Teams at ESA’s European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, are currently engaged in intensive preparations for the critical ‘Launch and Early Orbit’ phase of the agency's EarthCARE satellite.

Cape Canaveral (AFP) May 6, 2024
After years of delays, Boeing's Starliner capsule is set to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) Monday, a milestone for the US aerospace giant and NASA. The flight, a final test before Starliner takes up regular service for the space agency, is critical for Boeing, whose reputation has suffered of late due to safety issues with its passenger jets. For NASA, the stak

Los Angeles CA (SPX) May 03, 2024
oneNav, a developer of global navigation satellite system (GNSS) technology, has launched L5-direct, a GNSS product capable of directly acquiring and tracking L5-band signals. This innovation arrives amid growing concerns over Russian forces using GPS jamming techniques in Europe to impair American drones in Ukraine. In March 2024, over 1,600 civilian aircraft in Eastern Europe experienced

Washington DC (SPX) May 02, 2024
Continuing from Phase I, researchers are expanding on the development of a power source that transforms the paradigm of thermal power conversion. The thermoradiative cell (TRC), operating analogously to a solar cell but in reverse, converts heat from a radioisotope source into infrared light, which is then emitted into space, generating electricity. Initial studies demonstrated a potential gener

Paris, France (SPX) May 06, 2024
Recently, ESA's EarthCARE satellite was removed from its transport container at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, beginning an intensive period of preparation for its upcoming launch. The team conducted detailed inspections and testing to ensure the satellite was in optimal condition for its mission. Ensuring the cleanliness of EarthCARE was a critical step in optimizing the perform

Los Angeles CA (SPX) May 02, 2024
NASA is advancing plans for the first lunar railway system, described as a critical component for the daily operations of a sustainable lunar base envisioned for the 2030s. This initiative is part of NASA's broader Moon to Mars plan, which includes mission concepts like the Robotic Lunar Surface Operations 2 (RLSO2). "We want to build the first lunar railway system, which will provide reli

Berlin, Germany (SPX) May 02, 2024
The vision of a permanent human settlement on Mars is drawing closer to reality, and with it, the challenge of ensuring food security for Martian colonists. The reliance on Earth for resupplying food is both impractical and costly, making it imperative to utilize Martian resources for local food production. Rovers have initially scoped Martian terrains, setting the stage for human research

Paris, France (SPX) May 02, 2024
Gravity, a fundamental force in our everyday lives, continues to puzzle scientists: Is it a geometric force as Einstein suggested, or does it follow quantum mechanics? Researchers from the University of Amsterdam and Ulm have introduced an innovative experiment to explore this, avoiding the challenges of previous methods that required entangling massive objects, which often lose their quantum pr

Moffett Field CA (SPX) May 02, 2024
The future of space-based UV/optical/IR astronomy requires ever larger telescopes. The highest priority astrophysics targets, including Earth-like exoplanets, first generation stars, and early galaxies, are all extremely faint, which presents an ongoing challenge for current missions and is the opportunity space for next generation telescopes: larger telescopes are the primary way to address thi