Copernical Team
Find your way to the future at ESA’s NAVISP Industry Days
After a pandemic-induced gap of more than two years, Europe’s leading companies working on positioning, navigation and timing technologies will meet face-to-face at ESA’s technical heart in the Netherlands for the NAVISP Industry Days, devoted to the latest developments in the Agency’s Navigation Innovation and Support Programme.
ESA spurs investment in space entrepreneurs
Dozens of people who have set up start-up companies and fledgling businesses are pitching their ideas to investors today, as part of an ESA Investor Forum held in Berlin.
Researchers reveal the origin story for carbon-12, a building block for life
With the help of the world's most powerful supercomputer and new artificial intelligence techniques, an international team of researchers has theorized how the extreme conditions in stars produce carbon-12, which they describe as "a critical gateway to the birth of life." The researchers' fundamental question: "How does the cosmos produce carbon-12?" said James Vary, a professor of physics
Earth from Orbit: NOAA Debuts First Imagery from GOES-18
On May 11, 2022, NOAA shared the first images of the Western Hemisphere from its GOES-18 satellite. The satellite's Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) instrument recently captured stunning views of Earth. GOES-18, NOAA's newest geostationary satellite, launched on March 1. The ABI views Earth with sixteen different channels, each measuring energy at different wavelengths along the electromagne
International Satellite to Track Impacts of Small Ocean Currents
Though climate change is driving sea level rise over time, researchers also believe that differences in surface height from place to place in the ocean can affect Earth's climate. These highs and lows are associated with currents and eddies, swirling rivers in the ocean, that influence how it absorbs atmospheric heat and carbon. Enter the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission,
New study indicates limited water circulation late in the history of Mars
A research team led by Lund University in Sweden has investigated a meteorite from Mars using neutron and X-ray tomography. The technology, which will probably be used when NASA examines samples from the Red Planet in 2030, showed that the meteorite had limited exposure to water, thus making life at that specific time and place unlikely. In a cloud of smoke, NASA's spacecraft Perseverance
Boeing reportedly butting heads with supplier over Starliner issues
Boeing's new CST-100 Starliner is set to fly to the ISS on May 19 atop an Atlas 5 rocket from Florida, with the company hoping to demonstrate to NASA that the spacecraft is safe to transport astronauts to and from the orbiting outpost. Previous uncrewed tests were postponed multiple times due to various issues. Boeing and its supplier, Aerojet Rocketdyne, are blaming each other for a major
Launch of China's commercial carrier rocket fails
The launch of the fourth SQX-1 commercial carrier rocket on Friday was unsuccessful. Abnormal performance was identified during the flight of the rocket, which lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 3:09 p.m. (Beijing Time). The cause of the failure is under investigation, the launch center said in a statement. span class="BDL">Source: Xinhua
ISS Partnership faces 'Administrative Difficulties' NASA Panel Says
Susan Helms, a former NASA astronaut and a member of the NASA Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, has said that the International Space Station's (ISS) partnership with Russia is experiencing some "administrative difficulties" due to Western sanctions imposed on the country over its military operation in Ukraine. "The geopolitical sanctions that have been levied on Russia that we've seen happ
FAA issues Commercial Space Reentry Site Operator License for Huntsville Airport
The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is issuing a license to the Huntsville-Madison Airport Authority in Alabama to operate the Huntsville International Airport (HSV) as a commercial space reentry site. The license permits the airport to offer its site for Sierra Space Dream Chaser vehicles returning to Earth from future NASA resupply missions to th