New head of smallsat supplier Blue Canyon sets sights on defense market growth
Monday, 09 October 2023 20:26
Vega flight takes satellites to space
Monday, 09 October 2023 18:21
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Today (Oct. 10) at 22:36 local time (02:36 BST, 03:36 CEST) the 23rd Vega flight saw its two main satellites launched and released into Earth orbit. The rocket's main passengers were the Earth observing THEOS-2 satellite and the meteorological satellite Triton.
THEOS-2 (THailand Earth Observation System-2) is an observation satellite manufactured by Airbus for the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency of Thailand. THEOS-2 is the largest of the two satellites in the series and will provide the Ministry of Agriculture of Thailand with information on water resources, weather and land use for planning and management.
Triton (formerly known as FORMOSAT-7R) is a Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) satellite that will collect signals that bounce off the sea surface to help scientists calculate wind field over our oceans. This data will be shared with Taiwan's Central Weather Administration, contributing to the forecast of typhoon intensity and their trajectory.
The satellites were released in a sun-synchronous orbit, meaning they will fly over the same spot on Earth at the same time each day—following the sun.
Russian ISS segment springs third leak in under a year
Monday, 09 October 2023 18:20 Write a comment
Liquid has leaked from the Russian portion of the International Space Station but the crew are not in any danger, the Russian space agency Roscosmos said on Monday.
"The Nauka module of the Russian segment of the ISS has suffered a coolant leak from the external (backup) radiator circuit, which was delivered to the station in 2012," Roscosmos said on Telegram suggesting there was no danger to the orbiting laboratory.
Last month, two Russian cosmonauts and an American astronaut landed back on Earth after spending a year at the ISS.
The three men had traveled on a Russian Soyuz to the ISS last year, in a mission that was meant to last only six months.
But the Soyuz suffered a leak probably due to impact from a tiny meteorite, so Moscow sent another rocket with no crew onboard.
The Russians and American then carried out the mission of the crew that was due to replace them.
The trio spent a year on the ISS—a rare venue for cooperation between the US and Russia—as tensions between Washington and Moscow intensified over the conflict in Ukraine.
Coolant leaked from Russian part of ISS, crew safe: Roscosmos
Monday, 09 October 2023 18:20 Write a comment
Liquid has leaked from the Russian portion of the International Space Station but the crew are not in any danger, the Russian space agency Roscosmos said on Monday.
"The Nauka module of the Russian segment of the ISS has suffered a coolant leak from the external (backup) radiator circuit, which was delivered to the station in 2012," Roscosmos said on Telegram suggesting there was no danger to the orbiting laboratory.
Last month, two Russian cosmonauts and an American astronaut landed back on Earth after spending a year at the ISS.
The three men had traveled on a Russian Soyuz to the ISS last year, in a mission that was meant to last only six months.
But the Soyuz suffered a leak probably due to impact from a tiny meteorite, so Moscow sent another rocket with no crew onboard.
The Russians and American then carried out the mission of the crew that was due to replace them.
The trio spent a year on the ISS—a rare venue for cooperation between the US and Russia—as tensions between Washington and Moscow intensified over the conflict in Ukraine.
Planned launch has SpaceX back on task on Space Coast
Monday, 09 October 2023 18:00 Write a comment
SpaceX handed over the Space Coast spotlight for a short time last week with United Launch Alliance managing an Atlas V liftoff for Amazon, but Elon Musk's company is back to the business of sticking more of its Starlink satellites into orbit.
A Falcon 9 rocket with 22 more of its second-generation of internet satellites is slated to lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's Space Launch Complex 40 at 9:18 p.m. with five backup windows from 9:57 p.m. through 12:35 a.m. Monday and another six backups Monday night starting at 8:42 p.m. running through early Tuesday at 12:10 a.m.
Space Launch Delta 45's weather squadron forecasts an 80% chance for good conditions and 95% chance in the event of a 24-hour delay.
