Category: Space

For graduate students with good ideas for the space industry, now is the time to get your foot in the door, NASA leaders said at the 37th annual Space Symposium.

• By Stephanie Condon

2022 is set to be a major year for the space economy. According to the Space Foundation, 15 new launch vehicles are set to debut this year, more than any other year in space history. Last year, US spaceports had more launches than any year since 1967, and the number is climbing. Meanwhile, employment in the core US space industry employment is at a 10-year high. 

The momentum is there for a flourishing space economy that, according to NASA leaders, could in 20 years take public and private missions beyond low Earth orbit (LEO), with services and infrastructure on the lunar surface and in cislunar space. It’s a fast-growing economy, NASA leaders said at the 37th Space Symposium, that offers promising opportunities for young people who want to get their foot in the door. 

The space economy is already a $400 billion industry “and on the way to $1 trillion, and I suspect it’ll get there faster than we think,” James Reuter, associate administrator for the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) at NASA, said during a panel this week at the 37th Space Symposium in Colorado Springs. 

“It’s not just venture capitalists that are geeks for space” that are bringing this economy to life, Reuter said. “It’s also much more conventional people looking for opportunities. There’s a lot more opportunities for capital investment.” 

And while investments in LEO are a mainstay, he said, “there’s a strong push towards cislunar space… We’re seeing a lot of investment we can take advantage of.” 

Continue reading… “The space economy is ready for lift-off: First into orbit, and then to the Moon”

SPHEREx will scan over 99 per cent of the sky every six months. 

LOS ANGELES (XINHUA) – Nasa’s upcoming SPHEREx mission will be able to scan the entire sky every six months and create a map of the cosmos unlike any before, according to a plan the agency unveiled on Thursday (March 24).

Scheduled to launch no later than April 2025, the SPHEREx mission will probe what happened within the first second after the big bang, how galaxies form and evolve, and the prevalence of molecules critical to the formation of life, according to Nasa.

Continue reading… “Nasa’s SPHEREx spacecraft to scan entire sky to create cosmic map”

New funding will help develop space power station and create water hunting robots

By Nina Massey

Projects include Rolls-Royce developing a power station for space that could allow water and breathable oxygen to be generated.

British space technology could help develop a power station in space, create a robot to hunt for oxygen and water in lunar rocks and tackle issues such as the delay in communication between Earth and Mars.

New funding will pave the way for pioneering approaches to energy, communication and resources, thanks to projects from the UK Space Agency (UKSA).

The projects include Rolls-Royce developing a power station for space that could allow water and breathable oxygen to be generated.

In addition to discovery breakthroughs, these projects will also ensure that people here on Earth benefit from new technology, including micro-reactor technology with the potential to support our net zero commitments

Another will develop new technology that can withstand the high radiation levels on Mars, while a third will build a communications tool for astronauts to tackle the delay in conversations between Mars and Earth.

Continue reading… “New funding to help develop space power station and create water hunting robot”

By Daniel Kucher

A new system has been designed that can protect our planet from asteroids. With the new system, it was claimed that asteroids could be destroyed in just days or even hours depending on their size.

Asteroids have the potential to wipe out all life on Earth and even destroy the planet, just like the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Fortunately, however, technology and science have advanced a lot since the dinosaurs were wiped out millions of years ago.

We now have technologies that scan the sky to detect potentially dangerous asteroids for Earth. Of course, it’s not just about detecting asteroids: As those of you who watched the movie Don’t Look Up will remember, if we were to detect an asteroid on a collision course with our planet, we probably wouldn’t have enough time to respond to it. That’s why NASA is conducting research for a defense system that can destroy an asteroid that could destroy the Earth days or weeks before.

Continue reading… “A New System Has Been Designed That Can Destroy Dangerous Asteroids Approaching Earth Within Hours”

E-Space claims its satellites will “capture debris… to prevent further collisions.”

