Kepler demonstrates optical data relay service in LEO
Original Publication Date: 2024-06-11 10:00
Kepler Communications has successfully tested optical inter-satellite links. The company moved terabytes of data across two pathfinders over testing scenarios. Starting next year, Kepler plans to deploy data relay satellites in sun-synchronous orbits. Kepler is also part of a group bidding for a European Space Agency mission.
Collaborative Frontiers: Merging Commercial Tech with Space Force Strategy
Original Publication Date: 2024-06-10 14:07
Frontier Technology Inc. (FTI) is a leader in advanced data integration and analytics. FTI has an impressive track record in delivering powerful insights and effective data management solutions. FTI boasts extensive experience in developing and integrating sophisticated software solutions into Space Force Satellite ground systems.
Assured Space and Phantom Space seek to disrupt data-backhaul business
Original Publication Date: 2024-06-10 12:00
Assured Space Access and Phantom Space announce strategic partnership. Assured Space will design and build radio frequency communications payloads. Phantom Space will establish Phantom Cloud, a data-backhaul service for satellites. Partners will work together to design, develop, launch and operate the new constellation.
NASA selects seven companies for MSR studies
Original Publication Date: 2024-06-10 11:13
NASA has selected seven companies to conduct studies of Mars Sample Return concepts. The studies are intended to solicit what the agency calls “out of the box” approaches to MSR. The current approach for returning samples would cost up to $11 billion and not be completed until 2040.
Scout Space signs LSA for SDA satellite with ABL Space Systems – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2024-06-10 00:00
Scout Space has signed a Launch Services Agreement (LSA) with ABL Space Systems. The agreement secures the launch of Scout’s “Owlet-01,” a dedicated 16U Space Domain Awareness (SDA) satellite. The Owlet-01 launch represents a significant milestone for Scout Space.
Virgin Galactic completes 12th spaceflight – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2024-06-10 00:00
Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: SPCE) has completed the company’s second spaceflight of 2024 and 12th mission to date. The ‘Galactic 07’ flight marks the Company’s seventh research mission with Virgin Galactic’s spaceship again serving as a suborbital lab for space-based scientific research.
SpaceX Starlink to launch smallsats Wednesday and Thursday – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2024-06-10 00:00
SpaceX will launch a batch of satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation. The booster will land on one of SpaceX’s two autonomous droneships approximately 600 km downrange. Neither the booster nor the support vessels are known at this time. Space Launch Complex 40 has launched 247 rockets, including 247 orbital launch attempts. Cape Canaveral, Florida, has been the site for 959 rocket launches.
Growing space safety + sustainability concerns to drive In-Orbit Services and SSA awareness uptake – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2024-06-10 00:00
Space Logistics and Space Situational Awareness markets are increasingly seen as a tool of flexibility and safety for satellite operators. Novaspace, the result of the recent merger between Euroconsult and SpaceTec Partners, finds that space safety and sustainability concerns are driving cautious interest for In-Orbit Services.
USSF billion dollar contract assigned to 20 firms – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2024-06-10 00:00
The U.S. Space Force has ordered software for ground systems. The R2C2 program will use the Cloud for the tech build that will include infrastructure development and software tools. The assignment is for the R2C2 (Rapid Resilient Command and Control) program — designed for small business.
XipLink’s LEO enhancement features optimize capabilities for Multi-Orbit networks – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2024-06-10 00:00
XipLink Inc. Has new features to further enhance its XipOS SD-WAN functionality. All new features apply to multi-orbit networks but have been developed for specific needs in the LEO segment. XipOS delivers an improved end-user Quality of Experience while addressing several challenges.
Hubble Finds Surprises Around a Star That Erupted 40 Years Ago
The 2021 ultraviolet data from Hubble showed a strong emission line of highly ionized magnesium that was not present in earlier published spectra from 1990. Its presence shows that the estimated temperature of the white dwarf and accretion disk increased from less than 400,000 degrees Fahrenheit in 1989 to greater than 450,000 degrees Fahrenheit now.
NASA’s Webb Opens New Window on Supernova Science
Mosaic displays three of about 80 transients, or objects of changing brightness, identified in data from the JADES program. Most of the transients are the result of exploding stars or supernovae. The age of each supernova can be determined from its redshift (designated by ‘z’)
North Carolina Volunteers Work Toward Cleaner Well Water
The new study compares the water quality measurements made by volunteers to predictions from various kinds of flood boundary maps made using data from NASA’s Landsat, Sentinel, and MODIS satellites. Turns out, the flood boundary maps are pretty good predictors—under certain conditions.
NASA Watches Mars Light Up During Epic Solar Storm
If astronauts had been standing next to NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover at the time, they would have received a radiation dose of 8,100 micrograys. While not deadly, it was the biggest surge measured by Curiosity’s Radiation Assessment Detector since the rover landed 12 years ago.
China Roundup: Chang’e 6 lands on the Moon, and record-breaking EVA
Original Publication Date: 2024-06-09 17:21
China’s Chang’e 6 landed on and sampled the far side of the Moon while the Shenzhou-18 crew performed a record-breaking spacewalk at the Tiangong Space Station. 10 more rockets were launched from the country in the last few weeks.