Space Force grappling with aging infrastructure used to operate satellites
The ground stations and tracking antennas the U.S. military relies on to communicate with its satellites — known as the Satellite Control Network, or SCN — are decades old and short of the capacity needed to keep up with the projected growth in space activities.
Trailblazing tourist trip to orbit ends with splashdown
Space community ponders right-of-way rules for space traffic
The growing number of satellites in orbit is leading to calls to develop formal “right of way” rules, although there is no consensus on what those rules should be and how they should be established.
Joining forces for Aeolus
For a team of scientists and technicians from Europe and the US, the fact of ‘going back to the office’ this September has meant heading off to the Cabo Verde islands in the Atlantic – not to extend their summer holidays, but for a complex international experiment campaign that will scrutinise the data being delivered by one of today’s most innovative Earth observation satellites: ESA’s Aeolus wind mission.
FAA releases draft environmental report on SpaceX Starship orbital launches
A draft environmental assessment released by the Federal Aviation Administration suggests that SpaceX will be able to proceed with orbital Starship launches from Texas, but with a number of mitigations required.
Swimmers show sporting success using satellites
Athletes who participated in an open-air mass sporting event at the weekend had images of their sporting prowess sent to family and friends within seconds, thanks to a space-enabled app.
Space sustainability makes slow progress at the United Nations
Diplomats and other experts see signs of progress at the United Nations on addressing space sustainability but caution it may will take many years before any sort of binding agreement emerges.
Tianzhou-3 spacecraft docks with Chinese space station
China's Tianzhou-3 cargo spacecraft docked in orbit with the Tianhe space station module Monday following launch from the coastal Wenchang launch center.
L3Harris’ missile-tracking satellites pass early design review
L3Harris announced Sept. 20 that the Space Development Agency has approved the company’s proposed design for a missile tracking satellite.
A catalog of solar stream interactions
When a fast solar wind stream erupts from a coronal hole (a cooler region in the Sun's atmosphere) and overtakes a slower moving solar wind stream, a stream interaction region (SIR) can form. In the SIR, a density "pileup" of compressed plasma develops upstream of the interface; typically there is a peak in pressure followed by a rarefaction region in the fast solar wind component. As the SIR propagates away from the Sun, to distances of one astronomical unit or beyond, the compression can form a shock that efficiently accelerates charged particles.
