NASA’s asteroid sample return spacecraft successfully used Earth’s gravity on Friday to slingshot itself on a path toward the asteroid Bennu, for a rendezvous next August. At 12:52 p.m. EDT on Sept. 22, the OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security – Regolith Explorer) spacecraft came within 10,711 miles (17,237 km) of Antarctica, just south of Cape Horn, Chile, before following a route north over the Pacific Ocean. OSIRIS-R...

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope helped an international team of astronomers find that an unusual object in the asteroid belt is, in fact, two asteroids orbiting each other that have comet-like features. These include a bright halo of material, called a coma, and a long tail of dust. Hubble was used to image the asteroid, designated 300163 (2006 VW139), in September 2016 just before the asteroid made its closest approach to the Sun. Hubble’s crisp images revealed that it was actual...

Arianespace’s ninth launch of 2017 is now scheduled for September 29 on a dual-payload Ariane 5 mission to geostationary transfer orbit with Intelsat 37e (for the global operator Intelsat) and BSAT-4a (for Space Systems Loral in the framework of a turnkey contract for the Japanese operator B-SAT). Ariane 5 in the Final Assembly BuildingDesignated Flight VA239 in Arianespace’s mission numbering system for its launcher family, the liftoff originally had been set for September 5, b...

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office lifted off from Space Launch Complex-3 on Sept. 23, at 10:49:47 p.m. PDT. Designated NROL-42, the mission is in support of national security. "Congratulations to the entire team for overcoming multiple challenges throughout this launch campaign. From Hurricane Irma schedule impacts to replacing to a first stage battery this week - the team maintained a clear focus on mission success," said...

For the first time in its 19-year history, SMi Group’s Global MilSatCom Conference & Exhibition will be featuring South Korea in its speaker line-up for this year’s event. With recent threats surging within the region, South Korea has instilled urgency in the race to perfect milsatcom systems to ensure overall robust defence capability. Commander of Defence Communication Command, Brigadier General Nag Jung Choi, will be presenting a keynote address on Day 3 of the conference...

In the first act of lunar exploration, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were major characters. In setting its sights on the Moon, ESA hopes to bring many more actors to this off-world stage. By testing the market for transport services to the Moon, ESA aims to push the limits of technology and create new models of space business. Touching down on the Moon was a monumental moment in human history. Eight short years and enormous resources took humankind to the lunar surface, initially for le...

Astronomers have used ALMA to capture a strikingly beautiful view of a delicate bubble of expelled material around the exotic red star U Antliae. These observations will help astronomers to better understand how stars evolve during the later stages of their life-cycles. In the faint southern constellation of Antlia (The Air Pump) the careful observer with binoculars will spot a very red star, which varies slightly in brightness from week to week. This very unusual star is called U Antliae and...

SES, EchoStar Corp., and Airbus Defence and Space announced today that the new EchoStar 105/SES-11 spacecraft, built by Airbus, has been shipped from the Airbus facilities in Toulouse, France, to Cape Canaveral, Florida, for its forthcoming launch by SpaceX in October. The first satellite that EchoStar has constructed with manufacturer Airbus, EchoStar 105/SES-11 will be launched by SpaceX on a flight-proven Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. EchoStar 10...

Today Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) debuted a new family of satellite buses that form the core of nearly every space mission. From nanosats to high-powered satellites, the versatile lineup incorporates dozens of major enhancements and hundreds of common components that speed production and reduce cost. The company announced the lineup at the Air Force Association Air, Space & Cyber Conference. "We've invested $300 million in revamping our satellite solutions from top to bottom, applying what we...

FLYHT Aerospace Solutions Ltd. (TSX VENTURE: FLY) (OTCQX: FLYLF) (the "Company" or "FLYHT") is pleased to announce a flight trial with Inmarsat, and would like to bring attention to an Inmarsat press release titled Inmarsat to demonstrate advanced SwiftBroadband-Safety capabilities in flight trial with FLYHT on September 19, 2017. This trial will demonstrate the use of FLYHT's Automated Flight Information Reporting System (AFIRS(tm)) to send data to the UpTime(tm) Cloud management platform via I...

