Cobham to supply satellite terminals to Inmarsat for U.S. Navy network
Original Publication Date: 2023-02-14 18:44
Cobham Satcom will supply as many as 170 terminals to Inmarsat for the U.S. Navy. Inmarsat Government last year won a $578 million 10-year contract to maintain and operate the command’s communications infrastructure. Cobham will provide Sailor XTR broadband satellite internet terminals for the Military Sealift Command contract.
Europe opens full-scale investigation into Viasat’s Inmarsat acquisition
Original Publication Date: 2023-02-14 18:39
Viasat's plan to buy Inmarsat faces more delays after Europe launches in-depth probe. Europe’s investigation aims to ensure the deal “does not lead to higher prices” U.S.-based Viasat announced plans in November 2021 to buy British rival Inmarsat.
SpaceX drops plans to convert oil rigs into launch platforms
Original Publication Date: 2023-02-14 17:34
SpaceX has abandoned efforts to convert two oil rigs into launch platforms. The company still believes that offshore launch platforms will be part of its long-term plans. In 2020, SpaceX acquired two oil rigs, which it subsequently named Phobos and Deimos. Phobos has been at the port of Pascagoula, Mississippi, since January 2021.
Noise complaints help bring down launch startup SpaceRyde
Original Publication Date: 2023-02-13 23:14
Canadian launch startup SpaceRyde has filed for bankruptcy. The company had been developing a rocket that would use a stratospheric balloon. SpaceRyde had raised about $10 million from a mix of early-stage investors. The venture had planned to launch test payloads to sub-orbit and LEO this year.
World’s first space platforms utilising H2O2 in concentration above 98% – next level of green space propulsion
Original Publication Date: 2023-02-13 15:53
Poland's Łukasiewicz – Institute of Aviation has 25 projects from the European Space Agency. The institute has secured patents regarding obtaining new grades of High Test Peroxide (HTP) The institute’s suborbital in-flight experimentation platform – the ILR-33 AMBER rocket has been the workhorse for propulsion and space transportation technologies development.
Saudi astronauts selected for Axiom private astronaut mission
Original Publication Date: 2023-02-13 14:01
Rayyanah Barnawi and Ali Alqarni will be part of the Ax-2 mission to the ISS. They will join the mission’s commander, former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson. The mission is scheduled to spend 10 days at the station. Barnawi will be the first female Saudi astronaut.
NASASpaceFlight.com
India's new SSLV rocket has successfully reached orbit on its second attempt. Friday’s launch carried a trio of satellites, lifting off at 9:18 AM local time (03:48 UTC) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. The rocket's maiden flight ended in failure six months ago.
Commercial Archives
The first of two Starlink launches in close succession, Starlink Group 5-4 lifted off at 12:10 AM EST (05:10 UTC) on Sunday. The second mission of the week, Starlink Group 2-5, is slated to launch at 8:32 AM PST (16:32 UTC) on Wednesday.
International Archives
Roscosmos’ latest Progress resupply craft has docked at the International Space Station. After the successful docking, Roscosmos engineers detected a depressurization in the coolant loop of the Progress MS-21 spacecraft. This is the same system that leaked on the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft in December.
News – Spaceflight101
Russia's Rockot booster is set to blast off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome at 17:57 UTC on Wednesday with the Sentinel-3B multi-function satellite. The rocket will carry a Russian Rockot booster with a Sentinel-3B satellite as its payload.
ISS Updates – Spaceflight101 – International Space Station
A veteran NASA spacewalker and an EVA rookie from Japan ended their week with nearly six hours of work outside the International Space Station. The restoration of the Station’s Mobile Servicing System started last year and continued in January to provide Canadarm2 with a new pair of grappling hands.
Featured – Spaceflight101
A SpaceX Falcon 9 took to the skies over Florida’s Cape Canaveral Monday afternoon. It was lifting a flight-proven Dragon spacecraft into orbit for a critical delivery of science gear, supplies and maintenance hardware to the International Space Station. It was the first of at least six cargo ships inbound to the U.S. Segment of ISS this year.
NASA’s Perseverance Rover Shows Off Collection of Mars Samples
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover provided a panorama of its recently completed sample depot. The panorama, stitched together from 368 images that were sent to Earth, captures more than a month of careful placement and mapping of 10 titanium tubes. The depot represents a backup collection of samples that could be recovered in the future.
NASA’s NuSTAR Telescope Reveals Hidden Light Shows on the Sun
High-energy X-rays appear at only a few locations in the Sun’s atmosphere. By contrast, Hinode’s XRT detects low-energy X-ray, and SDO’s AIA detects ultraviolet light. NuSTAR’s relatively small field of view means it can’t see the entire Sun from its position in Earth orbit.
NASA’s Curiosity Finds Surprise Clues to Mars’ Watery Past
Gediz Vallis is one of the youngest features on Mount Sharp. Wind carved the valley, but a channel running through it that starts higher up on Mount Sharp is thought to have been eroded by a small river. Scientists suspect wet landslides also occurred here, sending car-size boulders and debris to the bottom of the valley.
Webb Detects Extremely Small Main Belt Asteroid
The James Webb Space Telescope has detected a new asteroid in the main belt of the solar system. The object measures 100-200 meters, occupies a very low-inclination orbit, and was located in the inner main-belt region at the time of the Webb observations. Future dedicated Webb observations will allow astronomers to study asteroids smaller than 1 kilometers in size.
University High Reclaims Victory at JPL-Hosted Science Bowl
University High School from Irvine, California won the regional competition of the National Science Bowl. More than 100 Southern California high schoolers competed in the tense, fast-paced academic challenge. The victory marked a return to form for the school, which won four years straight until its streak was disrupted in a narrow loss at last year's tournament.
NASA-ISRO Earth Science Instruments Get Send-Off Before Moving to India
Somanath, Indian Ambassador and Deputy Chief of Mission Sripriya Ranganathan, and NASA officials toured the High Bay 2 clean room. Also present were Bhavya Lal, NASA’s associate administrator for technology, policy, and strategy; Karen St. Germain, director of NASA’s Earth Science Division; and Gerald Bawden, NISAR program scientist.
Scientists Track Tropical Landslide Creeping Below an African City
Researchers studied week-to-week landslide motion over the past 4 1/2 years. They found that rainfall, tectonic activity, and urban development all played roles in landslide behavior. But the most important factor was water runoff. Water weakens rock by infiltrating its pores, soaking and destabilizing parts of a slope.