ESA, the French space agency CNES and a group of industrial and academic partners have set in motion an ambitious plan to slash CO2 emissions associated with orbital launches, by establishing infrastructure to underpin a hydrogen economy supporting Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.

Wellington (AFP) June 28, 2022
NASA blasted a nanosatellite barely bigger than a microwave oven into outer space Tuesday, part of a landmark mission to return humans to the Moon. A rocket carrying the tiny CAPSTONE module successfully launched from New Zealand's eastern Mahia Peninsula to a deafening blast and a wash of fiery propulsion. "We have liftoff!" NASA said in a statement shortly after the 09:55 GMT launch, d

Long Beach CA (SPX) Jun 28, 2022
Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) has successfully launched CAPSTONE, a microwave-oven-sized satellite designed to test a new orbit around the Moon for NASA. CAPSTONE was launched at 09:55 UTC, June 28 on an Electron rocket from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand. The mission was Rocket Lab's 27th Electron launch. Designed and built by Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems, a Terra

Beijing, China (SPX) Jun 28, 2022
The Tibetan Plateau, known as the "Third Pole" of the world, is not only the highest plateau on the Earth, but it is also considered the "Asian Water Tower". Its watershed nourishes more than ten major rivers in Asia. Like the North and South Poles, the Tibetan Plateau is also extremely vulnerable to climate change. Glaciers on it have been retreating extensively in recent decades. Atmosph

Riverside CA (SPX) Jun 28, 2022
Using light-capturing proteins in living microbes, scientists have reconstructed what life was like for some of Earth's earliest organisms. These efforts could help us recognize signs of life on other planets, whose atmospheres may more closely resemble our pre-oxygen planet. The earliest living things, including bacteria and single-celled organisms called archaea, inhabited a primarily oc

Chandler AZ (SPX) Jun 24, 2022
Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) was awarded a firm fixed price Other Transaction (OT) Agreement modification to exercise options by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) to continue the development of the Glide Phase Interceptor (GPI) supporting the MDA's regional hypersonic missile defense program to deter and defeat hypersonic missile threats. This modification is a follow-on to the

Tehran, Iran (IRNA) Jun 26, 2022
Spokesman of the Space Department of the Iranian Defense Ministry Ahmad Hosseini said on Sunday that Iran launched a second homemade "Zoljanah" satellite carrier. Hosseini said that the performance of the three-stage carrier, which uses compound fuel, can be evaluated in each launch. The second homemade 'Zoljanah' satellite carrier is a sub-orbital satellite carrier that was conducte

London, UK (SPX) Jun 28, 2022
The UK's Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has announced, during the 4th Summit on Space Sustainability, that it will begin to develop a number of initiatives to help protect our orbital environment. The UK government Plan for Space Sustainability includes a review of secondary legislation and associated regulations focussed on orbital constellations with a view to the upda

London, UK (SPX) Jun 28, 2022
Inmarsat, the world leader in global, mobile satellite communications, has issued a far-reaching report on sustainability in space calling on industry operators, national governments and regulators to take coordinated action to reduce space debris, enhance safety and better manage the expansion of mega constellations in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The report, produced in partnership with resear