Space Force commercial office to open new facility in Virginia
Original Publication Date: 2023-05-11 22:55
Commercial services office will oversee the procurement of satellite-based services. Office will host an industry day focused on space-based navigation, positioning and timing services. Most of the funding for commercial services today is for satellite-based communications. Grand opening is planned for June 7.
ULA prepares for new round of Vulcan tests
Original Publication Date: 2023-05-11 21:47
United Launch Alliance plans to resume tanking tests of its Vulcan Centaur rocket and test fire its main engines. ULA rolled the rocket on Thursday to Space Launch Complex 41 in preparation for tests. ULA has not provided a new target launch date for Vulcan.
AT&T and AST SpaceMobile seek permission for spectrum leasing deal
Original Publication Date: 2023-05-11 21:31
AT&T requested regulatory permission May 10 to lease AST SpaceMobile the wireless spectrum. The venture plans to connect smartphones in the United States to its planned constellation. AT&T did not detail when services from its AST SpaceMobile partnership could be commercially deployed across the United States.
L3Harris wins contract to extend GOES-R ground segment work
Original Publication Date: 2023-05-11 21:03
L3Harris will handle communications with the NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites-R Series. The indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity Geostationary Ground Sustainment Services contract has a maximum value of approximately $275.2 million. GOES-R satellites provide imagery and data on Earth’s weather, oceans and environment.
OHB expects first Ariane 6 launch in early 2024
Original Publication Date: 2023-05-11 20:42
A key Ariane 6 supplier expects the rocket to make its first launch within a year. Comments are the strongest statement yet that an Ariane 6 launch in 2023 was no longer feasible. The European Space Agency said in October 2022 it was projecting a first launch of the rocket in 2020.
Telesat eyes 2026 for first Lightspeed launches amid funding delays
Original Publication Date: 2023-05-11 18:56
Telesat now expects to start deploying satellites for Lightspeed around 2026. CEO Dan Goldberg said May 11 the geostationary satellite operator would give a more definitive deployment timeframe. Telesat has so far lined up about $3 billion for the project via internal resources and Canadian government funding.
The answer to solving the digital divide is hybrid connectivity infrastructures
Original Publication Date: 2023-05-11 15:12
Ken Peterman: More than 24 million U.S. Households still don’t have access to the internet. He says hybrid connectivity infrastructures can democratize access to connectivity. Peterman: Satellite can affordably push 5G into remote, isolated communities.
EnduroSat raises million$$ via Series A – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2023-05-11 00:00
EnduroSat has raised a $10 million Series A, led by the EU investment firm CEECAT Capital. The investment will enable EnduroSat to scale its operations and address a wider satellite market, including constellation as a service. Founded in 2015, EnduroSat is on a mission to transform the complex satellite industry into a streamlined data service.
2022 Space Safety Compendium available – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2023-05-11 00:00
The Space Safety Institute describes key high-priority areas and recommendations for the future sustainability of space operations. Each chapter of this compendium describes key high priority areas that should be addressed over the next few years. The compendium has been developed in collaboration with The Aerospace Corporation’s Center for Space Policy and Strategy.
Images From NASA’s Perseverance May Show Record of Wild Martian River
New images taken by NASA’s Perseverance rover may show signs of what was once a rollicking river on Mars. The river was part of a network of waterways that flowed into Jezero Crater. Understanding these watery environments could help scientists in their efforts to seek out signs of ancient microbial life that may have been preserved in Martian rock.
NASA’s Webb Takes Closest Look Yet at Mysterious Planet
GJ 1214 b is the most common type of planet in the galaxy, but mysterious to us because they don’t occur in our solar system. The new work suggests the planet might have formed farther from its star, a type known as a red dwarf, then spiraled gradually inward to its present, close orbit.
JPL’s Snake-Like EELS Slithers Into New Robotics Terrain
NASA's EELS is a self-propelled, autonomous robot for traversing extreme terrain. EELS could pick a safe course through a wide variety of terrain on Earth, the Moon, and far beyond. EELS was inspired by a desire to look for signs of life in the ocean hiding below the icy crust of Saturn’s moon Enceladus.
Webb Looks for Fomalhaut’s Asteroid Belt and Finds Much More
Fomalhaut’s dust ring was discovered in 1983 in observations made by NASA’s Infrared Astronomical Satellite. Webb also imaged what Gáspár dubs ‘the great dust cloud,’ which may be evidence for a collision occurring in the outer ring between two protoplanetary bodies.
Starlink Group 2-9 mission to mark SpaceX’s 31st launch of 2023
Original Publication Date: 2023-05-10 17:06
SpaceX launched 51 Starlink internet communication satellites into low Earth orbit on its Starlink Group 2-9 mission. Lifting off on May 10, 2023, at 13:09 PDT (20:09 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. This mission marked 2023’s 68th orbital launch attempt and SpaceX’s 31st (30th orbital) launch of the year, making up just under 45% of all launch attempts thus far this year.