Copernical Team
Successful entry into service of Eutelsat Hotbird 13F and 13G satellites
Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL) announces that its two high-power HOTBIRD 13F and HOTBIRD 13G satellites have entered into full commercial service. Located at Eutelsat's 13 degrees East flagship video neighbourhood, the satellites are reinforcing and enhancing the broadcast quality of around nine hundred television channels into more than 160 million homes across Europe, Northern A
Mapping the Sun's Interaction with Mercury's Surface
A new study maps the infall of protons and electrons from the solar wind to geographical location on the surface of Mercury, giving scientists new insight into how interactions with the Sun alters the surface and produces Mercury's very thin atmosphere. "Studies that have examined the infall of protons and electrons from the solar wind typically map the infall to the surface in terms of ti
The young age of permanently shadowed areas on the Moon
Most of the Moon's permanently shadowed areas arose less than 2.2 billion years ago and some trapped ice during the recent past, research led by Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist Norbert Schorghofer shows. "These findings change the prediction for where we would expect to find water ice on the Moon, and it dramatically changes estimates for how much water ice there is on the Moo
CPI Vertex to provide KA-band antennas for SES'S O3B mPOWER
CPI Vertex Antennentechnik, a subsidiary of Communications and Power Industries (CPI), has been selected to provide high-performance Ka-band antenna systems to SES for its O3b mPOWER communications system. These ground-based 5.5 meter Ka-band "plug and play" series tracking antennas will be used for O3b mPOWER Gateway systems. The O3b mPOWER system is SES's second-generation medium Earth o
NASA contract Firefly to provide radio frequency calibration services from lunar orbit
Firefly Aerospace, Inc., an end-to-end space transportation company, was awarded an $18 million NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contract to provide radio frequency calibration services from lunar orbit as part of Blue Ghost Mission 2, Firefly's second mission to the Moon in 2026. This contract marks Firefly's third NASA CLPS task order award, totaling nearly $230 million to date fo
Saturn images show a change of seasons as polar vortex fades
While the UK has been experiencing warm autumnal weather, a team of planetary scientists has found that Saturn's late northern summer is experiencing a cooling trend, as huge planetary-scale flows of air have reversed direction as autumn approaches. The new observations have also provided a last glimpse of Saturn's north pole, with its enormous warm vortex filled with hydrocarbon gases, be
Electrons from Earth may be forming water on the Moon
A team of researchers, led by a University of Hawai'i (UH) at Manoa planetary scientist, discovered that high energy electrons in Earth's plasma sheet are contributing to weathering processes on the Moon's surface and, importantly, the electrons may have aided the formation of water on the lunar surface. The study was published in Nature Astronomy. Understanding the concentrations and dist
SpaceTeamEurope, all united to launch Ariane 6
The successful last Ariane 6 launch system combined tests HFT-3, at the German Aerospace Center in Lampoldshausen; and CTLO1-C, at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, show the strength of European industrial and institutional collaboration. The “Space Team Europe” gets one step closer to the Ariane 6 first flight.
Eutelsat and NationalChip deliver ground-breaking Sat.tv features on Popular Set-Top Box Chipset
Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL) and silicon chip maker NationalChip are bringing an enhanced Free-To-Air satellite TV viewing experience to millions of homes around the world, thanks to the integration of the Sat.tv services in a chipset that is widely used in set-top boxes around the world. Over 1000 Free-to-Air TV channels broadcast by Eutelsat are viewed by 120 million hom
China builds new radio telescope to support lunar, deep-space missions
China launched the construction of a 40-meter-aperture radio telescope in Shigatse, Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region, on Friday, to offer technical support for the country's lunar and deep-space probe missions in the future. The telescope, developed by Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (SHAO) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, will be added to a very-long-baseline interferomet