A key element of ESA’s role as Europe’s space agency is the expansion of space knowhow, by encouraging new actors into the field. Case in point: a Polish software company previously specialising in smartphone apps took on the challenge of designing the operating system for the main instrument of Proba-3 – an ambitious double spacecraft mission to reveal secrets of the Sun’s fiery atmosphere, the corona.

Image: These summer images from the Copernicus Sentinel-2 and Sentinel-1 missions showcase different satellite views of Greenland’s west coast.

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 11, 2024
Redwire Corporation (NYSE: RDW), a leader in space infrastructure development, has been awarded a $45,469,600 five-year contract by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Space Vehicles Directorate. The contract, funded incrementally, focuses on designing, developing, and testing advanced prototype technologies to enhance mission-critical capabilities for national defense. The initiative

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 11, 2024
Movius, a global leader in secure, AI-driven communications technology, has been listed in the FedRAMP marketplace through a Department of Defense-sponsored initiative to enhance mission-critical communication capabilities. The company has secured multiple Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts, including awards through AFWERX and Tactical Funding Increase (TACFI) programs.

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 11, 2024
L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) has finalized the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) for 18 cutting-edge space vehicles, marking a key step in its work on the Space Development Agency's (SDA) Tranche 2 Tracking Layer program. The review confirmed that the L3Harris vehicles meet all SDA requirements, incorporating advanced technology to detect, track, and target hypersonic threats. "L3

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 10, 2024
Deinococcus radiodurans, nicknamed "Conan the Bacterium," is renowned for its extraordinary ability to endure extreme conditions, including radiation levels thousands of times higher than lethal doses for humans and other organisms. Researchers from Northwestern University and the Uniformed Services University (USU) have identified the mechanism behind its resilience, offering insights that coul

San Francisco (AFP) Dec 11, 2024
Google on Wednesday announced the launch of Gemini 2.0, its most advanced artificial intelligence model to date, as the world's tech giants race to take the lead in the fast developing technology. CEO Sundar Pichai said the new model would mark what the company calls "a new agentic era" in AI development, with AI models designed to understand and make decisions about the world around you.

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 11, 2024
A state-of-the-art manufacturing base dedicated to commercial satellite components has commenced operations in Chengdu, Sichuan province. Once fully operational, the facility will have the capacity to support over 1,000 commercial satellites annually. The project, situated in the Chengdu Future Science and Technology City, was developed by Beijing-based Aotian Technology. Specializing in h

Berkeley CA (SPX) Dec 10, 2024
The Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and several collaborating institutions have successfully demonstrated a machine-learning technique to accelerate discovery of materials for film capacitors - crucial components in electrification and renewable energy technologies. The technique was used to screen a library of nearly 50,000 chemical structures to iden

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 13, 2024
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has provided an extraordinary image of the spiral galaxy UGC 10043, located approximately 150 million light-years from Earth in the Serpens constellation. Viewed edge-on, this galaxy offers a rare perspective, with its spiral arms hidden from view, revealing a sharp profile against the cosmic backdrop. In this edge-on orientation, UGC 10043's disk appear