News
A new kind of arsenal: commercial satellites
1+ hour, 23+ min ago (716+ words) Russia's invasion of Ukraine was widely described as the first commercial space war. Not because satellites were firing weapons, but because privately owned systems became essential to the fight. A few years later, that shift is being institutionalized. Commercial space…...
China conducts pair of Long March launches for Thousand Sails and Guowang megaconstellations
59+ min ago (429+ words) HELSINKI " China carried out separate Long March 8 and Long March 6 A launches this week, adding new batches of satellites to the country's megaconstellation projects. The missions mark the first launch for the Shanghai-led Thousand Sails, or Qianfan, constellation since October…...
What returning to lunar space means for human health
2+ hour, 23+ min ago (308+ words) NASA intends to solve the health effects of lunar dust through engineering by minimizing exposure of the humans to it, but it is likely that exposure will not be completely eliminated. As NASA astronauts venture" beyond low Earth orbit (LEO)…...
Portal Space Systems raises $50 million to accelerate spacecraft development
2+ hour, 23+ min ago (793+ words) WASHINGTON " Space mobility company Portal Space Systems has raised $50 million to scale up development of its highly maneuverable spacecraft. The company announced April 9 it closed a Series A round led by Geodesic Capital and Mach33. Several other investors participated in the…...
Albedo prepares second VLEO mission for 2027 launch
4+ hour, 23+ min ago (416+ words) SAN FRANCISCO " Albedo, the former Earth-observation startup now focused on satellite manufacturing, announced plans April 9 to send its second spacecraft into very low-Earth orbit (VLEO). Vicinity, scheduled to launch in 2027, will deploy solar arrays to provide far more power than…...
Space Force taps 14 firms for $1. 8 billion GEO surveillance program
3+ hour, 56+ min ago (392+ words) WASHINGTON " The U. S. Space Force selected 14 companies to compete for contracts under a new $1. 8 billion procurement of satellites and supporting technologies to monitor activity in geosynchronous orbit. The program known as Andromeda is structured as a $1. 8 billion, 10-year contracting vehicle managed…...
Vantor to expand imaging satellite fleet, adding smallsats to increase revisit rates
14+ min ago (400+ words) WASHINGTON " Vantor, the Earth-observation satellite operator formerly known as Maxar, is planning its first major overhaul of its space architecture in nearly a decade, aiming to combine its hallmark high-resolution imagery with the rapid revisit rates offered by small-satellite constellations....
Lockheed Martin wins $105 million contract for GPS ground control system as OCX winds down
23+ min ago (257+ words) WASHINGTON " The U. S. Space Force awarded Lockheed Martin a $105 million contract to support ground control operations for the next generation of GPS satellites, as the Pentagon moves to wind down a long-delayed replacement program led by RTX. The April 8 award covers…...
Apex to develop larger satellites for missile defense, space-based computing
6+ hour, 23+ min ago (441+ words) WASHINGTON " Apex, a Los Angeles'based satellite manufacturer, is moving to build larger and more powerful spacecraft less than a year after introducing its biggest platform, signaling a shift in demand toward energy-intensive missions such as orbital computing and missile defense....
Improved thresholds and SSA accuracy can reduce most satellite collision risk
19+ hour, 7+ min ago (545+ words) WASHINGTON " Improving the accuracy of space situational awareness (SSA) data and using tighter thresholds for potential conjunctions can help retire most of the risk of satellite collisions in low Earth orbit, a new study concludes. Research presented April 8 at the…...