The Sun never stops shining in space, and sunlight is much more intense there than on Earth's surface. So what if we could gather that energy up in space then beam it down to Earth?

Recent studies funded by the Preparation element of ESA’s Basic Activities programme, show the concept, called Space-Based Solar Power, is theoretically workable and could support the path to decarbonising the energy sector. However, significant uncertainties and technical challenges remain. In response ESA is proposing a R&D programme to mature the concept and its critical technologies – SOLARIS.

Beijing (XNA) Sep 22, 2022
China's Mars rover Zhurong, currently in sleep mode, is expected to wake up automatically in December when its energy level hits over 140 watts and the temperature of components like the battery rise above minus 15 degrees Celsius, according to its research team. Jia Yang, deputy chief designer of the Tianwen-1 Mars mission from the China Academy of Space Technology, said Zhurong will resu

Adelaide, Australia (SPX) Sep 22, 2022
From the 'Saucepan' to the 'Southern Cross' star gazing is a popular pastime for many budding astronomers. But as Australia's cities continue to expand, finding a sky that's dark enough to see the stars is becoming more and more difficult, say UniSA astronomers. In search of dark skies - skies unaffected by unnatural light - a team of astronomy students will travel to the southern edge of

Vienna VA (SPX) Sep 22, 2022
Spire Global, Inc. (NYSE: SPIR), has been awarded as part of Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Delivery Order 5 of the contract issued by the National Oceanographic and Oceanic Administration (NOAA), for commercially available space-based radio occultation (RO). The award, valued at $9.9 million, is the third multi-million dollar NOAA contract Spire has received in FY22.

Paris, France (SPX) Sep 21, 2022
Orbital Assembly Corporation (OAC), the leader in developing a commercially viable, space-based business park with variable gravity, has announced an agreement with CisLunar Industries to collaborate on providing metal-processing services on its Pioneer-classTM space station. OAC will provide on-orbit facilities to CisLunar Industries, and CisLunar Industries will provide metal processing as a s

Herndon VA (SPX) Sep 21, 2022
BlackSky Technology Inc. (NYSE: BKSY) has received a combined total of $13.8 million of orders to date within the first year of a five-year National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) contract to monitor global economic activity. "These awards underscore the growing demand for commercial real-time, AI-driven monitoring services that reveal economic activity at manufacturing hubs, major m

Traverse City MIw (SPX) Sep 25, 2022
ATLAS Space Operations, the leading provider of Ground Software as a Service (GSaaS), has announced the award of a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II award to develop their Space Domain Awareness (SDA) capabilities. This effort will use ATLAS software and hardware to increase ATLAS' ability to conduct passive RF observations of on-orbit assets. To deliver on the milestones

Bangkok, Thailand (SPX) Sep 25, 2022
Satellite manufacturer and service provider mu Space Corp and space-based service with secure cloud data storage provider, SpaceBelt have agreed a Memorandum of Understanding entered on the 16 of August 2022. Both parties firmly believe they can bring their own expertise to the project in order for it to succeed and benefit from the collaboration, with plans to have a commercial agreement toward

Lund, Sweden (SPX) Sep 25, 2022
Using data from the Gaia space telescope, a team led by researchers at Lund University in Sweden has shown that large parts of the Milky Way's outer disk vibrate. The ripples are caused by a dwarf galaxy, now seen in the constellation Sagittarius, that shook our galaxy as it passed by hundreds of millions of years ago. Our cosmic home, the Milky Way, contains between 100 and 400 billion st