AI startup Wallaroo tapped to help Space Force operationalize machine learning
Original Publication Date: 2024-05-30 10:00
Wallaroo.AI will participate in the U.S. Space Force’s TAP (Tools, Applications & Processing) Lab accelerator program. The accelerator is focused on the use of commercial technologies for space domain awareness. As part of the program’s third cohort, Wallaroo will prototype an AI platform.
Ursa Major completes ground tests of new hypersonic rocket engine
Original Publication Date: 2024-05-30 04:10
Rocket propulsion startup Ursa Major completed ground tests of a new liquid engine. The 4,000-pound-thrust closed catalyst cycle engine was ignited more than 50 times. The Draper engine uses a non-cryogenic kerosene peroxide fuel combination. It could be useful for some in-space propulsion applications like lunar landers.
Redesigned Vega C motor passes static-fire test
Original Publication Date: 2024-05-30 03:10
European Space Agency says a successful test firing of a Vega C solid rocket motor. The motor, used as the second stage of the Vega C, fired for 94 seconds, as expected. The Zefiro-40 was implicated in the failure of the second Vega C launch in December 2022. A second test firing is planned for October to confirm the performance of the motor.
Verizon plots $100 million direct-to-smartphone satellite investment
Original Publication Date: 2024-05-29 11:30
Verizon joins AT&T to partner with direct-to-smartphone satellite operator AST SpaceMobile. Verizon plans to use AST SpaceMobile’s satellites to provide “essential connectivity in remote corners of the U.S. AT&T, Google and British telco Vodafone have also banded together to provide $110 million in funding.
Open Cosmos wins Greek government satellite contract
Original Publication Date: 2024-05-29 11:15
Smallsat manufacturer Open Cosmos has won a contract to build a constellation of seven satellites. The satellites will carry optical and hyperspectral cameras as well as Internet of Things (IoT) receivers. The contract is funded by the government of Greece and managed by the European Space Agency.
Update: ULA Atlas V launch of Boeing’s Starliner NASA astronauts mission progresses – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2024-05-29 00:00
NASA and Boeing teams polled “go” to proceed with plans to launch the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test to the International Space Station at 12:25 p.m. EDT Saturday, June 1. A backup launch opportunity is available on Sunday, June 2, with additional launch windows on Wednesday, June 5, and Thursday, June 6. NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams returned to Kennedy on May 28, and will remain in quarantine at the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building until Saturday’s launch. The crew remains in quarantine in preparation for the launch.
SKY Perfect JSAT selects Thales Alenia Space to build the JSAT-31 satellite – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2024-05-29 00:00
SKY Perfect JSAT and Thales Alenia Space have signed a contract to build JSAT-31. JSAT-31 will offer high speed broadband services over Japan, South-East Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Pacific islands. The satellite will have the largest capacity in the history of SKY Perfect JSAT satellites and is expected to launch in 2027.
ESA selects Open Cosmos to build an optical constellation for Greece – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2024-05-29 00:00
Open Cosmos has gained a €60 million contract to deploy an Earth Observation (EO) constellation consisting of seven satellites. The satellites will supply daily high-resolution and very-high-resolution imagery for Greece. The data collected from this constellation will be instrumental in improving public services such as the land registry.
RTX’s Collins Aerospace completes the industry’s 1st retrofit of Iridium Certus satellite connectivity – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2024-05-30 00:00
Collins Aerospace has modified a Cessna 525 Citation Jet with its IRT NX Satellite Communication (SATCOM) system. The IRT NX SATCOM system provides high-speed cabin connectivity through the Iridium Certus® 700 satellite service. Iridium’s global network of satellites connect with Collins’ advanced ARINCDirect℠ connectivity services.
HawkEye 360 expands their state-of-the-art advanced R&D facility – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2024-05-30 00:00
HawkEye 360 Inc. Will be opening the firm’s new Vibration Testing Facility within the company’s 19,000-square-foot advanced R&D, engineering, and manufacturing facility. The Vibe Facility, equipped with cutting-edge technology, can simulate the intense conditions satellites encounter during launch and space operations.
Scout Space contracted to develop efficient collision analysis framework – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2024-05-30 00:00
Scout Space Inc. Was recently selected by AFWERX for an SBIR Phase I contract aimed at advancing space safety and operational effectiveness. Under this contract, the company will develop a Collision Analysis Framework. The company plans to integrate this framework into its next-generation Space Domain Awareness (SDA) payload.
Solstar Space awarded AFWERX SBIR contract for radiation hardened WiFi for spacecraft research – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2024-05-29 00:00
Solstar Space has been selected by AFWERX for an SBIR Phase I contract in the amount of $74,752. The contract supports research to support further development of Solstar’s space-rated WiFi Access Points and client WiFi Network Cards. The solutions will be engineered to support Rendezvous, Proximity Operations, and Docking.
25 Years Ago: STS-96 Resupplies the Space Station
Original Publication Date: 2024-05-29 15:45
STS-96 was the second space shuttle assembly and resupply mission to the space station. The multinational seven-member crew transferred nearly two tons of supplies from the shuttle’s Spacehab double module and water to the crew-tended space station. Two of the astronauts conducted a spacewalk to install equipment on the outside of the facility.
NASA to Measure Moonquakes With Help From InSight Mars Mission
NASA's Farside Seismic Suite will measure quakes and meteor strikes on the Moon. The two seismometers are expected to arrive in 2026 at Schrödinger basin. The self-sufficient, solar-powered suite has its own computer and communications equipment.
Launch Date Set for NASA’s Second PREFIRE Satellite
The first satellite successfully launched on an Electron rocket, called “Ready, Aim, PREFIRE,” from Launch Complex 1 in Māhia, New Zealand. The mission will enable researchers to systematically study the planet’s heat emissions in the far-infrared. NASA and the University of Wisconsin-Madison jointly developed the PREFIRE mission.