Commercial space tracking firm COMSPOC said Russia’s recent anti-satellite weapon test will continue to pose future risks to global systems and low Earth orbit satellites, including the International Space Station. The Nov. 15 test involved the intentional destruction of a defunct Russian satellite using a ground-based missile, resulting in the scattering of an estimated 1,500 […]
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration announced that the James Webb Space Telescope’s 70-foot sunshield has been successfully deployed, calling the event a key milestone in preparing the spacecraft for science operations. The JWST team began the process of remotely unfolding the sunshield on Dec. 28, three days after the space telescope was launched aboard […]
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has awarded Pennsylvania-based Advanced Cooling Technologies $5 million in funding to develop thermal control solutions that will enable vehicles and other equipment to survive harsh lunar environments without an active power source. The thermal solutions provider said it will use the NASA Sequential Phase II SBIR Program Award funding […]
Firefly Aerospace has paused its plans for a second Alpha vehicle launch after the U.S. government asked a foreign shareholder to sell its stake in the company. Firefly was planning the Alpha launch for early 2022. Noosphere Venture Partners, a fund run by Ukrainian investor Max Polyakov, said in late December that it will retain […]
The U.S. Transportation Command has signed a cooperative research and development agreement with Blue Origin to explore the possibility of using rockets for cargo transport. The CRADA will require Blue Origin to share information about their products and capabilities to inform the rocket cargo program led by the Air Force Research Laboratory and the U.S. […]
Multi-industry company Teledyne Technologies has lauded NASA and its partners, the European and Canadian space agencies, on the successful launch of the James Webb Space Telescope. It had provided 15 extremely sensitive H2RG infrared detectors that are used in three of the four science instruments of JWST, Teledyne said Tuesday. Robert Mehrabian, chairman, president and […]
EnerSys said its ABSL lithium-ion battery was successfully integrated with NASA’s recently launched James Webb Space Telescope, considered to be the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. Northrop Grumman, NASA’s prime contractor for the telescope launch, tapped EnerSys in 2012 to provide its 8s44p rechargeable Li-ion batteries for Webb. Northrop placed a second order in […]
The U.S. Southern Command is planning to expand its military space engagement in Latin America to help countries combat crime and develop better relationships. Lt. Gen. Andrew Croft, military deputy commander of SOUTHCOM, said setting up a robust space team in the region will allow the organization to work with the U.S. Space Command and […]
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope lifted off from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on Dec. 25. The space telescope was launched aboard an Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket. JWST began recording data five minutes after launch and separated from the rocket at an altitude of approximately 75 miles. The satellite unfolded its solar array around 30 […]
Colorado-based Ball Aerospace applauded the successful Dec. 25 launch of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s James Webb Space Telescope from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana. The JWST represents the largest and most complex space-based observatory ever built, Ball Aerospace said Saturday. The Boulder-headquartered manufacturer of spacecraft, components and instruments designed and […]
