odyssey orbiter marks 20 historic years of mapping Mars
NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft launched 20 years ago on April 7, making it the oldest spacecraft still working at the Red Planet. The orbiter, which takes its name from Arthur C. Clarke's classic sci-fi novel "2001: A Space Odyssey" (Clarke blessed its use before launch), was sent to map the composition of the Martian surface, providing a window to the past so scientists could piece together how the planet evolved.
Say cheese on Mars: Perseverance's selfie with Ingenuity
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover took a selfie with the Ingenuity helicopter, seen here about 13 feet (4 meters) away in this image from April 6, 2021, the 46th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. Perseverance captured the image using a camera called WATSON (Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering), part of the SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals) instrument, located at the end of the rover's robotic arm.
U.S. intelligence report predicts heightened space competition between U.S. and China
WASHINGTON — The Office of the Director of National Intelligence in a new report released April 8 projects that by 2040 China will be the most significant rival to the United States in space, competing on commercial, civil and military fronts.
Rep. Lieu praises move to establish Space Force acquisitions command in Los Angeles
WASHINGTON — Congressman Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) hailed the April 8 announcement that Los Angeles Air Force Base will be the permanent home of the U.S. Space Force procurement command.
“I’m very excited that Space Systems Command will be located at Los Angeles Air Force Base,” Lieu told SpaceNews.
