The ADRAS-J spacecraft from the Japanese company Astroscale has entered orbit and is ready to carry out a test mission for the space debris removal program. Photo: AstroscaleThe device, which was launched into orbit by the Electron rocket of the private company Rocket Lab, is the first in the Astroscale...
Australian rocket technology company Gilmour Space has raised $55,000,000 in a funding round. These funds will be used to support the first four attempts to launch the rocket into orbit. This investment brought the company’s valuation to $605,000,000. The largest investment belongs to QIC, and venture capital firms Blackbird and...
Shares of Intuitive Machines soared after releasing an upbeat update on the status of their lunar mission. The company launched the IM-1 mission on February 15 using a SpaceX rocket. In the latest updates, the company announced that the mission is continuing, although the first attempt to fire the lander’s...
The Orion spacecraft, intended for the first manned flight to the Moon in fifty years, was unveiled to the public. The four astronauts aboard the spacecraft will depart as part of the Artemis 2 mission, scheduled for September 2025. Protective panels for the hull of the Orion spacecraft. Source: NASANASA...
The exact number of samples collected by the OSIRIS-REx astronomical mission from the asteroid Bennu has become known. In addition to the already known 70.3 grams of samples collected from outside the container, scientists were able to finally open the container and discover an additional 51.2 grams from the surface...
On February 14, satellite images showed a duplicate of Blue Origin’s New Glenn launch vehicle standing on the launch pad. Its height is visible even from space. The duplicate is an accurate model of a ready-to-fly rocket and is used for training before launch. A view from space of Blue...
Rocket Lab, exploring potential uses for its satellite constellation, has announced its intention to independently develop a business similar to Starlink to ensure stable income. This was stated by one of the company’s executives last week. Source: Rocket LabRocket Lab’s chief financial officer, Adam Spies, noted that they are looking...
The Japanese space agency JAXA successfully launched the new generation H3 rocket developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The launch took place from the Tanegashima Cosmodrome on Saturday. On board the rocket was a mock-up of the VEP-4 satellite, weighing 2.6 tons, created to...
NASA continues to work on the Artemis program with the goal of returning astronauts to the Moon. The SLS (Space Launch System) rocket will be responsible for launching astronauts for this program. NASA recently completed welding of the liquid oxygen tank for the core stage of the SLS rocket at...
The Japan Space Agency (JAXA) has announced the planned second test launch of its new H3 rocket on Saturday, February 17th. Due to unfavorable weather forecast in southwest Japan, the launch was postponed two days later than originally planned. The decision was made after thunderstorms and strong winds were forecast...
Engineers are working to stabilize the dust cover on one of the Perseverance rover’s cameras. After analyzing data and images obtained from the rover, it turned out that one of the two covers that prevent dust from accumulating on the optics of the SHERLOC instrument does not close completely. This...
As a result of fuel temperature issues, SpaceX has decided to delay the launch of its privately owned Intuitive Machines lunar lander. The scheduled launch of the Odysseus lunar lander on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida was scheduled for February...
Researchers from the SETI Institute presented new developments in the field of astrophysics and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. They used data from the TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) mission to study transiting exoplanets and developed a method called SETI ellipsoid to search for potential signals from advanced civilizations. “SETI...
Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are powerful radio bursts that last from a few milliseconds to a few seconds. The main theory of their origin is that they are caused by magnetars – highly magnetic neutron stars. New research suggests using FRBs to measure the rate of cosmic expansion. FAST picks...
In the Solar System, water was discovered on the asteroids Iris and Massalia using data from the SOFIA infrared telescope. There are more than 1 million known asteroids around the Sun, and it was previously thought that all the water on these objects must have evaporated. However, new observations using...
A large number of satellites fail, often suddenly. For some of them, it is not completely known why this happens. And the fact that there are no repair bases in space creates additional difficulties. But two companies from Australia have decided to use this problem to their advantage and are...