Copernical Team
Virgin Orbit receives more than 30 indications of interest under court approved bid procedures
Virgin Orbit Holdings, Inc., a responsive space launch provider, has issued an update regarding its ongoing sale process. As part of its court-approved bid procedures, the company has received more than 30 indications of interest as of May 4, 2023. Several potential buyers have proposed to retain the existing business operations and workforce, aiming to operate Virgin Orbit as an ongoing, integr Momentus signs launch package with SpaceX
Momentus Inc. (NASDAQ: MNTS) has announced a significant contract with SpaceX to secure a port on the Transporter-12 mission, anticipated to launch no earlier than October 2024.
This new development solidifies Momentus' plans to participate in three missions with SpaceX in 2024. These missions include all Transporter rideshare missions scheduled for the coming year: Transporter-10 in Janua NASA Provides Coverage of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Meeting
NASA is set to hold a public meeting concerning the categorization and evaluation of data on unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) at 10:30 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, May 31. In an effort to ensure transparency and encourage public engagement, NASA has announced it will also host a media teleconference at the conclusion of the meeting.
NASA defines UAP as observations of unidentifiable events SpaceX launches 56 Starlink satellites early Sunday
On Sunday, May 14, at 01:03 EDT (05:03 UTC), SpaceX launched an additional batch of 56 Starlink internet communication satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO) from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
About 50% of all successful orbital launches so far this year have been conducted by SpaceX. The 56 Starlink satellites will equal the four Fal Juice's RIME antenna breaks free
Over three weeks since the initiation of the deployment process for Juice's Radar for Icy Moons Exploration (RIME) antenna, the 16-meter-long boom has finally been liberated from its mounting bracket.
During the first attempt at stretching out the compacted antenna, only the initial segments of each half were released. The flight controllers theorized that a minuscule stuck pin prevented t Cosmonauts wrap up 5-hour ISS spacewalk
Russian cosmonauts Dmitri Petelin and Sergey Prokopyev concluded their five-hour spacewalk at the International Space Station Friday.
The cosmonauts first spent the day readying their Orlan spacesuits in the Station's Poisk airlock, where they attached batteries, checked for leaks and tested the suits' communications systems.
The pair had completed two previous spacewalks since A Pioneer 11, launched 50 years ago, helped solve mysteries of the universe
As NASA and private industry prepare for a U.S. return to the moon after more than five decades, observers fondly remember early ventures that traveled deep into interstellar space and sparked excitement about exploring cosmic wonders.
One of the trailblazers was Pioneer 11, a robotic forerunner of such exploration and the first spacecraft to reach Saturn, the ringed and most iconic pla Stuck antenna freed on Jupiter-bound spacecraft
A crucial radar antenna on a European spacecraft bound for Jupiter is no longer jammed.
China has its own secret space plane, and it just landed
A lot has changed since the last Space Age. Unlike the days of Sputnik, Vostok, Mercury, and Apollo, the current era is not defined by two superpowers constantly vying for dominance and one-upmanship. More than ever, international cooperation is the name of the game, with space agencies coming together to advance common exploration and science goals.
Similarly, there is the way the private space sector has become a major participant, providing everything from launch services and commercial payloads to satellite constellations and crews.
But in some ways, old habits die hard. Since the turn of the century, China has emerged as a major power in space, to the point of becoming a direct competitor with NASA's human space programs. For the past few years, China has been developing a reusable autonomous spaceplane to compete with the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV).
Known as Shenlong ("divine dragon"), this spaceplane recently concluded its second test flight after spending 276 days in orbit.
Europe's first lunar ‘lamb-bassador’
Last month, ESA’s woolly astronaut became Europe's first lunar ‘lamb-bassador’: Shaun the Sheep returned home from his Artemis I mission to a hero's welcome and then was herded off on a celebratory post-flight tour.