Manchester UK (SPX) Jun 29, 2021
On the morning of June 17, China launched its long-awaited Shenzhou-12 spacecraft, carrying three Chinese astronauts - or taikonauts - towards the Tianhe core module. The module itself was launched at the end of April, forming part of the permanent Tiangong space station, which is planned to remain in orbit for the next ten years. China's construction of its own space station stems from th

Bethesda MD (SPX) Jun 29, 2021
A new arms race is unfolding among spacefaring nations. Space experts have been telling us about contested space for the last several years. The number of active satellites is exploding from about 1,000 a few years ago to an expected 50,000+ within 10 years. The sky is indeed getting very congested. These satellites provide worldwide communications, GPS navigation, weather forecasting and

Beijing (XNA) Jun 28, 2021
A space-based measurement and control system composed of multiple relay satellites has guaranteed clear and smooth communication between ground control and Chinese astronauts in space. The relay satellites Tianlian I-03, Tianlian I-04 and Tianlian II-01 have been providing stable measurement and data relay support for the complex consisting of Tianhe core module, the cargo craft Tianzhou-2

Boston MA (SPX) Jun 28, 2021
Each day, new and innovative space technologies are being developed in countries around the world, and with that, a steady stream of satellites, rockets, cargo ships, and crew vehicles are being launched into the Earth's orbit and beyond. So what happens to these systems when they come to the end of their functional life, or malfunction and break? Some are programmed to re-enter the Earth'

London, UK (SPX) Jun 28, 2021
Singularities such as those at the centre of black holes, where density becomes infinite, are often said to be places where physics 'breaks down'. However, this doesn't mean that 'anything' could happen, and physicists are interested in which laws could break down, and how. Now, a research team from Imperial College London and the Cockcroft Institute and Lancaster University have proposed

Washington DC (UPI) Jun 28, 2021
A detergent maker and NASA are teaming up to research how astronauts could do laundry in space, especially on Deep Space missions, using minimal energy and water. Procter & Gamble has signed a pact with NASA, known as a Space Act Agreement. Under the pact, NASA seeks laundry solutions in space, while the detergent, Tide, gains publicity and furthers product development. Both parties

Albuquerque NM (SPX) Jun 28, 2021
Like two superheroes finally joining forces, Sandia National Laboratories' Z machine - generator of the world's most powerful electrical pulses - and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility - the planet's most energetic laser source - in a series of 10 experiments have detailed the responses of gold and platinum at pressures so extreme that their atomic structures mom

Boston MA (SPX) Jun 28, 2021
We may be on the brink of a new paradigm for nuclear power, a group of nuclear specialists suggested recently in The Bridge, the journal of the National Academy of Engineering. Much as large, expensive, and centralized computers gave way to the widely distributed PCs of today, a new generation of relatively tiny and inexpensive factory-built reactors, designed for autonomous plug-and-play operat

Space is becoming more congested and communications all over the globe — but particularly in the Arctic region — are often contested.

TAMPA, Fla. — Indian telecom company Bharti Global is set to own the largest share of low-Earth-orbit broadband venture OneWeb, after investing an extra $500 million to complete the constellation’s funding.

Bharti and the British government jointly bought OneWeb out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy for $1 billion in 2020, rescuing the startup in the middle of a pandemic that had disrupted its funding plans.