Tucson AZ (SPX) Sep 15, 2023
A new study maps the infall of protons and electrons from the solar wind to geographical location on the surface of Mercury, giving scientists new insight into how interactions with the Sun alters the surface and produces Mercury's very thin atmosphere. "Studies that have examined the infall of protons and electrons from the solar wind typically map the infall to the surface in terms of ti

Tucson AZ (SPX) Sep 15, 2023
Most of the Moon's permanently shadowed areas arose less than 2.2 billion years ago and some trapped ice during the recent past, research led by Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist Norbert Schorghofer shows. "These findings change the prediction for where we would expect to find water ice on the Moon, and it dramatically changes estimates for how much water ice there is on the Moo

Duisburg, Germany (SPX) Sep 15, 2023
CPI Vertex Antennentechnik, a subsidiary of Communications and Power Industries (CPI), has been selected to provide high-performance Ka-band antenna systems to SES for its O3b mPOWER communications system. These ground-based 5.5 meter Ka-band "plug and play" series tracking antennas will be used for O3b mPOWER Gateway systems. The O3b mPOWER system is SES's second-generation medium Earth o

Cedar Park TX (SPX) Sep 15, 2023
Firefly Aerospace, Inc., an end-to-end space transportation company, was awarded an $18 million NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contract to provide radio frequency calibration services from lunar orbit as part of Blue Ghost Mission 2, Firefly's second mission to the Moon in 2026. This contract marks Firefly's third NASA CLPS task order award, totaling nearly $230 million to date fo

Leicester UK (SPX) Sep 15, 2023
While the UK has been experiencing warm autumnal weather, a team of planetary scientists has found that Saturn's late northern summer is experiencing a cooling trend, as huge planetary-scale flows of air have reversed direction as autumn approaches. The new observations have also provided a last glimpse of Saturn's north pole, with its enormous warm vortex filled with hydrocarbon gases, be

Manoa HI (SPX) Sep 15, 2023
A team of researchers, led by a University of Hawai'i (UH) at Manoa planetary scientist, discovered that high energy electrons in Earth's plasma sheet are contributing to weathering processes on the Moon's surface and, importantly, the electrons may have aided the formation of water on the lunar surface. The study was published in Nature Astronomy. Understanding the concentrations and dist

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The successful last Ariane 6 launch system combined tests HFT-3, at the German Aerospace Center in Lampoldshausen; and CTLO1-C, at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, show the strength of European industrial and institutional collaboration. The “Space Team Europe” gets one step closer to the Ariane 6 first flight.

Paris, France (SPX) Sep 18, 2023
Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL) and silicon chip maker NationalChip are bringing an enhanced Free-To-Air satellite TV viewing experience to millions of homes around the world, thanks to the integration of the Sat.tv services in a chipset that is widely used in set-top boxes around the world. Over 1000 Free-to-Air TV channels broadcast by Eutelsat are viewed by 120 million hom

Lhasa, China (XNA) Sep 18, 2023
China launched the construction of a 40-meter-aperture radio telescope in Shigatse, Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region, on Friday, to offer technical support for the country's lunar and deep-space probe missions in the future. The telescope, developed by Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (SHAO) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, will be added to a very-long-baseline interferomet

McLean, VA (SPX) Sep 18, 2023
Intelsat, operator of one of the world's largest integrated satellite and terrestrial networks and leading provider of inflight connectivity (IFC), today announced a new content distribution system that will use the internet to transport quality video content around the globe. The IntelsatOne IP service capitalizes on Intelsat's decades of satellite and terrestrial experience to deliver re