Sydney (AFP) April 28, 2025
New Zealand said Monday it will crack down on foreign adversaries trying to covertly track space and satellite activity from within its territory. The country's intelligence service revealed last year that foreign entities had sought to establish space infrastructure in New Zealand that was supposedly for civilian research. In each case, they had "deliberately hidden" the full capabiliti

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Apr 24, 2025
Scientists continue to push the boundaries of lunar exploration with new strategies to identify and map ice deposits on the Moon. Ice could play a vital role in supporting future human activity on the lunar surface, providing life support resources and fuel ingredients. At the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, researchers are leading two pioneering investigations to enhance our understanding of wh

London, UK (SPX) Apr 30, 2025
Earth's upper atmosphere reacts more quickly and strongly to solar flare activity than previously understood, according to new findings from Queen's University Belfast. Researchers studying a powerful solar flare from 2012 found that Earth's atmosphere exhibited synchronized pulses in direct response to rhythmic bursts of energy from the Sun. This marks the first time scientists have confi

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Apr 28, 2025
Sierra Space has completed a major step toward enhancing the resilience of its expandable space station habitat, LIFE, through a series of hypervelocity impact tests carried out at NASA's White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Conducted with NASA's support, the trials focused on refining a protective shield capable of enduring the intense hazards found in orbit. The LIFE habi

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Apr 28, 2025
RIn a mission to deepen understanding of one of Earth's most vital resources, NASA's C-20A aircraft completed seven specialized research flights in March, gathering critical data on snowmelt processes and freshwater availability. Equipped with the Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR), the aircraft collected precise measurements of seasonal snow cover to estimate the fresh

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Apr 28, 2025
The U.S. Space Force's (USSF) Space Systems Command (SSC), working alongside NASA, has successfully launched the Space Test Program-Houston 10 (STP-H10) mission, delivering six cutting-edge experimental payloads to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard SpaceX's Commercial Resupply Service (CRS)-32 mission. A collaborative effort involving SSC, NASA, the U.S. Naval Research Laborator

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Apr 23, 2025
The U.S. Space Force's Space Systems Command (SSC), in collaboration with the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), has successfully completed the launch of the NROL-145 mission aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Liftoff occurred at 5:29 a.m. from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The mission marks a significant milestone as the NROL-145 launch was sec

Video: 00:02:59

ESA’s state-of-the-art Biomass satellite launched aboard a Vega-C rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. The rocket lifted off on 29 April 2025 at 11:15 CEST (06:15 local time).

In orbit, this latest Earth Explorer mission will provide vital insights into the health and dynamics of the world’s forests, revealing how they are changing over time and, critically, enhancing our understanding of their role in the global carbon cycle. It is the first satellite to carry a fully polarimetric P-band synthetic aperture radar for interferometric imaging. Thanks to the long wavelength of P-band, around 70 cm, the

ESA’s groundbreaking Biomass satellite, designed to provide unprecedented insights into the world’s forests and their crucial role in Earth’s carbon cycle, has been launched. The satellite lifted off aboard a Vega-C rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on 29 April at 11:15 CEST (06:15 local time).

Video: 01:54:04

ESA’s state-of-the-art Biomass satellite launched aboard a Vega-C rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. The rocket lifted off on 29 April 2025 at 11:15 CEST (06:15 local time).

In orbit, this latest Earth Explorer mission will provide vital insights into the health and dynamics of the world’s forests, revealing how they are changing over time and, critically, enhancing our understanding of their role in the global carbon cycle. It is the first satellite to carry a fully polarimetric P-band synthetic aperture radar for interferometric imaging. Thanks to the long wavelength of P-band, around 70 cm, the