By JON BRODKIN

A company led by satellite-industry veteran Greg Wyler says it plans to launch about 100,000 small communication satellites into low Earth orbit. The company, E-Space, yesterday announced that it received a $50 million investment and that it will launch its first test satellites next month, with “mass production… slated for 2023.”

E-Space said it has “filings in hand for potentially over 100,000 secure communication satellites,” but there are suggestions that the company wants to launch over 300,000 satellites. Prime Movers Lab, which led the $50 million investment round, said that E-Space’s network will have “up to hundreds of thousands of secure communication satellites” and described the devices as “micro-satellites.”

E-Space said its platform will “help governments and large companies build space-based applications in a capital-light manner” for uses “ranging from secure communications to managing remote infrastructure.” E-Space says its satellites will use a peer-to-peer communication model, and the company’s website describes the plan as a “multi-application cloud server in space… powered by E-Space’s rapidly scalable optical 5G mesh network.”

E-Space’s announcement said the $50 million investment fully funds a “‘Beta 1’ launch of its first test satellites in March 2022 as well as its second ‘Beta 2’ launch later this year.” E-Space “is composed of two independent entities” based in France and the US. Wyler, E-Space’s founder and chairman, previously founded OneWeb and O3b Networks. OneWeb exited bankruptcy in November 2020 and is launching broadband satellites, but Wyler is no longer involved with the company. 

Continue reading… “Firm planning 100,000 satellites claims it will “clean space” by capturing debris”

The Cassini fund has been announced for innovation in the space in Europe promising to be a far-reaching endeavor that acts a catalyst for private players in the space and earth observation sector. 

By Snehil Manohar Singh

CASSINI is a €1 billion ($1.1 billion) space fund that intends to provide impetus to startups and space innovation within the EU. As the European Commission’s official page for CASSINI describes, the initiative seeks to support entrepreneurship among space-related businesses in the European Union (EU). In particular, it caters to the needs of companies in different growth stages from seed to mid-caps, and to companies developing space technology as well as digital applications for various markets, by improving access to investments and professional networks (CASSINI – Space Entrepreneurship Initiative).

It was in January 2021 that Commissioner Thierry Breton announced that the European Commission would set up CASSINI. It is a watershed moment where, government agencies have for the first time, in the region, actively sought collaboration with private parties — not just for operational convenience, but for a truly symbiotic arrangement.

Continue reading… “EU launches billion euro fund for space startups”

Wireless power beaming will provide auxiliary power to increase the baseline efficiency of small satellites in lower Earth orbit

The University of Surrey and Space Power are tackling the problem of powering satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) during their eclipse period when they cannot see the sun. By collaborating on a space infrastructure project, the joint team will develop new technology which uses lasers to beam solar power from satellites under solar illumination to small satellites orbiting closer to Earth during eclipse. The wireless, laser-based power beaming prototype will be the first developed outside of governmental organisations and is aiming for commercialisation by 2025.

Wireless power beaming is a critical and disruptive technology for space infrastructure and will provide auxiliary power to increase the baseline efficiency of small satellites in LEO. The technical side of the project will use the highly specialised laser laboratories and optical systems developed at the University of Surrey’s Department of Physics and Advanced Technology Institute, which are world leaders in the development and implementation of laser and photovoltaic-based technologies. The first Space Power product will be designed as a plug-and-play system for satellite manufacturers to include in their offering to their LEO constellation customers.

Without new power technologies like this, which will enable small satellites to function all the time, more satellites are needed, with the resultant costs, launch emissions and contribution to space debris. As humanity finds more ambitious and useful tasks for small satellites, the problem grows.

Continue reading… “Space Power to revolutionize satellite power using laser beaming”

Higher Education, Science and Innovation minister Dr Blade Nzimande has announced the launch of three locally-produced nanosatellites from the US on Thursday (13 January), as part of South Africa’s new Maritime Domain Awareness Satellite (MDASat) constellation.

