Satellite News
SATRIA Indonesian Telecommunication Satellite Activities Will Start Up
Satelit Nusantara Tiga (SNT) and Thales Alenia Space, announce today the signature of a Preliminary Work Agreement to start the activities of the broadband telecommunication satellite SATRIA. Thales Alenia Space, acting as prime contractor for this program, initially signed on July 2019 for a consortium* led by the domestic satellite operator Pasifik Satelit Nusantara (PSN) on behalf of Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and
MonacoSat planning second geostationary satellite
Newcomer satellite operator MonacoSat is close to ordering its second geostationary communications satellite, and could complete the process by year’s end,
Exploration News
Launcher News
China’s New Reusable Spaceplane Lands After 2 Days in Space
China’s mysterious reusable spaceplane recently launched and has returned to Earth after spending two days in space. The post China’s New Reusable Spaceplane Lands After 2 Days in Space appeared first on Universe Today.
After second hop, SpaceX preps for next phase of Starship testing
After another Starship hop test last week, SpaceX is set to build the first prototype for the next-gen rocket’s huge first stage booster. Meanwhile, testing will commence soon on the Raptor engine model needed for orbital Starship missions.
Northrop Grumman to terminate OmegA rocket program
Northrop Grumman statement: “We have chosen not to continue development of the OmegA launch system at this time.”
China is Building a Floating Spaceport for Rocket Launches
China is almost finished its floating spaceport in the Yellow Sea, which will begin making regular launches and servicing rockets in the near future!
NewSpace News
Momentus Space To Issue Into Orbit LunaSonde’s Smallsat
Momentus and LunaSonde have partnered with a launch service agreement to fly a demo cubesat (Gossamer) to SSO orbit in Q1 2021, with further options to fly a constellation of 3U cubesats to SSO in the future. LunaSonde’s vision is to fundamentally change the way Earth and the planet’s resources are viewed.
Gilmour Space Technologies To Launch Space Machines Smallsat Via The Eris Rocket
Eris” orbital rocket launch. Image is courtesy of Gilmour Space. Gilmour Space Technologies has secured the first Australian customer for the firm’s maiden Eris rocket launch in 2022 — Space Machines Company has contracted to launch a 35 kg spacecraft to orbit, the largest payload announced to date by an Australian space company.
Alba Orbital Rolls Out Their New Unicorn Satellite Payload Boards
The Unicorn-R + XL payload boards are designed to help users get hands-on with starting their mission plan and to become familiar with the payload space available on Unicorn-2.Download the electrical and mechanical templates from the firm’s website, and request your free Unicorn payload boards to start your mission.
Space Safety News
Chinese Kuaizhou-1A rocket launch ends in failure
Launch of a Kuaizhou-1A satellite carrying a remote sensing satellite has ended in ambiguity and likely failure following liftoff from Jiuquan
Astra launch terminated during first-stage burn
Astra launched its Rocket 3.1 vehicle late Sept. 11, but the flight ended during the small launch vehicle’s first-stage burn.
Science & Technology News
The Moon Is Rusting, and Researchers Want to Know Why
While our Moon is airless, research indicates the presence of hematite, a form of rust that normally requires oxygen and water. That has scientists puzzled. Mars has long been known for its rust. Iron on its surface, combined with water and oxygen from the ancient past, give the Red Planet its hue. But scientists were recently surprised to find evidence that our airless Moon has rust on it as well. A new paper in Science Advances reviews data from the Indian Space Research Organization’s
