Copernical Team
Plato exoplanet mission gets green light for next phase
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Plato, ESA’s next-generation planet hunting mission, has been given the green light to continue with its development after the critical milestone review concluded successfully on 11 January 2022.
Week in images: 10 - 14 January 2022
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Week in images: 10 - 14 January 2022
Discover our week through the lens
Virgin Orbit successfully launches 7 satellites into orbit
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A Virgin Orbit rocket released from a jet flying off the California coast carried seven small satellites into space on Thursday as the company kicked off a year in which it plans to ramp up the pace of launches, including two originating from Britain.
Virgin Orbit's modified Boeing 747 took off from Mojave Air & Space Port in the Southern California desert, flew out over the Pacific Ocean and dropped the LauncherOne rocket from its left wing.
The 70-foot-long (21.3-meter) booster ignited at an altitude of about 35,000 feet (10,668 meters) and hurtled skyward. The company later confirmed that all of the satellites were successfully deployed into the proper orbit.
"Another fantastic day for the Virgin Orbit team, and a big step forward for our customers," the company tweeted.
The payload included satellites for the U.S. Defense Department, the Polish company SatRevolution and the international company Spire Global.
It was Virgin Orbit's third launch carrying satellites for customers. Two previous launches carried multiple satellites into orbit in January and June 2021. The company's first launch, a demonstration flight, failed in May 2020.
Virgin Orbit, founded in 2017 by British billionaire Richard Branson, went public last month. The company is targeting the market for launching small satellites.
Rolling stones on Mars
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Rolling stones on Mars Update on Africa's 1st Satellite constellation built by CPUT
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The Marine Domain Awareness Satellites (MDASat) have already started successfully transmitting data after they were launched aboard US aerospace company SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket yesterday. The mission carried a total of 105 spacecraft, including CubeSats, microsats, PocketQubes and orbital transfer vehicles.
CPUT Vice-Chancellor Prof Chris Nhlapo congratulated engineers from the university A second successful launch for SpaceCloud into space
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SpaceCloud once again headed into orbit as a part of D-Orbit's ION Satellite Carrier onboard SpaceX's Transporter-3 mission that was launched January 13th from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The mission aims to verify 17 apps, uploading of new ones, and support the on-orbit testing of a hyperspectral camera.
On this mission SpaceCloud hosts 17 evolved applications, and we are now having the abil SpaceX launches 44 SuperDove satellites for Planet Labs
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Planet Labs reports the successful launch of its 4x Flock, consisting of 44 SuperDove satellites, into orbit on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The company has established contact with all of the SuperDove satellites, many within two minutes of the final deployment, upholding Planet's record of successfully connecting with 100% of all Planet satellites launched.
These 44 satellites will join Pla Earth from Space: Kangerlussuaq Glacier
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The Kangerlussuaq Glacier, one of Greenland’s largest tidewater outlet glaciers, is pictured in this false-colour image captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission. Meaning ‘large fjord’ in Greenlandic, the Kangerlussuaq Glacier flows into the head of the Kangerlussuaq Fjord, the second largest fjord in east Greenland.
HawkEye 360 awarded $15.5M contract with Air Force Research Laboratory
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HawkEye 360 Inc., the world's leading commercial provider of space-based radio frequency (RF) data and analytics, has announced it has been awarded a three year, $15.5 million Experimental Purpose Agreement (EPA) contract with the Air Force Research Laboratory's (AFRL) Space Vehicles Directorate. Through the agreement, HawkEye 360 will provide radio frequency analytics research, development, and Brown, Raymond warn of impacts to Air Force, Space Force if new budget is not approved
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The Air Force's and Space Force's highest ranking officers issued grim warnings to Congress Jan. 12, telling a House subcommittee that failing to approve a new spending plan for the current fiscal year would directly harm readiness, inhibit modernization and diminish the services' capacity to confront emerging security threats.
Rolling over the current Air Force budget for another year, a 
