Friedrichshafen -  Airbus successfully tests the dispenser structure that will hold the twin satellites GRACE-FO (GRACE = Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment, FO= Follow-On) during their launch. Once the satellites are integrated in place, the assembly to the launcher or fit check test is carried out. This test is used to demonstrate the mechanical and electrical compatibility between the satellites, the dispenser, and the launcher. Airbus (Friedrichshafen / Germany) is developing and manufacturing the GRACE...

The ILS Proton Launch Vehicle hardware for the Amazonas 5 launch arrived at the launch site in Baikonur via train on August 18th. The LV hardware includes the Proton, Breeze M, Payload Fairing, and Ascent Unit. Offloading into Halls 101 and 111 is now in progress. Launch is scheduled for September from Pad 39. The satellite will be used for both video content delivery and internet connectivity, among other services, in Latin America. The launch of Amazonas 5 will be the 95th ILS Proton missio...

NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-M (TDRS-M), which is the third and final in a series of next generation communications satellites, has successfully been placed into orbit following separation from an United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket. TDRS-M launched Friday at 8:29 a.m. EDT from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Ground controllers report the satellite is in good health at the start of a four-month checkout in space by its manufacturer, Boeing. NASA will condu...

The sixth and final Boeing [NYSE: BA] Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS), launched today, will enhance NASA's space communications network when the satellite becomes fully operational early next year. TDRS-M is the latest satellite in NASA's TDRS constellation and will provide high-bandwidth communications to spacecraft in low-Earth orbit. The TDRS network enables continuous communication with the International Space Station, the Hubble Space Telescope, the Earth Observing System and ot...

If we want to know more about whether life could survive on a planet outside our solar system, it’s important to know the age of its star. Young stars have frequent releases of high-energy radiation called flares that can zap their planets' surfaces. If the planets are newly formed, their orbits may also be unstable. On the other hand, planets orbiting older stars have survived the spate of youthful flares, but have also been exposed to the ravages of stellar radiation for a longer p...

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying the NASA's Tracking Data and Relay Satellite-M (TDRS-M) lifted off from Space Launch Complex-41 Aug. 18 at 8:29 a.m. EDT. The TDRS-M is the third and final mission in the series of these third-generation space communication satellites to orbit, as part of the follow-on fleet being developed to replenish NASA's space Network. "ULA uses the TDRS system as a primary means of receiving and distributing launch vehicle telemetry data during eve...

Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ: ESLT) (TASE: ESLT) ("Elbit Systems") confirmed today, in an answer to media inquiries, that on August 7, 2017, a jury in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas found Hughes Network Systems, LLC, to have infringed one of its patent, which generally relates to high-speed satellite communications, U.S. Patent No. 6,240,073. The jury awarded Elbit Systems damages of approximately $21million plus interest. The court has yet to issue a final o...

On August 17, 2017 at 01:07 Moscow time from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, the Proton Breeze M launch vehicle successfully launched a spacecraft into the orbit in the interests of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. The launch was the 100th heavy lift for Proton M, which has been in use since 2001, and the 414th launch in the Proton rocket since its maiden flight in 1965. The Proton M launch vehicle and the Breeze M upper stage are designed and produced at Khrunichev Space Center of...

Astrophysicists are joining sightseers in watching Monday's total solar eclipse across North America but, in the decade to come, they will be viewing eclipses that last for hours instead of a few minutes - thanks to a pioneering ESA space mission. Aiming for launch in late 2020, Proba-3 is not one but two small metre-scale satellites, lining up to cast a precise shadow across space to block out the solar disc for six hours at a time, and give researchers a sustained view of the Sun's immediat...

Observations of "Jellyfish galaxies" with ESO's Very Large Telescope have revealed a previously unknown way to fuel supermassive black holes. It seems the mechanism that produces the tentacles of gas and newborn stars that give these galaxies their nickname also makes it possible for the gas to reach the central regions of the galaxies, feeding the black hole that lurks in each of them and causing it to shine brilliantly. The results appeared today in the journal Nature. An Italian-led team o...

