Cape Town, South Africa (SPX) May 17, 2021
CATALYST, a PCI Geomatics brand, has delivered an automated workflow for the South African National Space Agency's (SANSA) Earth Observation Department to convert decades of SPOT satellite imagery to CARD4L Analysis Ready Data (ARD). The scalable workflow enables SANSA to prepare its entire SPOT archive for immediate analysis using the Open Data Cube, machine learning, and AI models. CATAL

Wuhan, China (XNA) May 17, 2021
China's first smart manufacturing facility for small satellites in the central city of Wuhan is ready for official production operations, with the first satellite rolling off the production line on Thursday. The first satellite is a typical product for mass production self-developed by China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, Ltd. (CASIC). This new development demonstrates t

Beijing (XNA) May 17, 2021
After decades of planning and construction, China possesses one of the world's major navigation satellite systems - the Beidou Navigation Satellite System. Beidou is currently the country's largest space-based system and one of four global navigation networks, along with the United States' GPS, Russia's GLONASS and the European Union's Galileo. "Beidou is the fruit of the determinati

London, UK (SPX) May 17, 2021
When SEAKR Engineering decided to upgrade its mission-critical space data recorder applications to a new hardware platform, they kept their software in Ada. SEAKR Engineering is a leading supplier of state-of-the-art spacecraft electronics and a pioneer in the development of solid-state data recorders for satellites. SEAKR's products are on the International Space Station, on satellites or

Tokyo, Japan (SPX) May 17, 2021
An international research team analyzed a database of more than 1000 supernova explosions and found that models for the expansion of the Universe best match the data when a new time dependent variation is introduced. If proven correct with future, higher-quality data from the Subaru Telescope and other observatories, these results could indicate still unknown physics working on the cosmic scale.

London, Canada (SPX) May 17, 2021
Researchers at Western University and Bishop's University are the recipients of a $1.1 million contract from the Canadian Space Agency to develop what could become Canada's next space telescope mission. The contract will support the development of a telescope prototype by Stanimir Metchev, Canada Research Chair in Extrasolar Planets at Western's Institute for Earth and Space Exploration, a

Cleveland OH (SPX) May 17, 2021
Ensuring that plants receive the nourishment they need through proper irrigation is an age-old challenge for farmers here on Earth. It is also a challenge in space. NASA is one step closer to determining the most effective way to provide adequate hydration and aeration for plants to grow in space after completing NASA Glenn's Plant Water Management (PWM) project. This project is part of on

Moffett Field CA (SPX) May 17, 2021
NASA has a long history of supporting America's entrepreneurs as they develop technologies from ideas to commercial readiness. The agency's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program is furthering that legacy with 140 new Phase II awards to 127 U.S. small businesses that will help them move their innovations to market. The awards to these small businesses, located across 34 states a

Washington DC (UPI) May 17, 2021
SpaceX has launched 52 more Starlink satellites, plus payloads for two other firms, aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The launch at 6:56 p.m. Saturday was successful, SpaceX said, with all satellites released into orbit about an hour after liftoff. This brings the number of Starlink satellites in orbit to more than 1,600, according to astronomers. The roc

Beijing (XNA) May 17, 2021
China's Tianzhou 2 cargo spacecraft and its carrier rocket - a Long March 7 - were moved to the launchpad on Sunday morning, undergoing final tests before their planned launch in the coming days, according to the China Manned Space Agency. Preparation work before the launch has begun at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in the southernmost island province of Hainan, the agency said in a bri