Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Jun 12, 2025
Two BeiDou-3 navigation satellites once plagued by orbit inconsistencies are now operating with significantly improved accuracy, thanks to a novel hybrid modeling technique that better accounts for solar radiation pressure. Researchers integrated a physically based Adjustable Box-Wing (ABW) model with the empirical ECOM2 framework, cutting laser ranging residuals by over 60% and improving real-t

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jun 12, 2025
Northrop Grumman has successfully integrated a robotics payload onto its Mission Robotic Vehicle (MRV), advancing its satellite servicing platform under the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites (RSGS) program. The MRV, developed by Northrop Grumman subsidiary SpaceLogistics LLC, incorporates the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory's

Huntsville AL (SPX) Jun 12, 2025
Dr. Sukanya Chakrabarti, the Pei-Ling Chan Endowed Chair at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), a part of The University of Alabama System, has co-authored a paper that uses young stars to develop a more accurate map of the outer gas disk of the Milky Way galaxy. The findings are being presented at the 246th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Anchorage, Alaska, on J

Paris, France (SPX) Jun 12, 2025
Thanks to a newly inclined orbit, ESA's Solar Orbiter spacecraft has captured the first-ever images of the Sun's poles taken from outside the ecliptic plane. This novel vantage point marks a breakthrough in solar research, offering new insights into the Sun's magnetic field, solar cycles, and space weather dynamics. Historically, solar imaging has been confined to the ecliptic plane-where

Baltimore MD (SPX) Jun 12, 2025
For the first time, scientists have used Earth-based telescopes to look back over 13 billion years to see how the first stars in the universe affect light emitted from the Big Bang. Using telescopes high in the Andes mountains of northern Chile, astrophysicists have measured this polarized microwave light to create a clearer picture of one of the least understood epochs in the history of t

Riverside CA (SPX) Jun 12, 2025
In a study that closes a long-standing knowledge gap in fundamental science, researchers Boerge Hemmerling and Stephen Kane at the University of California, Riverside, have successfully measured the electric dipole moment of aluminum monochloride (AlCl), a simple yet scientifically crucial diatomic molecule. Their results, published in Physical Review A, have implications for quantum technologie

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jun 12, 2025
Scientists using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope set out to detect radiation-induced surface changes on Uranus' largest moons but uncovered a different phenomenon altogether. The team had hypothesized that charged particles from Uranus' magnetosphere would darken the trailing hemispheres of its four major moons-Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, and Oberon-due to constant bombardment. These moons are

Paris, France (SPX) Jun 12, 2025
The European Space Agency's Flyeye telescope has officially commenced operations, capturing its first celestial images and marking a significant advancement in the detection of near-Earth asteroids and comets. Engineered with a unique compound-eye-inspired design, Flyeye was developed by ESA and OHB Italia to monitor a sky area over 200 times the size of the full Moon in a single shot. Thi

St. Louis, MO (SPX) Jun 12, 2025
The Apollo astronauts didn't know what they'd find when they explored the surface of the moon, but they certainly didn't expect to see drifts of tiny, bright orange glass beads glistening among the otherwise monochrome piles of rocks and dust. The beads, each less than 1 mm across, formed some 3.3 to 3.6 billion years ago during volcanic eruptions on the surface of the then-young satellite

London, UK (SPX) Jun 12, 2025
PLD Space has reached a critical milestone in the development of its MIURA 5 orbital launcher by completing integrated testing of its TEPREL-C rocket engines. This progress marks a significant step toward the start of the engine's flight qualification campaign, which is slated to begin at the end of June. The Spanish aerospace company emphasizes propulsion as the foundation of its technolo