Over the last few months, ESA’s Earth Explorer Biomass satellite has been going through a punishing series of tests to make sure that it will survive the unavoidable blasts of noise and shuddering during liftoff. Engineers have now also tested that it will unfold its solar wing in the correct sequence. Coming through all of this with flying colours, Biomass is a few steps closer to its mission in orbit: to deliver completely new information on our precious forests and the carbon they store.

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In the 1980s, scientists discovered a gaping hole in Earth's ozone layer, caused by humanmade chemicals. But thanks to the historical Montreal Protocol, the world came together to take bold action to save our planet. Decades later, we can see the steady recovery of the ozone hole. How did we do it? And what does space have to do with it? Join us as we explore the journey of the ozone hole, from its alarming discovery to the incredible strides made to fix it, and how satellites are helping us track its recovery.

ESA’s Hera asteroid mission for planetary defence is about to gain its sight. Two complete and fully tested Asteroid Framing Cameras have reached OHB in Germany for integration aboard Hera’s payload module. This instrument will provide the very first star-like view of Hera’s target for the mission to steer towards the Dimorphos asteroid, which last year had its orbit altered by an impact with NASA’s DART mission.

Wuhan, China (XNA) Feb 20, 2023
The Luojia-3 01 satellite has completed several technical tests, and its multi-mode intelligent remote sensing service capability has reached the expected target, according to Wuhan University. Luojia-3 01 is an internet-intelligent remote-sensing scientific experiment satellite, mainly developed by Wuhan University and launched by a Long March-2D rocket on Jan. 15. It adopts the in-

Rehovot, Israel (SPX) Feb 22, 2023
NASA will launch Israel's first space telescope mission, the Ultraviolet Transient Astronomy Satellite (ULTRASAT). ULTRASAT, an ultraviolet observatory with a large field of view, will investigate the secrets of short-duration events in the universe, such as supernova explosions and mergers of neutron stars. Led by the Israel Space Agency and Weizmann Institute of Science, ULTRASAT is plan

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Feb 23, 2023
A century ago, the British archaeologist Howard Carter opened Tutankhamun's burial chamber. For years he had been searching for the pharaoh's tomb in the Valley of the Kings, northwest of the Upper Egyptian city of Luxor. Having almost given up, he found Tutankhamun's tomb in the winter of 1922. However, several months of careful preparations were needed before the archaeologist could enter the

Luxembourg (SPX) Feb 23, 2023
In support of intensifying government initiatives to close the connectivity gap for more than 7,500 households across urban and rural population centres in French Guiana, Marlink has been awarded a Public Service Delegation contract to set up broadband Internet and 4G/5G services via satellite networks covering the entire French region. SES and Marlink today announced they have signed a 15

Cape Canaveral FL (SPX) Feb 23, 2023
Sidus Space, Inc. has signed an agreement with SpaceX to launch on Transporter missions manifested for 2024 and 2025. This additional agreement further extends the Company's relationship with SpaceX, chosen in part due to their successful and reliable launch capabilities. Sidus Space expects the Maiden Flight of LizzieSat on SpaceX Transporter-9 later this year. Along with launching in 202

Baltimore MD (SPX) Feb 23, 2023
On June 20, 2022, the James Webb Space Telescope spent just over one hour staring at Messier 92 (M92), a globular cluster 27,000 light-years away in the Milky Way halo. The observation - among the very first science observations undertaken by Webb - is part of Early Release Science (ERS) program 1334, one of 13 ERS programs designed to help astronomers understand how to use Webb and make the mos

Washington DC (SPX) Feb 23, 2023
In a new study, an international team of astrophysicists has discovered several mysterious objects hiding in images from the James Webb Space Telescope: six potential galaxies that emerged so early in the universe's history and are so massive they should not be possible under current cosmological theory. Each of the candidate galaxies may have existed at the dawn of the universe roughly 50