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Copernical Team
More lunar missions means more space junk around the Moon—two astronomers are building a catalog to track the trash
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![There are more than 100 missions to the Moon planned in the coming years, including the next Artemis missions. Credit: NASA More lunar missions means more space junk around the Moon—two astronomers are building a catalog to track the trash](https://scx1.b-cdn.net/csz/news/800a/2023/more-lunar-missions-me.jpg)
Scientists and government agencies have been worried about the space junk surrounding Earth for decades. But humanity's starry ambitions are farther reaching than the space just around Earth. Ever since the 1960s with the launch of the Apollo program and the emergence of the space race between the U.S. and Soviet Union, people have been leaving trash around the moon, too.
Today, experts estimate that there are a few dozen pieces of space junk like spent rocket bodies, defunct satellites and mission-related debris orbiting in cislunar space—the space between Earth and the moon and the area around the moon. While this isn't yet a large amount of junk, astronomers have very little information about where these pieces of space debris are, let alone what they are and how they got there.
Sentinel-4 set to join next weather satellite
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![Preparing to test Sentinel-4](https://www.esa.int/var/esa/storage/images/esa_multimedia/images/2023/02/preparing_to_test_sentinel-4/24709921-1-eng-GB/Preparing_to_test_Sentinel-4_card_full.jpg)
Copernicus Sentinel-4, which is set to play a key role in monitoring air quality over Europe, is ready to be fitted to its host, the first Meteosat Third Generation Sounder weather satellite.
Copernicus Sentinel-4 is a state-of-the-art ultraviolet, visible, near-infrared spectrometer instrument that has been developed to deliver hourly high-resolution measurements of trace gases such as nitrogen dioxide, ozone, sulphur dioxide and formaldehyde, as well as aerosols.
Galileo signal component tested for Internet of Things use
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![Digital cities](https://www.esa.int/var/esa/storage/images/esa_multimedia/images/2020/11/how_can_digital_cities_foster_urban_innovation/22302267-1-eng-GB/How_can_digital_cities_foster_urban_innovation_card_full.jpg)
One of Europe's Galileo satellites has been reconfigured to emit a new signal component optimised to serve low-end receiver devices and Internet of Things applications.
Spanish lagoon used to better understand wet-to-dry transition of Mars
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Bringing more power to Space Station
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Faster, more accurate 3D modelling recreates a landscape's digital twin down to the pixel
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![](https://www.spxdaily.com/images-bg/reconstructed-pointcloud-montreal-canada-3d-bg.jpg)
Comtech receives additional funding for US Army Communications
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Shenzhou XV astronauts to conduct first spacewalk
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AST SpaceMobile announces collaboration with TIM
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![](https://www.spxdaily.com/images-bg/ast-spacemobile-tim-marker-bg.jpg)
Rocket Lab increases space systems offerings with new products for small satellites
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![](https://www.spxdaily.com/images-bg/rocket-lab-12nms-reaction-wheel-production-bg.jpg)