NanoAvionics expands its U.S. manufacturing facilities and aims at taking “30 percent of the US market share in nano-/microsatellite manufacturing and mission provision services”, the company said. NanoAvionics existing facility Columbia will be used to produce “high-quantities of nano- and microsatellite buses, for both single and constellation missions”.
Read More »NASA builds Earth System Observatory with ISRO radar
NASA builds a new Earth System Observatory to cope with climate change, forest fires and hurricanes and to support a “real-time agriculture”, the U.S. agency said. “With the Earth System Observatory, each satellite will be uniquely designed to complement the others, working in tandem to create a 3D, holistic view of Earth, from bedrock to the atmosphere,” NASA said.
Read More »NASA to send Viper rover to Moon to drill for water in 2023
NASA is planning to send its robot rover Viper to the Moon in late 2023, the agency said, to search for ice and other resources on and below the lunar surface. The Viper data would help the agency map resources at the lunar South Pole that could one day be harvested for long-term human exploration at the Moon, NASA said.
Read More »Virgin Galactic succeeds human spaceflight from New Mexico
Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic completed the first human spaceflight from Spaceport America, New Mexico, the company said. The flight of VSS Unity which was released from the mothership VMS Eve with CJ Sturckow, as pilot-in-command, and Dave Mackay on board, sees New Mexico become the third US state to launch humans into space, the company said.
Read More »Firefly will launch lunar Blue Ghost on Falcon 9 in 2023
Firefly Aerospace, a Texas-based provider of launch vehicles, spacecraft, and in-space services, will launch its Blue Ghost lunar lander on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 in 2023, the company said. Blue Ghost will be carrying ten payloads for NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, together with other commercial payloads.
Read More »ESA and industry study constellation to connect the Moon
Europe launches Moonlight, a bold proposal to put in place a commercially viable satellite constellation around the Moon. The European Space Agency (ESA) signed contracts with two consortia to develop a Moon constellation and provide telecommunications and navigation services for all kind of Moon missions.
Read More »Mynaric connects Cloud’s SpaceBelt with laser links
The ‘fiber-in-the-sky” pioneer Mynaric will use its Optical Inter-Satellite Links (OISLs) to connect Cloud Constellation’s SpaceBelt LEO satellites, the company announced. Cloud Constellation is developing an LEO constellation known as SpaceBelt to provide Data-Security-as-a-Service (DSaaS) and further secure cloud storage and management services.
Read More »Astra launches Planet Labs and expands payload capacity
The satellite imagery and geospatial solutions provider Planet will launch on Astra and closed a multi-launch contract “with plans to begin launching in the near future”, the launch startup said. Astra also disclosed plans to launch payloads up to 500kg to a 500 km, mid-inclination (50 degree) orbit.
Read More »NASA congratulates China for first Mars rover photos
He did not welcome the uncontrolled return of China’s Long March launcher pieces for its Mars mission, but he congratulated China for the release of its first photos from the Zhurong Mars rover. “Congratulations to the China National Space Administration on receiving the first images from the Zhurong Mars rover,” the new NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said.
Read More »York expands manufacturing with new ‘mega’ plant
Paris, 19 May 2021. – York Space Systems wants to open a new “mega” manufacturing facility at its headquarters in Denver, to meet the growing demand from government and commercial customers, the company said. York's Manufacturing Technology Center will be the hub of the company's next phase to expand its production capacity by four times, the space mission solution provider said.
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