As ESA’s Hera mission reaches the Didymos double asteroid system, it will not be there alone: it will also serve as mothership for Europe’s first two ‘CubeSats’ into deep space. Juventas, performing subsurface radar sounding, is called after the daughter of Hera. The other, spectral surveyor Milani, takes the name of the researcher who began Europe’s asteroid risk monitoring system and came up with the original concept inspiring Hera and NASA’s DART – a double spacecraft mission for planetary defence.

Tehran (AFP) June 27, 2021
Iran has drones capable of flying 7,000 kilometres (more than 4,000 miles), the commander of its Revolutionary Guard force said Sunday. "We have drones which can fly 7,000 kilometres, without a pilot, and land back at the same spot or anywhere else," General Hossein Salami said in a speech broadcast by state television. He gave no other details but the new drone would give it a range of

Washington DC (SPX) Jun 29, 2021
Installation of the Aegis Ashore Poland's Aegis Weapon System has begun. The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) recently achieved critical installation milestones of the Aegis Weapon System at its Redzikowo, Poland, facility whose design and construction efforts are being accomplished in close partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). In March, the Aegis Weapon System completed

Guilford UK (SPX) Jun 29, 2021
The UK Royal Navy has awarded a 12 month contract extension to Airbus covering the continued provision of satellite-based maritime surveillance services for the Joint Maritime Security Centre (JMSC). The contract follows the successful completion of a proof of concept phase, and will ensure the continued monitoring of areas of interest in UK waters and ultimately protect UK sovereign borde

Washington DC (UPI) Jun 29, 2021
SpaceX postponed a launch Tuesday to send 88 small satellites into orbit from Florida in what is known as a rideshare launch due to interference from a possible plane in the region, a SpaceX announcer said. "It looks like the [launch] range was a no go. There might have been an airplane in the area. We do have a backup opportunity tomorrow, but for today, that's going to do it for us,"

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jun 29, 2021
"Justified confidence" in artificial intelligence is more than just new buzzwords. It's about developing AI systems that are robust, reliable and accountable, and ensuring these attributes can be verified and validated. The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence's (NSCAI) Final Report highlights emerging consensus on the principles for using AI ethically and responsibly fo

Washington (AFP) June 25, 2021
A highly awaited US intelligence report on dozens of mysterious unidentified flying object sightings said most could not be explained, but did not rule out that some could be alien spacecraft. The unclassified report said researchers could explain only one of 144 UFO sightings by US government personnel and sources between 2004 and 2021, sightings that often were made during military trainin

Brisbane, Australia (SPX) Jun 30, 2021
Australia's leading launch services company, Gilmour Space Technologies, has secured $61 million (approximately $47 million USD) from global investors in what is the largest private equity investment raised by a space company in Australia. The Series C round, which includes US-based Fine Structure Ventures, Australian venture capital firms Blackbird and Main Sequence, and Australian supera

ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet and NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough performed three spacewalks in the span of 10 days to install two new solar arrays that will generate more electricity on the International Space Station.

As ESA’s Hera mission for planetary defence probes the Didymos twin asteroid system, it will be joined by a pioneering pair of breadbox-sized ‘CubeSats’. Juventas will perform radar soundings while Milani will image the bodies in a wider range of colours than the human eye can see, prospecting the mineral makeup of individual asteroid boulders.