Santa Monica CA (SPX) Apr 27, 2021
Humans have explored and exploited near-earth space for more than six decades. More recently, the past two decades have seen the start of a New Space Era, characterized by more spacefaring nations and companies and a growing risk of collisions and conflict. Yet the basic treaties and mechanisms that were crafted 50 years ago to govern space activities have only marginally changed. Th

Arlington VA (SPX) Apr 27, 2021
The U.S. Space Force hosted its first Space Engagement Talks (SET) with the Israeli Air Force during separate virtual sessions April 19-20. The talks brought together two nations with a shared interest in ensuring access to and peaceful use of outer space. "Dating back to 1948, America was the first country in the world to recognize modern Israel as a nation," said Lt. Gen. William L

With challenges imposed by the Covid pandemic, engineers building and testing ESA’s Biomass satellite have had to come up with some clever working methods to keep on track whilst adhering to safety rules. The result is that the satellite structure is not only complete, but has also undergone a series of demanding tests to ensure it will withstand the rigours of liftoff – all bringing the launch of this extraordinary forest carbon mapping mission one step closer.

Newport News VA (SPX) Apr 28, 2021
Nuclear physicists have made a new, highly accurate measurement of the thickness of the neutron "skin" that encompasses the lead nucleus in experiments conducted at the U.S. Department of Energy's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility and just published in Physical Review Letters. The result, which revealed a neutron skin thickness of .28 millionths of a nanometer, has important implica

Dublin, Ireland (SPX) Apr 28, 2021
An international collaboration of astronomers led by a researcher from the Astrobiology Center and Queen's University Belfast, and including researchers from Trinity College Dublin, has detected a new chemical signature in the atmosphere of an extrasolar planet (a planet that orbits a star other than our Sun). The hydroxyl radical (OH) was found on the dayside of the exoplanet WASP-33b. Th

Beijing (XNA) Apr 28, 2021
Sixty years after Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space, most Russians believe their country remains the leader in the field of aerospace. It was no surprise when Moscow last year named its first approved coronavirus vaccine Sputnik, after the satellite whose launch in 1957 stunned the West. A Bloomberg report said that while Russian President Vladimir Putin is not an interpla

Paris, France (SPX) Apr 28, 2021
On Wednesday, April 28, 2021 at 10:50 pm local time (01:50 UTC on Thursday, April 29), Arianespace's first Vega mission of the year will lift off from the Guiana Space Center, Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana, with the optical observation satellite Pleiades Neo 3. The first of four satellites in an advanced Earth observation constellation, Pleiades Neo 3 was wholly funded and manufactured by

Kennedy Space Center FL (SPX) Apr 28, 2021
Astronauts on the International Space Station recently enjoyed a fresh supply of leafy greens, thanks in large part to the efforts of Expedition 64 crew member Michael Hopkins. NASA's SpaceX Crew-1 mission commander took the lead on conducting four Vegetable Production System (Veggie) experiments, with the last two wrapping up after an April 13 harvest. VEG-03K and VEG-03L tested a new space cro

Vandenberg AFB CA (SPX) Apr 28, 2021
Northrop Grumman Corporation supported yesterday's successful launch of a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV heavy rocket. The rocket launched a national security payload, designated NROL-82, for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) in support of a national defense mission. "The successful launch of this Delta IV rocket demonstrates the reliability of our large composite aerosp

Denver CA (SPX) Apr 28, 2021
York Space Systems has begun producing its new LX-CLASS spacecraft, a larger and more powerful platform scheduled for delivery in 2022 for a commercial constellation customer. The LX-CLASS leverages over 90 percent reuse of York's flight proven S-CLASS hardware and software design currently in use across ISR, global communications, remote proximity operations, commercial earth observation, and w