Sending vast quantities of data between satellites speedily and securely means using light to communicate. Now a group of space companies, research centres and universities working with ESA has established a series of specifications on how exactly satellites should use light to talk to one another – and to link to their ground stations.

ESA is calling for visionary ideas for how to use a constellation of communication and navigation satellites around the Moon to establish lunar businesses – and unlock opportunities on Earth.

Ithaca NY (SPX) Oct 04, 2023
Rare earth elements power electric cars, wind turbines and smartphones. Retrieving these metals from raw ore requires processing with acids and solvents. Now, Cornell scientists have characterized the genome of Shewanella oneidensis - a metal-loving bacteria with an affinity for rare earth elements - to replace the harsh chemical processing with a benign practice called biosorption.

Kourou, French Guiana (ESA) Oct 09, 2023
The Airbus-built THEOS-2 Earth observation satellite has been successfully launched on a Vega rocket from Kourou, Europe's spaceport in French Guiana. The Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency of Thailand (GISTDA) selected Airbus as partner for its next-generation national geo-information system in 2018. Jean-Marc Nasr, Head of Space Systems at Airbus, said: "This success

Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Oct 09, 2023
Astronomers have gotten very good at spotting the signs of planet formation around stars. But for a complete understanding of planet formation, we also need to study examples where planet formation has not yet started. Looking for something and not finding it can be even more difficult than finding it sometimes, but new detailed observations of the young star DG Taurus show that it has a s

Amsterdam, Netheralnds (SPX) Oct 09, 2023
The central question in the ongoing hunt for dark matter is: what is it made of? One possible answer is that dark matter consists of particles known as axions. A team of astrophysicists, led by researchers from the universities of Amsterdam and Princeton, has now shown that if dark matter consists of axions, it may reveal itself in the form of a subtle additional glow coming from pulsating stars

Northampton UK (SPX) Oct 09, 2023
UK based XCAM Ltd, world leaders in specialist digital camera systems, have secured over 200,000 pound grant funding from the UK Space Agency's Centre for Earth Observation Instrumentation (CEOI) , to develop and evaluate a New Space ultra-low-light camera system suitable for use in a range of compact Earth observation instruments in the visible and NIR wavelengths. It is anticipated that

Dallas TX (SPX) Oct 09, 2023
Stoke Space has announced $100 million in new Series B investment to drive continued growth and innovation. This investment more than doubles the company's total funding, which now sits at $175 million. The company also announced the official name of its first rocket: Nova. The funding round was led by Industrious Ventures with participation from the University of Michigan, Sparta Group, L

Brussels, Belgium (SPX) Oct 09, 2023
Belgian company SPACEBEL, a renowned specialist in software engineering and Space systems, is celebrating its thirty-fifth anniversary. Launched into orbit in 1988 to support the ambitions of Europe, and Belgium in particular, in Space, SPACEBEL quickly established a solid reputation in the Space and Earth observation applications sector thanks to its innovative software solutions. Drawing