DigitalGlobe, Inc. (NYSE: DGI), the global leader in Earth imagery and information about our changing planet, today announced that it signed a Direct Access Program (DAP) contract with the Australian Department of Defence. This multi-year agreement will allow the Australian government to access DigitalGlobe's industry-leading commercial satellite imaging constellation to support defense and intelligence missions. The contract is expected to deliver $83.0 million USD in incremental revenue to Dig...

Ten spacecraft, from ESA's Venus Express to NASA's Voyager-2, felt the effect of a solar eruption as it washed through the Solar System while three other satellites watched, providing a unique perspective on this space weather event. Scientists working on ESA's Mars Express were looking forward to investigating the effects of the close encounter of Comet Siding Spring on the Red Planet's atmosphere on 19 October 2014, but instead they found what turned out to be the imprint of a solar event. ...

Friedrichshafen, Germany -  ND SATCOM announces full interoperability with General Dynamics Mission Systems Fortress® LTE solutions. Validation testing confirmed excellent interoperability between the Fortress decentralized network architecture for autonomous LTE deployables and SKYWAN satellite mesh capabilities for a resilient and bandwidth efficient distributed network of sites with full end-to-end network communications and mobility The combined platform provides an ideal suite for transportable and fixed LTE ...

Experiments seeking a better understanding of Parkinson's disease and the origin of cosmic rays are on their way to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft following today's 12:31 p.m. EDT launch. Carrying more than 6,400 pounds of research equipment, cargo and supplies, the spacecraft lifted off on a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on the company's 12th commercial resupply mission. It will arrive at the space station...

Orbit Communications Systems Ltd. (TASE: ORBI) announced today that it intends to expand the development of its new Multi-Purpose Terminal (MPT) for airborne satcom to include helicopters. The company received an order for approximately US$3 million from a global provider of defense products and services for the delivery of helicopter systems to a leading air force between 2018 and 2022. Built to military standard (MIL-STD), the 30-cm antenna (MPT30) will deliver data communications via satel...

Cosmic radiation is considered the main health hazard to human spaceflight and space exploration of the Moon, Mars and beyond, which is why ESA has made cosmic radiation a focus of its research programme. Radiation poses a risk to the human body in the form of cancer, central nervous system disorders, cardiovascular problems and tissue degeneration. Beyond Earth's magnetic field, its full force is a barrier to human exploration of the Solar System. "Crewmembers may be exposed to different ...

The payload module of MetOp-C, developed and built by Airbus in Germany, was delivered to Toulouse after it completed a series of tests at ESTEC, the technical centre of the European Space Agency (ESA) in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. The satellite, weighing in at four tonnes, is now almost complete after successful coupling of its payload and service module. In preparation for the launch scheduled for October 2018 from Kourou, French Guiana, MetOp-C will undergo a further series of radio-electr...

A team of engineers and technicians at Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) has completed the integration of the company's first modernized A2100 satellite. The spacecraft, known as Hellas-Sat-4/SaudiGeoSat-1, now moves into final assembly and testing, on track for launch in the second quarter of 2018. Built for Arabsat and King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Saudi Arabia , the satellite will provide advanced telecommunications capabilities, including television, internet, telephone and se...

The Amazonas 5 satellite for HISPASAT of Madrid, Spain, arrived at the Baikonur Cosmdrome in Kazakhstan aboard an Antonov cargo jet on August 8 in preparation for mission integration and launch aboard an ILS Proton Breeze M launch vehicle in September. The satellite will be used for both video content delivery and internet connectivity, among other services, in Latin America. The launch of Amazonas 5 will be the 95th ILS Proton mission and the 30th with a Space Systems Loral (SSL) satellite. ...

NASA has selected six astrophysics Explorers Program proposals for concept studies. The proposed missions would study gamma-ray and X-ray emissions from clusters of galaxies and neutron star systems, as well as infrared emissions from galaxies in the early universe and atmospheres of exoplanets, which are planets outside of our solar system. The selected proposals, three Medium-Class Explorers missions and three Explorers Missions of Opportunity, call for focused scientific investigations an...