SpaceDaily.com (anglès)

Washington DC (SPX) Sep 26, 2024
NASA's TBIRD (TeraByte InfraRed Delivery) demonstration and its host spacecraft - the PTD-3 (Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator-3) - have completed their technology demonstration. The TBIRD payload spent the past two years breaking world records for the fastest satellite downlink from space using laser communications. NASA's PTD series leverages a common commercial spacecraft to provide a

Salt Lake City UT (SPX) Sep 26, 2024
Is our home galaxy, the Milky Way Galaxy, a special place? A team of scientists started a journey to answer this question more than a decade ago. Commenced in 2013, the Satellites Around Galactic Analogs (SAGA) Survey studies galaxy systems like the Milky Way. Now, the SAGA Survey just published three new research articles that provide us with new insights into the uniqueness of our own Milky Wa

Boston MA (SPX) Sep 26, 2024
Mars wasn't always the cold desert we see today. There's increasing evidence that water once flowed on the Red Planet's surface, billions of years ago. And if there was water, there must also have been a thick atmosphere to keep that water from freezing. But sometime around 3.5 billion years ago, the water dried up, and the air, once heavy with carbon dioxide, dramatically thinned, leaving only

Sydney, Australia (SPX) Sep 27, 2024
A team of Chinese scientists has conducted a detailed study of the first lunar samples retrieved from the Moon's farside by the Chang'e-6 mission. These groundbreaking samples mark a key achievement in lunar exploration, offering new insights into the Moon's geological history. The research was published in the 'National Science Review' on September 17, 2024.

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 27, 2024
Veteran Ventures Capital (VVC), a firm focused on investing in dual-use national security technology companies led by veterans, announced a strategic investment in Agile Space Industries. Agile specializes in developing advanced chemical propulsion systems for satellites and spacecraft, including thrusters and rocket engines, which are designed, 3D printed, and tested in-house. This investment i

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 26, 2024
NASA has awarded Starfish Space a Phase III Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract to advance the Small Spacecraft Propulsion and Inspection Capability (SSPICY) mission. Based in Seattle, Washington, Starfish Space will receive $15 million over the next three years to complete the mission, which aims to enable commercial inspection of defunct satellites in low Earth orbit - a key ste

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 27, 2024
Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) has successfully completed the integration and testing of its second Pioneer spacecraft for Varda Space Industries, Inc. ("Varda"). Varda is pioneering in-space pharmaceutical processing and hypersonic re-entry logistics. This follows the first successful mission of Rocket Lab's Pioneer spacecraft for Varda in June 2023. During that mission, Varda crysta

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 27, 2024
BlackSky Technology Inc. (NYSE: BKSY) has been awarded a U.S. Navy research contract to explore the use of advanced optical intersatellite link terminals on its Gen-3 imaging satellites. This project will help deliver real-time satellite imagery to military personnel during critical operations around the world. The contract supports the Navy's Project Overmatch and the Department of Defense's Jo

Rochester NY (SPX) Sep 27, 2024
RIT has been selected to lead the United States Space Force University Consortium/Space Strategic Technology Institute 3 (SSTI) research regarding advanced space power and propulsion, which includes $9.9 million in funding. The research is in partnership with the Air Force Research Laboratory and will enable game-changing space power and propulsion technology that will transition to the U.

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 27, 2024
Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT), a global provider of satellite communications, announced its collaboration with CYSEC, a European cybersecurity company, under Viasat's ELEVATE program. The partnership aims to deliver advanced cybersecurity services for satellite communications. CYSEC, based in France and Switzerland, is a leader in cybersecurity for the space internet. The company offers robu

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 13, 2024
In the foreword to Astropolitics 3.0: Reality Check, I have the privilege of introducing a work that not only maps the intricate pathways of space exploration but also deciphers the power plays shaping our future in outer space. Having journeyed alongside Frank through numerous space ventures in the 2000s, I've witnessed firsthand his unique ability to navigate this complex arena. Ou

Washington (AFP) Sept 12, 2024
A pioneering private crew made history Thursday by performing the first commercial spacewalk, with NASA hailing it as "a giant leap forward" for the space industry. The SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission, led by fintech billionaire Jared Isaacman, launched Tuesday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, journeying deeper into the cosmos than any humans in half a century, since the Apollo era.

Sydney, Australia (SPX) Sep 12, 2024
On Sept 5, Asteroid 2024 RW1 entered Earth's atmosphere, burning up about 25 kilometers above the Philippines. This event, coinciding with China's announcement of a new asteroid defense initiative, highlighted both the necessity and feasibility of such a plan. While the odds of an asteroid causing significant damage are relatively low - most disintegrate upon entering the atmosphere - the

Sydney, Australia (SPX) Sep 12, 2024
A newly-built high-altitude simulation test stand in Northwest China's Shaanxi province has successfully completed its test run, according to a report from China Space News on Wednesday. The test stand, designed to simulate the operating conditions for the main deceleration engine of China's manned lunar landing spacecraft, is seen as a significant achievement in the country's ongoing lunar expl

Elche, Spain (SPX) Sep 12, 2024
Primary, secondary, and vocational schools now have the chance to launch their projects into space through PLD Space's new SPARK Program. This initiative offers students, teachers, and researchers the opportunity to send experiments into space on the first two flights of the MIURA 5 rocket, planned for late 2025 and early 2026 - at no cost to participating institutions. The SPARK Program i

London, UK (SPX) Sep 12, 2024
Astroscale UK, the British arm of Astroscale Holdings Inc., has been awarded a GBP 1.95 million contract by the UK Space Agency to further develop its Cleaning Outer Space Mission through Innovative Capture (COSMIC) spacecraft. The COSMIC mission aims to remove two inactive UK satellites from orbit as part of a national Active Debris Removal (ADR) effort. This phase of the mission will con

Columbus OH (SPX) Sep 12, 2024
Mold can survive the harshest of environments, so to stop harmful spores from growing on future space stations, a new study suggests a novel way to prevent its spread. Researchers created a predictive approach for modeling unintended microbial growth in critical spaces and applied it to life on the International Space Station. An analysis of dust samples obtained from the space stati

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 11, 2024
BlackSky Technology Inc. (NYSE: BKSY) has been chosen by NASA to supply high-frequency, time-diverse satellite imaging data for Earth observation projects under NASA's Commercial Smallsat Data Acquisition Program (CSDAP). This contract, which could reach a total value of $476 million, will run through November 2028 for participating contractors. "Adding BlackSky's space-based intelligence

Wurzburg, Germany (SPX) Sep 12, 2024
An enormous canyon stretches across Mars: Valles Marineris is 3,000 kilometres long, 600 kilometres wide and on average eight kilometres deep. Its Latin name goes back to the Mars orbiter "Mariner", which discovered the valley in the early 1970s. Since 2012, this largest known canyon in the solar system has received special attention from the German Space Agency at the German Aerospace Cen

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 12, 2024
NASA's Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft has successfully finished the rigorous series of environmental tests designed to ensure it can withstand the challenges of launch and space. With these tests complete, the spacecraft team at Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado, is now conducting software tests simulating key phases of the mission, including launch, orbital maneuvers, and its science o