With the ''Space Strategy for Europe'' from the European Commission and the new ESA roadmap on the table, the European space stakeholders will have the great opportunity to debate and influence, at the highest level, the medium and long term development of European space programmes and of the spread of space services in many economic and societal activities as well as in a wide range of public fields, including security and defence. Download Conference Agenda | Register to a...

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS), a leading National Security Solutions provider, announced today that it has recently received approximately $8.2 million in orders or specialized products in support of satellite global positioning system protection and communication systems. Work on these recent orders will be performed in secure Kratos manufacturing facilities. Due to customer related, competitive and other considerations, no additional information will be provided rel...

The Sun's recent activity has caught the interest of scientists and space weather forecasters worldwide, highlighting the need to keep a watchful eye on our star and its awesome power. On 6 and 10 September, our Sun produced a pair of solar flares, the strongest observed in over 10 years. They were accompanied by huge eruptions of billions of tonnes of matter into space. While many such eruptions fall back onto the hot surface, these two did not and became 'coronal mass ejections' (CMEs) -...

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has observed a planet outside our solar system that looks as black as fresh asphalt because it eats light rather than reflecting it back into space. This light-eating prowess is due to the planet's unique capability to trap at least 94 percent of the visible starlight falling into its atmosphere. The oddball exoplanet, called WASP-12b, is one of a class of so-called "hot Jupiters," gigantic, gaseous planets that orbit very close to their host ...

Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) will continue its support for NOAA's Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System program that ingests and analyzes weather data, creating useful visualizations for forecasters and distributing time-sensitive weather statements such as watches and warnings across the United States. Used by more than 140 National Weather Service field offices, the AWIPS program informs decisions that save lives and protect property during natural disasters. Under the $269 mill...

The international Cassini mission has concluded its remarkable exploration of the Saturnian system in spectacular style, by plunging into the gas planet's atmosphere. Confirmation of the end of mission arrived at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory at 11:55 GMT/13:55 CEST with the loss of the spacecraft's signal having occurred 83 minutes earlier at Saturn, some 1.4 billion km from Earth. With the rocket propellant for manoeuvering the spacecraft fully expended as planned touring Saturn and i...

Four of the latest set of Galileo navigation satellites will be launched on Ariane 6 rockets - ESA's first contract to use Europe's new vehicle. The launches are scheduled between the end of 2020 and mid-2021, using two Ariane 62 rockets - the configuration of Europe's next-generation launch vehicle that is best suited to haul the two 750 kg navigation satellites into their orbits at 23 222 km altitude. Under development, Ariane 6 is Europe's newest launcher, designed to extend guaranteed ...

The Space Alliance, formed by Thales Alenia Space (Thales 67%, Leonardo 33%) and Telespazio (Leonardo 67%, Thales 33%), today signed a partnership with the US-based company Spaceflight Industries which includes the following elements: A minority investment in Spaceflight Industries, which through its BlackSky business, has developed a geospatial platform and plans to build and operate a constellation of 60 small high-resolution observation satellites featuring very short revisit times; ...

Lockheed Martin (LM) unveiled a new small unmanned aircraft system (UAS) that has been designed and developed in the UK at the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI). OUTRIDER is a lightweight, canister launched UAS that has been designed by engineers at Lockheed Martin UK's Havant facility in partnership with Wirth Research, an engineering company with specialisation in aerodynamics and composite materials. At only four inches wide and weighing only 1.7 kilograms, it is designed...

Orbital ATK, a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies, today announced significant progress on the industry's first commercial in-space satellite servicing system. The Mission Extension Vehicle-1 (MEV-1) spacecraft successfully completed its critical design review earlier this year and is now in production with about 75% of the platform and payload components already delivered to the company's Satellite Manufacturing Facility in Virginia. The spacecraft will begin system-level testi...