Eagle professor's space debris removal device receives patent
An Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University professor and his co-inventors patented a device that provides a workable strategy for combating the problem of debris accumulating in space from defunct satellites.
Known as the Drag De-Orbit Device, or D3, the invention can guide small satellites from low Earth orbit, maneuvering them through Earth's atmosphere, where they burn up. Destruction of t Carrier rocket takes off from Sichuan province
China launched a Long March 3B carrier rocket early on Saturday morning to send a communication satellite into space, according to China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, the country's leading space contractor.
The State-owned company said the rocket blasted off at 12:40 am from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province and later deployed the ChinaSat 1D satellite in its Mike Griffin critical of U.S. response to China’s advances in hypersonic weapons
In the global race for geopolitical dominance, hypersonic glide weapons level the playing field “not by improving their own capabilities, but by removing ours,” said Mike Griffin.
Lightfoot to lead Lockheed Martin space unit
Lockheed Martin has named a former acting administrator of NASA as the new head of its space business unit.
SpaceX grapples with Raptor production problems
Problems increasing production of the Raptor engines that power SpaceX’s Starship vehicle have led to personnel shakeups at the company and a warning from founder Elon Musk that the company risked “bankruptcy” if the company could not resolve them.
NASA inspector general warns of space station gap
Concerns about the long-term viability of some existing International Space Station modules and the potential of delays in development of commercial space stations heighten the risk of a gap in low Earth orbit destinations, a new report warns.
Soon, 1 out of every 15 points of light in the sky will be a satellite
I'm outside at my rural Saskatchewan farm, chatting with my neighbors who I've invited over to appreciate the night sky through my telescope. After exclamations and open-mouthed wonder over Saturn's rings, and light that has been traveling through space for more than two million years to reach our eyes from the Andromeda Galaxy, our conversation inevitably turns to the pandemic, our work-from-home arrangements and complaints about rural internet. My neighbor casually mentions they've just switched to using Starlink for their internet provider.
I glance up and notice a bright satellite moving across the sky, almost certainly a Starlink, since they now make up almost half of the nearly 4,000 operational satellites and they're extremely bright. I take a deep breath and carefully consider how to discuss the substantial cost that we're all going to have to pay for Starlink internet.
I don't blame my neighbors for switching.
Test tanks fuelled for ESA’s Themis reusable first stage
Recently completed tests of two propellant tanks set a first technological milestone in the ESA reusability roadmap towards the demonstration of a reusable first stage vehicle called Themis.
White House releases space priorities framework
WASHINGTON — The White House released Dec. 1 a document that outlines its space policy priorities, including addressing growing military threats and supporting “a rules-based international order for space.” The seven-page United States Space Priorities Framework document, released ahead of the first meeting by the National Space Council under the Biden administration, represents the first […]
