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Showing posts with the label 2021 at 12:47AMSpaceNews

Space News: Study calls on U.S. to change how it buys space technology, reduce congestion in low orbits

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by Sandra Erwin WASHINGTON — The Center for the Study of the Presidency & Congress released a new report May 4 calling on the U.S. government to accelerate the procurement of commercial space technologies and manage growing congestion in low-Earth orbit. CSPC is a nonpartisan think tank led by former members of Congress Mike Rogers, of Michigan; and Glenn Nye, of Virginia. In a 2019 report the group called out DoD for not opening up opportunities for emerging commercial space companies, and was especially critical of the national security space launch program.   Many of the same points were made in the 2021 report.   “If the Space Force does not address the underlying issue of acquisition reform, America will lose its competitive edge in space,” said the study. “The commercial space sector has radically reshaped the way countries and companies access space, yet the old model of block-buys, multi-year contracts, and nearly bespoke vehicles remains,” said CSPC. ...
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Space News: With CAS500, South Korea launches journey toward private-led satellite development

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by Brian Berger SEOUL, South Korea — The March 22 launch of South Korea’s CAS500-1 remote sensing satellite has marked the beginning of the country’s journey toward the domestic satellite industry being driven by the private sector.  To that end, the state-funded Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) jointly developed the 500-kilogram satellite with a group of selected industry partners from 2015, sharing its core technologies and information with the latter from the get-go, the first case of this kind, according to a KARI document. With inherited assets, Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), the nation’s biggest private aerospace company, is leading the development of another 500-kilogram-class Earth observation satellite, CAS500-2 — which will be sent into orbit in the first half of 2022 on Russia’s Soyuz-2 rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan — under KARI’s guidance. The satellite is slated to be sent into orbit during the first half of 2022 on a Russian Soyuz-2 r...
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Space News: ESA awards €10.45 million to two UK launch startups

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by Andrew Parsonson VALLETTA, Malta — The European Space Agency awarded UK-based launch startups Orbex and Skyrora a combined €10.45 million ($12.35 million) to support development of competing microlaunchers. The two support contracts announced March 24 were awarded under Boost!, an ESA program that aims to foster new commercial space transportation services. The agency adopted Boost! during Space19+, an ESA ministerial-level council meeting held in November 2019, and announced an open call for proposals last April. Each of the two new Boost! contracts outlines specific outcomes the funding will assist the companies in achieving. Orbital Launch Express (Orbex) is developing its two-stage Prime microlauncher which is powered by 3D-printed rocket engines and is designed to carry payloads of up 150 kilograms to low Earth orbit. The vehicle is expected to make its debut in 2022. The €7.45 million in co-funding Orbex and its partners received is the largest Boost! award to date. The...
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APOD:

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Most photographs don't adequately portray the magnificence of the Sun's corona. Seeing the corona first-hand during a total solar eclipse is unparalleled. The human eye can adapt to see coronal features and extent that average cameras usually cannot. Welcome, however, to the digital age. The featured image digitally combined short and long exposures taken in Exmouth, Australia that were processed to highlight faint and extended features in the corona during the total solar eclipse that occurred in April of 2023. Clearly visible are intricate layers and glowing caustics of an ever changing mixture of hot gas and magnetic fields in the Sun's corona. Looping prominences appear bright pink just past the Sun's edge. Images taken seconds before and after the total eclipse show glimpses of the background Sun known as Baily's Beads and diamond ring effect. The next total solar eclipse will cross North America in April of 2024. via NASA https://ift.tt/ibLzpTC
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APOD: Spiral Galaxy NGC 2841

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A mere 46 million light-years distant, spiral galaxy NGC 2841 can be found in planet Earth's night sky toward the northern constellation of Ursa Major. This sharp image centered on the gorgeous island universe also captures spiky foreground Milky Way stars and more distant background galaxies within the same telescopic field of view. It shows off the bright nucleus of NGC 2841, along with its inclined galactic disk, and faint outer regions. Dust lanes, small star-forming regions, and young star clusters are embedded in the galaxy's patchy, tightly wound spiral arms. In contrast, many other spirals exhibit broader, sweeping arms with large star-forming regions. NGC 2841 has a diameter of over 150,000 light-years, making it even larger than our own Milky Way. X-ray images suggest that extreme outflows from giant stars and stellar explosions create plumes of hot gas extending into a halo around NGC 2841. via NASA https://ift.tt/HDshMQ9
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