The MDASat will be an operational constellation of nine cube satellites that will detect, identify and monitor vessels in near real-time, in support of South African maritime domain awareness.

The launch of the first three satellites (MDASat-1) follows three years after the launch of the most advanced South African nanosatellite to date, ZACube-2, which was developed as a technology demonstrator for the MDASat constellation.

“Since its launch in 2018, ZACube-2 has been providing cutting-edge very high frequency (VHF) data exchange communication systems to the country’s maritime industry, as a contribution to Operation Phakisa,” Nzimande said.

The minister said his department had invested R27 million over three years in the development of the MDASat constellation.

Continue reading… “South Africa to launch three nanosatellites as part of R27 million space project”

Called ILO (Identified Levitating Object), the conceptual project, having a static base, consists of a levitating station that can move around with its self-generated energy, collected from the wind and the sun.

To create this concept, the studio worked with a scientific group of physicists and engineers. Using a scientific approach and making a scientific conclusion, the architects calculated a magnetic levitation on Mars.

Continue reading… “Lenz Architects Proposes Levitating Production Station That Moves With Self-Generated Energy On Mars”

NASA’s DART spacecraft is supposed to change an asteroid’s orbit by crashing into it going 6 kilometers per second.NASA/JOHNS HOPKINS APL

BY ADAM MANN

Intentional crash of robotic probe will test way to avert asteroid impacts on earth.

In the name of planetary defense, NASA is set to launch a robotic probe next week that in late 2022 will hurtle into a sizable space rock in the hopes of nudging its orbit. Although the celestial target of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) poses no danger to our planet, the mission will assess the feasibility of deflecting potentially hazardous objects away from Earth.

“DART is such a fricking cool mission,” says Peter Schultz, a geologist at Brown University who studies impacts in the Solar System. The $325 million mission may launch as early as 24 November on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

Continue reading… “NASA’s first planetary defense mission will nudge an asteroid”

Illustration of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission and its target, Dimorphos, a moonlet of the asteroid Didymos. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben

By Robin George Andrews 

Our planet is vulnerable to thousands of “city-killer” space rocks. If—when—one is found on a collision course with Earth, will we be ready to deflect it?

Back when Andy Rivkin was in college, he had a few friends in medical school. “I was like, oh man, I don’t want do anything that has too much responsibility,” he says. Instead, he looked to the stars. “Astronomy seemed pretty safe.” And, for a while, it was. Rather than having to make decisions about someone’s root canal or abdominal surgery, he watched worlds flit about in the darkness.

But Rivkin, a planetary astronomer at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Baltimore, has found himself with more responsibility than he expected. Along with hundreds of others, he is part of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission, an ambitious effort led by NASA and the APL to slam an uncrewed spacecraft into an asteroid to change its orbit. This is a dry run for the real deal: one day, a technological descendant of DART could be used to deflect a planet-threatening space rock, saving millions—perhaps billions—of lives in the process.

On November 23, DART will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base. Sometime next fall, it will smash into its target at 24,000 kilometers per hour. Ground-based astronomers like Rivkin will watch the rendezvous unfold with bated breath, hoping to see the telltale signs of success: a dust cloud, and an asteroid dancing to humanity’s tune for the very first time. Will it work?

Continue reading… “NASA’s DART Mission Could Help Cancel an Asteroid Apocalypse”

Northrop Grumman’s lunar vehicle will help map the moon’s south pole.

By  Chris Young

Northrop Grumman will design the electric and autonomous Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) for NASA’s Artemis astronauts, who are due to land on the moon in 2025, a press statement reveals.

The aerospace and defense firm announced a partnership with AVL, Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost, and Michelin to work on the project, which will help to take humans to the lunar south pole for the first time in an expedition that could uncover ice and water resources for future missions.

Continue reading… “Astronauts Will Traverse the Moon in 2025 Using an Autonomous Buggy”