Airbus will build ESA's Ariel exoplanet satellite
ESA and Airbus have signed a contract to move forward with the design and construction of the Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey, Ariel, planned for launch in 2029.
Ariel is the third in a trio of dedicated exoplanet missions conceived by ESA focusing on various aspects of this rapidly evolving subject area. It will follow Cheops, which launched in 2019, and Plato, scheduled for launch in 2026.
Ariel will study the composition of exoplanets, how they formed and how they evolve, by surveying a diverse sample of about 1000 extrasolar planets, simultaneously in visible and infrared wavelengths.
It is the first mission dedicated to measuring the chemical composition and thermal structures of exoplanets, linking them to the host star's environment. This will fill a significant gap in our knowledge of how the planet's chemistry is linked to the environment where it formed, or if and how the type of host star drives the physics and chemistry of the planet's evolution.
Final defense bill nixes space guard, directs classification review of space programs
The Senate and House Armed Services Committees in a compromise National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 removed language that would have created a Space National Guard, and included a provision directing DoD to identify space programs that could be declassified.
Valley Tech Systems wins $94 million missile defense contract
Valley Tech Systems, a firm recently acquired by Voyager Space, won a $94 million contract from Lockheed Martin to provide a solid propulsion subsystem for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency’s Next Generation Interceptor.
China’s SAR satellite surge continues with new constellation plan
A new Chinese constellation for disaster prevention, early warning and natural resource monitoring will bring yet more players into developing small synthetic aperture satellites in the country.
Andesat taps Astranis for Peru’s first dedicated telecoms satellite
Cellular backhaul provider Andesat has ordered Peru’s first dedicated telecoms satellite in a deal with Astranis, which will build a teleport in the country ahead of the spacecraft’s expected 2023 launch.
Op-ed | U.S. must stop Russia before space turns into a wasteland
The growth generated from investments will be left unrealized if the government falls short in protecting the space domain.
Gemini South telescope catches a one-winged butterfly
Former JSC director Mark Geyer passes away
Mark Geyer, former head of the Johnson Space Center and manager of the Orion program, died Dec. 7 of cancer.
Tomorrow.io to grow weather constellation through SPAC deal
Tomorrow.io said Dec. 7 it stands to raise up to $420 million for its planned network of weather satellites by merging with Pine Technology Acquisition Corp., the latest special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) to invest in the space industry.
Mirror, mirror, on the Moon
Image:
Mirror, mirror, on the Moon, how far away are you?
MoonLIGHT or Moon Laser Instrumentation for General relativity/geophysics High-accuracy Tests is seeking the answer to this and more questions on general relativity, the gravitational dynamics of the Earth-Moon system and the deep lunar interior.
MoonLIGHT is a laser retroreflector, imaged here, which allows laser beams sent from Earth to be reflected back from the Moon to receivers on our planet. This allows very precise measurement of the distances between the reflector and the ground station.
Known as lunar laser ranging, this technique has been in use since the Apollo missions to investigate
