Intelsat expands OneWeb LEO partnership
Original Publication Date: 2024-03-20 02:46
Intelsat has bought at least five times more capacity from Eutelsat’s OneWeb constellation. The companies announced March 19 that Intelsat has made a firm commitment to buy $250 million worth of LEO capacity over six years starting mid-2024. Intelsat CEO David Wajsgras: "We are seeing demand signals that actually could exceed half a billion dollars"
China launches Queqiao-2 relay satellite to support moon missions
Original Publication Date: 2024-03-20 01:20
China launched its Queqiao-2 relay satellite Tuesday to support upcoming lunar missions. The 1,200-kilogram satellite carries a 4.2-meter parabolic antenna. It is part of China’s plans for future lunar exploration and a stepping stone towards building a lunar base in the 2030s.
Neuraspace starts free space traffic management service
Original Publication Date: 2024-03-19 19:11
Neuraspace has released a free version of its space traffic management platform. The platform is designed to foster more collaboration among satellite operators. Neuraspace is also seeking customers in the satellite manufacturing and insurance markets. The four-year-old venture recently said the platform is being used by operators responsible for more than 250 satellites.
Pentagon’s innovation unit steps up role in Space Force’s responsive launch program
Original Publication Date: 2024-03-19 18:36
Defense Innovation Unit is working with the Space Force to shorten the time it takes to plan space missions. The Tactically Responsive Space program is an initiative to rapidly respond to situations in space. DIU sees broader benefits from investing in these rapid capabilities alongside commercial partners. The selection process to pick companies to support Victus Haze is currently underway.
SpaceX planning rapid turnaround for next Starship flight
Original Publication Date: 2024-03-19 14:46
SpaceX hopes to conduct the next launch of its Starship vehicle as soon as early May. The schedule will depend on how quickly it can get an amended launch license. On that launch both the Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage performed as expected. The Super Heavy booster also exploded during the final stages of its descent.
Loft Orbital and SkyServe partner on AI-powered Earth observation application
Original Publication Date: 2024-03-19 12:00
Loft Orbital and SkyServe are partnering to leverage Earth observation and edge computing. SkyServe will use Loft Orbital’s YAM-6 spacecraft to demonstrate artificial intelligence capabilities. Customers can deploy AI models on the platform to perform analysis of imagery the satellite collects.
Benchmark Space Systems flies first electric thruster
Original Publication Date: 2024-03-19 11:00
Benchmark Space's first electric thruster is in orbit and ready to begin operations. The company says it expects to soon start firing the thruster after completing on-orbit checkouts. Xantus is a metal plasma thruster that uses molybdenum as propellant.
Rocket Lab’s Thursday ‘Live and Let Fly’ mission is first launch for NRO – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2024-03-19 00:00
Rocket Lab is ramping up for a launch Thursday, March 21 at 2:40 am from Launch Complex 2, NASA Wallops Flight Facility at Virginia Spaceport Authority’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, Wallops, Virginia. This will be the first launch for the NRO from the United States after previously launching four NRO missions from Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula. The mission will be Rocket Lab’s 4th launch this year and 46th Electron launch overall.
Space Systems Command issues solicitation for On Ramp to OSP-4 launch contract – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2024-03-19 00:00
The U.S. Space Force’s Small Launch and Targets Division at Kirtland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico, has issued a solicitation to on ramp additional launch providers. The Orbital Services Program (OSP)-4 Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity contract has a $986 million ceiling with ordering through October 2028.
Thales Alenia Space awarded one of two ESA LEO-PNT orbit demonstrators – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2024-03-19 00:00
Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), signed a contract with European Space Agency (ESA) to deliver an end to end solution for the LEO-PNT (Low Earth Orbit Positioning Navigation and Timing) orbit demonstrator. This constellation will work in combination with Galileo and other satellite navigation systems to provide guaranteed centimeter location accuracy.
Tyvak International’s Milani satellite delivered to ESA for the HERA mission – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2024-03-20 00:00
Hera Milani is a nanosatellite funded by Italy and developed by Tyvak International. Milani will be the first nanosatellites to orbit an asteroid. The Italian Space Agency and European Space Agency decided to dedicate the Mission to Prof. Andrea Milani, who passed away in 2018.
Space-based air traffic test by Startical to be managed on a NanoAvionics smallsat – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2024-03-20 00:00
Startical, the company created by ENAIRE (Europe’s fourth-largest air navigation services provider), and Indra will use a satellite produced by Kongsberg NanoAvionics to test the systems of the company’s future constellation of more than 270 smallsats. Startical has chosen NanoAvionics’s MP42 microsatellite bus, weighing approximately 110 kg, for a series of tests lasting six months. The test satellite will become operational in 2025.
Astronics launches Typhon T-400 Ku SATCOM system – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2024-03-20 00:00
Astronics Corporation (Nasdaq: ATRO) has launched their Typhon T-400 Series system. The system represents the next generation in SATCOM connectivity technology. The system is designed to seamlessly operate on any GEO-based, Ku-band satellite network.
Aerospacelab enters into a collaboration with Xona Space Systems – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2024-03-19 00:00
Aerospacelab and Xona Space Systems have entered into a partnership. Aerospacelab will design, manufacture, and launch Xona Space Systems’ upcoming navigation satellite. Xona Space Systems will provide the Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) payload.
US, Germany Partnering on Mission to Track Earth’s Water Movement
GRACE-C will build on decades of observations of the global movement of water and changes in water resources. The mission will be part of NASA’s Earth System Observatory (ESO), a set of Earth-focused missions that will provide data to guide efforts related to climate change, natural hazard mitigation, wildfire management, and food security.
Sketch the Shape of the Sun for Science During the Solar Eclipse
NASA-funded citizen science project invites anyone who will be within the path of totality in the U.S. To take photos of the Baily’s Beads effect. The effect occurs when little points of sunlight pass through the valleys in between the mountains on the edge of the Moon.
NASA Study: Asteroid’s Orbit, Shape Changed After DART Impact
NASA's DART deliberately smashed into a 560-foot-wide (170-meter-wide) asteroid on Sept. 26, 2022. The demonstration showed that a kinetic impactor could deflect a hazardous asteroid should one ever be on a collision course with Earth. A new study published in the Planetary Science Journal shows the impact changed not only the motion of the asteroid, but also its shape.