Satellite News
OneWeb files for bankruptcy over financial squeeze
UK company OneWeb, which wasplanning to create a constellation of satellites to provide global internet access, announced that it has filed for bankruptcy in New York after failing to obtain financing amid the coronavirus pandemic.
US Space Force launches first mission despite coronavirus
The Lockheed Martin Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellite was launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 4:18 pm (2018 GMT) aboard an Atlas V551 rocket.
AEHF-6, as the satellite is called, is the sixth and final in the Lockheed Martin AEHF constellation.
Bigelow Aerospace lays off entire workforce
Bigelow Aerospace, the company founded more than two decades ago to develop commercial space habitats, laid off all its employees March 23 in a move caused at least in part by the coronavirus pandemic.
Pandemic fuels demand for satellite imagery
Demand is growing for satellite imagery to gauge the economic impact of the new coronavirus and for remote monitoring of facilities and infrastructure.
Coronavirus raises interest in remote spacecraft operations
With the coronavirus pandemic limiting options for personnel to gather in mission control centers to operate spacecraft, some companies are turning to virtual approaches to maintain their spacecraft.
Musk Offers to Build Ventilators for COVID-19 Shortage (Source: Mashable)
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has offered to manufacture life-saving ventilators. There’s just one problem: The companies actually making medical ventilators today don’t think he can pull it off. As the coronavirus pandemic continues to ravage the world, officials around the U.S. have warned that, unless drastic measures are taken to create more, will we see demand for ventilators exceed the current supply.
Exploration News
NASA awards Artemis contract for Gateway Logistics Services
NASA has selected SpaceX of Hawthorne, California, as the first U.S. commercial provider under the Gateway Logistics Services contract to deliver cargo, experiments and other supplies to the agency’s Gateway in lunar orbit. The award is a significant step forward for NASA’s Artemis program that will land the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024 and build a sustainable human lunar presence.
Launcher News
Astra rocket damaged in pre-launch tests
Small launch vehicle startup Astra has postponed its next launch attempt after the rocket was damaged in what local officials say was an “anomaly” during a prelaunch test.
NewSpace News
Slingshot Aerospace gets $3 million from Air Force, private investors
A $1.5 million Small Business Innovation Research award was matched by $1.5 million from ATX Venture Partners and Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund.
Slingshot Aerospace uses artificial intelligence technology to analyze data collected by satellites and aerial drones
Space Safety News
Space Fence surveillance radar site declared operational
The $1.5 billion Space Fence can track tiny objects in low Earth orbit as small as a marble.
SpaceX parachute test aborted weeks before planned manned launch
During a planned parachute drop test, the test article suspended underneath the helicopter became unstable. In order to keep the helicopter crew safe, the pilot pulled the emergency release. As the helicopter was not yet at target conditions, the test article was not armed, the parachute system did not initiate the parachute deployment sequence,
Venezuela’s flagship communications satellite out of service and tumbling
Venezuela’s first and only state-owned communications satellite has been out of service since March 13 when a series of maneuvers left it tumbling in an unusable orbit.
Technology News
Astronaut urine to build moon bases
The modules that the major space agencies plan to erect on the Moon could incorporate an element contributed by the human colonizers themselves: the urea in their pee. European researchers have found that it could be used as a plasticizer in the concrete of the structures.
Surviving quarantine: five tips from a Russian cosmonaut
Get some air – Call friends — Family time — Get some exercise — Laugh it off –
