Chinese partnership to create Tianxian SAR satellite constellation
Friday, 08 October 2021 09:52
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A Chinese state-owned enterprise and a private firm are partnering to establish a 96-satellite SAR constellation, with the first launch set for February 2022.
Analyst uses radar imagery to shed additional light on Chinese missile sites
Friday, 08 October 2021 07:27 Write a comment
Based on intelligence from SAR imagery, Lewis concluded that the Chinese are building a large wind turbine farm presumably to power missile silos.
Earth from Space: Budapest, Hungary
Friday, 08 October 2021 07:00 Write a comment
Budapest, the capital and most populous city in Hungary, is visible in this image captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission.
Galileo satellites arrive at Europe’s Spaceport
Friday, 08 October 2021 06:20 Write a comment
The latest pair of Galileo satellites have touched down at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, ahead of their launch together next month.
Earth observation is expanding into new markets
Friday, 08 October 2021 05:00
Maxar still confident Legion constellation will be in orbit in 2022
Thursday, 07 October 2021 20:41 Write a comment
Maxar remains confident that it will launch all six of its next-generation WorldView Legion imaging satellites in 2022,
Less restrictive 'bioburden' rules would make some Mars missions simpler
Thursday, 07 October 2021 17:57
Industry has more work ahead to make data analytics less dependent on human supervision
Thursday, 07 October 2021 17:13
NRO begins journey toward commercial data program of record
Thursday, 07 October 2021 17:11 Write a comment
The National Reconnaissance Office is preparing to survey commercial capabilities to provide various geospatial datasets as part of a long-term campaign to establish a new program of record.
Samples returned by Chang'e-5 reveal key age of moon rocks
Thursday, 07 October 2021 17:00 Write a comment
A lunar probe launched by the Chinese space agency recently brought back the first fresh samples of rock and debris from the moon in more than 40 years. Now an international team of scientists—including an expert from Washington University in St. Louis—has determined the age of these moon rocks at close to 1.97 billion years old.
"It is the perfect sample to close a 2-billion-year gap," said Brad Jolliff, the Scott Rudolph Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences in Arts & Sciences and director of the university's McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences. Jolliff is a U.S.-based co-author of an analysis of the new moon rocks led by the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, published Oct. 7 in the journal Science.
The age determination is among the first scientific results reported from the successful Chang'e-5 mission, which was designed to collect and return to Earth rocks from some of the youngest volcanic surfaces on the moon.
NRO to tap commercial industry for space-based radar data
Thursday, 07 October 2021 16:36 Write a comment
The director of the National Reconnaissance Office Christopher Scolese announced Oct. 7 the agency will start buying space radar imagery from commercial providers.
Taiwan’s TiSPACE to try again after launch attempt ends in flames
Thursday, 07 October 2021 15:50 Write a comment
Launch startup Taiwan Innovative Space Inc.’s quest to field a commercial smallsat launcher suffered a setback last month when a suborbital prototype of a planned orbital rocket caught fire during liftoff.
Intelligence agencies seek resilient and reliable commercial tools
Thursday, 07 October 2021 15:27 Write a comment
U.S. intelligence agencies are eager to adopt cutting-edge commercial tools and technologies, but need confidence in the security of the data delivered, Stacey Dixon, U.S. principal deputy director of national intelligence, said Oct. 6 at the GEOINT 2021 Symposium here.
Father of ERS wins Nobel prize in physics
Thursday, 07 October 2021 13:30 Write a comment
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded a share of this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics to Klaus Hasselmann in acknowledgment of his contribution to ‘the physical modelling of Earth’s climate, quantifying variability and reliably predicting global warming’. Among Prof. Hasselmann’s long list of outstanding achievements, ESA also recognises him as one of the ‘fathers’ of ESA’s first Earth observation mission, ERS-1, which has been key to understanding our changing planet and which paved the way to modern techniques in observing Earth from space.
Watch live: ESA Φ-week
Thursday, 07 October 2021 13:00 Write a comment
Focusing on the New Space economy and innovations in Earth observation, ESA’s fourth Φ-week kicks off on Monday 11 October. Join us live for two of the main sessions: the Opening session on Monday at 10:30 CEST and the Blending New Space Technologies and Services session on Tuesday at 16:00 CEST.