China launches its first medium Earth orbit broadband satellites
HELSINKI — China launched the first satellites for a medium Earth orbit broadband constellation late Wednesday.
Starlink soars: SpaceX’s satellite internet surprises analysts with $6.6 billion revenue projection
WASHINGTON — SpaceX’s ambitious Starlink satellite network is exceeding expectations at a blistering pace, according to a new report by Quilty Space, a market research and consulting firm.
NASA’s strategy for space sustainability
At about 1:30 am EST on Feb. 28, NASA’s Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics Mission (TIMED) spacecraft passed close to a defunct Russian satellite, Cosmos 2221. The close approach was alarming enough that NASA sent reporters an email in the middle of the night, alerting them to the conjunction and a blog post about it. “Although the spacecraft are expected to miss each other, a collision could result in significant debris generation,” NASA warned.
NASA to look for new options to carry out Mars Sample Return program
WASHINGTON — NASA will seek “out of the box” ideas in a bid to reduce the costs and shorten the schedule for returning samples from Mars.
NASA open to significantly reduced return of Mars samples
WASHINGTON — NASA is willing to consider proposals for revamping its Mars Sample Return program that would return as few as 10 sample tubes, a fraction of the number originally planned.
India aims to achieve ‘debris-free’ space missions by 2030
In late March, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced that one of its satellite missions “practically left zero debris in orbit” after a spent rocket stage was lowered to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere during re-entry.
Cosmic fountain is polluting intergalactic space with 50 million suns’ worth of material
Tremendous explosions in a galaxy close to the Milky Way are pouring material equivalent to around 50 million suns into its surroundings. Astronomers mapped this galactic pollution event in high resolution, obtaining important hints about how the space between galaxies becomes filled with chemical elements that eventually become the building blocks of new stars.
Satellites watch as 4th global coral bleaching event unfolds (image)
Multiple major coral reefs around the world are getting paler due to warming sea temperatures in the fourth-ever global bleaching event, and satellites are keeping tabs on the carnage.
NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft finally phones home after 5 months of no contact
NASA’s interstellar explorer Voyager 1 is finally communicating with ground control in an understandable way again. On Saturday (April 20), Voyager 1 updated ground control about its health status for the first time in 5 months. While the Voyager 1 spacecraft still isn’t sending valid science data back to Earth, it is now returning usable information about the health and operating status of its onboard engineering systems.
Unforgiving Failures: the challenges of upper stages
Three days before Christmas, an Alpha rocket built by Firefly Aerospace lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The initial phases of the flight appeared to go as expected, placing the upper stage and its satellite payload, a Lockheed Martin technology demonstration satellite called Tantrum, into a parking orbit. All that was left, Firefly said as it wrapped up its launch webcast, was a second burn of the upper stage about 40 minutes later to circularize the orbit.
FAA to require reentry vehicles licensed before launch
Varda Space Industries completed its first mission by landing its capsule in Utah Feb. 21, returning pharmaceuticals produced in microgravity. Credit: Varda Space Industries/John Kraus Updated 3:15 p.m. Eastern with Varda statement. WASHINGTON — The Federal Aviation Administration is revising its licensing regulations to prevent a repeat of a situation last year where a spacecraft
Astra considered bankruptcy as it struggled to raise cash
WASHINGTON — Spacecraft propulsion and launch vehicle company Astra Space considered filing for bankruptcy several times in recent months as the company struggled to raise cash.
Slovenia signs Artemis Accords
WASHINGTON — Slovenia signed the Artemis Accords outlining best practices for sustainable space exploration April 19, the third European country to do so in five days.
China launches second Yaogan-42 reconnaissance satellite
HELSINKI — China launched its second Yaogan-42 reconnaissance satellite over the weekend, weeks after sending the first such satellite into a similar orbit.