The first-stage booster for the mission is making its 14th flight, and will attempt another recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas down range in the Atlantic.
It would mark the 55th launch by all companies from the Space Coast in 2023 with all but four coming from SpaceX. ULA has managed three including the Amazon launch on Friday while startup Relativity Space launches its 3D-printed Terran 1 rocket back in March.
Atlas V launches from Cape Canaveral with prototype Amazon satellites
Monday, 09 October 2023 17:59 Write a comment
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket climbed through the Space Coast skies carrying a pair of prototype satellites to orbit on the first of what's planned to be dozens of launches for Amazon.
The Project Kuiper Protoflight mission's goal is to help Amazon nail down how it wants to construct the entirety of its planned 3,236-satellite constellation that aims to offer global broadband internet service and compete with the likes of SpaceX's Starlink and other satellites systems.
The Atlas V made its 99th trip off the planet launching from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's Space Launch Complex 41 at 2:06 p.m. at the opening of a two-hour window. It was ULA's 158th mission since it began operations in 2006.
"Bird is away," posted ULA President and CEO Tory Bruno on social media after liftoff. "Hot, straight and normal,"
The payload weights were not revealed as Amazon has been tight-lipped with its prototype designs, but the Atlas V was in its slim 501 configuration meaning it used a 5.4-meter fairing and no external solid rocket boosters to get the payloads to the target 311 mile altitude.
European space firms set specifications for optical links
Monday, 09 October 2023 12:32 Write a comment
Sending vast quantities of data between satellites speedily and securely means using light to communicate. Now a group of space companies, research centres and universities working with ESA has established a series of specifications on how exactly satellites should use light to talk to one another – and to link to their ground stations.
Watch: Earth Explorer 11 Consultation
Monday, 09 October 2023 12:00 Write a comment
Watch: Earth Explorer 11 Consultation
On 10-11 October, follow the discussions on the candidate missions for ESA's eleventh Earth Explorer at the User Consultation Meeting
THEOS-2 Airbus-built satellite for Thailand successfully launched
Monday, 09 October 2023 09:06 Write a comment
The Airbus-built THEOS-2 Earth observation satellite has been successfully launched on a Vega rocket from Kourou, Europe's spaceport in French Guiana. The Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency of Thailand (GISTDA) selected Airbus as partner for its next-generation national geo-information system in 2018.
Jean-Marc Nasr, Head of Space Systems at Airbus, said: "This success Metal-loving microbes could replace chemical processing of rare earths
Monday, 09 October 2023 09:06 Write a comment
Rare earth elements power electric cars, wind turbines and smartphones. Retrieving these metals from raw ore requires processing with acids and solvents.
Now, Cornell scientists have characterized the genome of Shewanella oneidensis - a metal-loving bacteria with an affinity for rare earth elements - to replace the harsh chemical processing with a benign practice called biosorption. Wanted: bright ideas to develop the lunar economy
Monday, 09 October 2023 08:39 Write a comment
ESA is calling for visionary ideas for how to use a constellation of communication and navigation satellites around the Moon to establish lunar businesses – and unlock opportunities on Earth.
Connect to ESA Careers Day on 9 November
Monday, 09 October 2023 06:33 Write a comment
If you are interested in applying for a job at ESA, curious to know what opportunities we have for you or would like to hear about the projects our teams are working on, then mark your calendar for 9 November 2023! For this fully online event, we will be streaming a programme packed full of sessions giving you an insider’s look at STEM careers at ESA.
Astroscale Japan to inspect a large defunct satellite in orbit
Sunday, 08 October 2023 23:21 Write a comment
Astroscale Japan has been selected by the Japan Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology ("MEXT") for its Small and Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program to develop an on-orbit inspection demonstration mission that will image and diagnose a large, defunct satellite in space.
The MEXT-funded project is divided into three phases, and Astroscale Japan will receive