Washington DC (UPI) Aug 6, 2024
SpaceX has delayed this month's Crew-9 astronaut launch to Sept. 24, to accommodate a traffic jam at the International Space Station as Boeing's Starliner remains stalled at the orbiting laboratory. SpaceX was scheduled to launch its ninth operational flight for NASA with four astronauts to the ISS on Aug. 18, before the space agency announced the delay Monday. "This adjustment a

Mars once hosted a lake larger than any on Earth. The broken-down and dried-up remnants of this ancient lakebed are shown here in amazing detail by ESA’s Mars Express.

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Aug 06, 2024
Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT), a leader in satellite communications, has announced that the ViaSat-3 F1 (VS3 F1) satellite is now in commercial service. This satellite is available to aviation customers operating over North America, including routes to Hawaii, following a series of tests and live trials conducted in the first half of 2024. "This is exciting news for our aviation customers an

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Aug 06, 2024
Rocket Lab USA, Inc. has launched its Advanced Satellite Dispenser (ASD) at the Small Satellite Conference in Logan, Utah. This new satellite separation system enhances the deployment of small satellites in the CubeSat form factor, building on Rocket Lab's proven Canisterized Satellite Dispenser (CSD) technology that has successfully deployed over 60 satellites during its 11-year tenure. T

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Aug 06, 2024
NASA has announced a new opportunity for CubeSat developers to participate in upcoming launches through the agency's CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI). CubeSats, a class of small spacecraft known as nanosatellites, provide unique opportunities for educational institutions and non-profits to access space. The initiative is open to U.S. educational institutions, non-profits, informal educatio

Sydney, Australia (SPX) Aug 06, 2024
Researchers at the Beijing Institute of Technology have developed an innovative method for designing satellite mega constellations aimed at enhancing low Earth orbit (LEO) observations. This new approach divides the constellation into two types of satellites: basic satellites and accompanying satellites, forming groups that are evenly distributed around the globe. The design method focuses

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Aug 06, 2024
AST SpaceMobile has announced that the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has granted the company an initial license for space-based operations in the United States. This approval allows AST SpaceMobile to launch and operate V, S, and UHF frequencies for gateway, feeder link, and telemetry, tracking, and control operations for the first five commercial BlueBird satellites. This F

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Aug 06, 2024
Muon Space, a leading provider of space systems, has successfully completed a $56.7 million Series B funding round led by Activate Capital. The round also saw participation from Acme Capital, Costanoa Ventures, Radical Ventures, and Congruent Ventures. This new funding will accelerate the development of Muon's Halo Platform and expand the company's capabilities to serve its growing customer base

London, UK (SPX) Aug 06, 2024
The University of Leicester has completed the construction of an advanced x-ray telescope, which is set to be integrated into a spacecraft to enhance our understanding of solar winds and their effects on Earth's magnetosphere. The Soft X-ray Imager (SXI), part of the Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) mission, is a wide-field X-ray telescope designed to spectrally ma

Paris, France (SPX) Aug 05, 2024
Airbus has been selected by the French Space Agency (CNES) to design and build two state-of-the-art microwave radiometers. These instruments are part of the French contribution to the Atmosphere Observing System (AOS), specifically for the C2OMODO mission (Convective Core Observations through MicrOwave Derivatives in the trOpics). AOS is a major international collaborative effort involving