Kourou (AFP) Dec 6, 2024
Europe's new Vega-C rocket launched Thursday from French Guiana and put a satellite into orbit in its first takeoff since a failed flight two years ago. After two days of delays, the rocket - crucial to Europe's autonomy in reaching space - took off without problems, carrying the Sentinel-1C satellite for the European Union's Copernicus Earth observation programme. The satellite, which

Video: 00:01:21

Proba-3 lifted off on its PSLV-XL rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India, on Thursday, 5 December, at 11:34 CET (10:34 GMT, 16:04 local time). The mission was launched using this Indian launcher because it needed to be placed in a highly elliptical orbit extending more than 60 500 km from the ground.

After integration and testing was completed at Redwire Space in Belgium, Proba-3 was transported to India to be prepared for launch.

The latest member of ESA’s family of in-orbit demonstration missions, Proba-3 is in fact two spacecraft being launched together, which will separate in

Video: 00:03:40

The third Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellite, Sentinel-1C, has launched aboard a Vega-C rocket, flight VV25, from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. The rocket lifted off on 5 December 2024 at 22:20 CET (18:20 local time).

Sentinel-1C extends the legacy of its predecessors, delivering high-resolution radar imagery to monitor Earth’s changing environment, supporting a diverse range of applications and advance scientific research. Additionally, Sentinel-1C introduces new capabilities for detecting and monitoring maritime traffic. 

The launch also marks Vega-C’s ‘return to flight’, a key step in restoring Europe’s independent access to space. Vega-C is the evolution of the Vega family of rockets and delivers increased performance, greater payload volume and improved competitiveness.

Paris, France (SPX) Dec 06, 2024
Telebras, in partnership with SES and other collaborators, has enhanced digital connectivity in Brazil's Northern Region by deploying over 1,500 Internet access points. These sites, established through the Government Electronic Service for Citizen Assistance (GESAC) program, include public institutions, schools, libraries, telecenters, health units, indigenous villages, and rural settlements.

Sydney, Australia (SPX) Dec 06, 2024
In response to the rising threat of GPS jamming in drone warfare, researchers at the University of South Australia (UniSA) have pioneered a celestial navigation system that uses star-based visual data as an alternative to the global positioning system. Combining celestial navigation with vision-based technology, UniSA's remote sensing engineers have created a lightweight, cost-effective sy

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Dec 06, 2024
Using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have achieved an unprecedentedly close look into the core of a quasar - a luminous and energetic galactic nucleus powered by a supermassive black hole. This study reveals intricate structures surrounding the black hole and sheds new light on the dynamic processes fueling quasars. According to Bin Ren of the Cote d'Azur Observatory and Univer

Cincinnati OH (SPX) Dec 06, 2024
Physicists hope to answer fundamental questions about the origins of the universe by learning more about its tiniest particles. University of Cincinnati Professor Alexandre Sousa helped outline the next 10 years of global research into the behavior of neutrinos, particles so tiny that they pass through virtually everything by the trillions every second at nearly the speed of light. T

London, UK (SPX) Dec 06, 2024
In the coming decade, astronomers will begin exploring the atmospheres of Earth- and Venus-sized planets orbiting nearby stars. Despite their physical similarities, Venus and Earth have drastically different atmospheres. This raises the question: could scientists distinguish between these "twin" planets if observed from light-years away? Researchers from the Instituto de Astrofisica e Cien

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 06, 2024
NASA engineers have identified the technical cause behind the unexpected char loss on the Artemis I Orion spacecraft's heat shield during its return from the Moon. The issue arose from trapped gases within the ablative material of the heat shield, leading to pressure buildup and cracking. Orion's heat shield, made with Avcoat material, experienced uneven shedding of its charred outer layer

Sydney, Australia (SPX) Dec 06, 2024
Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) has confirmed the launch window for its next Electron mission, which will deploy Synspective's latest Earth observation satellite. This mission is part of an ongoing collaboration aimed at expanding the Japanese company's synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite constellation. The mission, named "Owl The Way Up," is set to launch from Rocket Lab Launch C