ASCEND panel cites AI challenges and promise
Original Publication Date: 2024-08-01 04:31
NASA uses AI to aggregate complex datasets from various Earth-observation sensors. Slingshot Aerospace is exploring ways to combine AI with existing physics-based modeling. Another potential AI application is helping operators manage the generation, storage and consumption of power. AI models are only as good as the training data that feeds them.
CACI secures $450 million contract to support U.S. Space Command’s navigation warfare center
Original Publication Date: 2024-07-31 16:05
CACI International has secured a 10-year contract worth up to $450 million. The contract will support the Joint Navigation Warfare Center. The JNWC serves as the Department of Defense’s center of excellence for navigation warfare. Under the contract, CACI will assist combatant commanders in enhancing their ability to operate.
Honoring the Best in Space: 2024 SpaceNews Icon Awards Nominations Open
Original Publication Date: 2024-07-31 16:04
The nomination process for the 2024 SpaceNews Icon Awards is now open. This year, we are expanding our recognition to encompass a broader range of categories. We are excited to announce that the 2024 Space news Icon Awards will be returning to Washington, D.C.’s InterContinental Hotel at the Wharf.
Satellite issues deliver mixed bag for Yahsat earnings
Original Publication Date: 2024-07-30 22:37
Yahsat sales fell 3% year-on-year to around $200 million for the first six months of 2024. The failure of Thuraya 3’s L-band payload in April weighed on its mobile communications business. Airbus recorded a previously disclosed charge of roughly a billion dollars for its space business.
United Launch Alliance and SpaceX get $1.8 billion boost in Space Force contracts
Original Publication Date: 2024-07-30 16:59
The U.S. Space Force has increased the value of its launch contracts with United Launch Alliance (ULA) and SpaceX by nearly $1.8 billion. ULA, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, will see its contract value rise by $1.1 billion. SpaceX’s contract will increase by $661 million, reaching a new total of $4 billion.
UPDATE Boeing has a problem — too many astronauts and not enough ISS parking spaces – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2024-07-31 00:00
Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft that launched NASA’s Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station is pictured docked to the Harmony module’s forward port. NASA will be sending more astronauts to the ISS in the next few weeks shuttled by SpaceX however the two stranded NASA astronauts have yet to return home due to technical difficulties with the space vehicle.
Northrop Grumman completes PDR for SDA’s latest Proliferated Data Transport satellites – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2024-08-01 00:00
Northrop Grumman Corporation has completed the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) for 74 high-speed data transport satellites for the Space Development Agency. The 74 satellites include the Tranche 2 Beta and Tranche 2 Alpha configurations. To date, SDA has awarded Northrop Grumman more than 130 satellites.
Ubotica achieves additional breakthroughs in live Earth intelligence with Cognisat-6 – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2024-08-01 00:00
Ubotica has revealed a new milestone in Live Earth Intelligence with the firm’s CogniSAT-6 satellite mission. Successful onboard AI detection of objects on Earth and immediate relay of insights to users on the ground. This marks the world’s first commercial deployment of Live Earth Intelligence.
Royal Australian Air Force welcomes the 1st Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2024-07-31 00:00
The first MQ-4C Triton arrived at RAAF Base Tindal on June 16 following a three-segment flight from Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland. Australia’s Triton program remains on track with three additional aircraft currently in production at Northrop Grumman’s Palmdale, California, facility.
Launch Roundup: Atlas V, Electron, and Falcon 9 missions scheduled for this week
Original Publication Date: 2024-07-30 17:31
ULA's Atlas V and Rocket Lab's Electron were being prepared to fly missions to orbit. ULA Atlas V 551 successfully lifted off from Pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Tuesday, July 30. Rocket Lab Electron will try again to launch the “Owl for One, One for Owl’ mission on Friday, Aug. 2 at 16:15 UTC. SpaceX hopes to return to its industry-leading flight cadence with two flights in the first three days of August.