Space Business and Industry News at SpaceMart.com

May 29, 2020

SpaceX, NASA delay milestone mission over lightning fears

Kennedy Space Center, United States (AFP) May 28, 2020
After a day of suspense, SpaceX's landmark launch to the International Space Station - the first crewed mission to blast off from US soil in almost a decade - was scrubbed Wednesday due to fears of a lightning strike. With NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley strapped into the Crew Dragon capsule, the launch pad platform retracted and rocket fueling underway, SpaceX made the call to abort. "Unfortunately, we are not going to launch today," launch director Mike Taylor said, with about 17 ... read more

Nanosatellite with global mission tested for space
Paris (ESA) May 29, 2020
ESA's largest antenna test facility remains operational despite the COVID-19 pandemic, performing pre-flight testing for the latest satellite in a constellation to serve the internet of things. ... more

SpaceX astronaut launch: here's the rocket science it must get right
Birmingham UK (The Conversation) May 28, 2020
Two NASA astronauts, Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley, will make history by travelling to the International Space Station in a privately funded spacecraft, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon ... more

Doug Liman to direct Tom Cruise film shot in space
Washington DC (UPI) May 29, 2020
Doug Liman will direct Tom Cruise in the first narrative feature film to be shot in space. The Hollywood Reporter confirmed Tuesday that Liman, 54, will direct Cruise, 57, in the new movie fil ... more

Elon and Gwynne, the pair who made SpaceX
Washington (AFP) May 25, 2020
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. - commonly known as SpaceX - is slated to send two astronauts into space on Wednesday. Despite not yet being 20 years old, the company has already developed a creation myth: on September 28, 2008, its first rocket Falcon 1 launched for the fourth time. ... more

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AFRL marks 10 years of ramjet development since X-51A test mission
Wright-Patterson AFB OH (SPX) May 27, 2020
The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Aerospace Systems Directorate celebrates the tenth anniversary of the X-51A's longest supersonic combustion ramjet-powered hypersonic flight, May 26, 2020. ... more

Crew Dragon DEMO-2 mission ready for new era for human spaceflight
Los Angeles CA (SPX) May 27, 2020
The first human spaceflight to launch from American soil in nearly a decade is set to take place this week. NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley will lift off aboard SpaceX's Crew Drago ... more

Airbus wins ESA contract to construct third European Service Module for NASA's Orion spacecraft
Bremen, Germany (SPX) May 27, 2020
The European Space Agency (ESA) has signed a contract with Airbus for the construction of the third European Service Module (ESM) for Orion, the American crewed spacecraft. The contract is worth aro ... more

No SpaceX T-shirts for tourists at Cape Canaveral
Merritt Island, United States (AFP) May 27, 2020
NASA begged tourists to watch the SpaceX launch online, but space fans are still showing up in Florida. It would have been pretty good news for Brenda Mulberry - if she'd had some SpaceX T-shirts to sell them. ... more

America gets ready to again see astronauts head into space from U.S. soil
Washington DC (UPI) May 26, 2020
NASA and SpaceX plan to provide more than 24 hours of live coverage for the return of human spaceflight from the United States, with programming starting at noon Wednesday. ... more

UK nears final stage of Skynet satellite contract competition
London, UK (Sputnik) May 26, 2020
Britain's Ministry of Defense will soon launch the final stage of a competition to manage ground station capabilities for Skynet, a military communications satellite network which provides strategic ... more

Weather iffy for SpaceX astronaut launch
Washington (AFP) May 25, 2020
Aside from a threat of bad weather, NASA and SpaceX confirmed Monday that everything is all-systems-go for their upcoming rocket launch with two American astronauts. ... more

First test of Virgin Orbit rocket fails to accomplish goal
Los Angeles (AFP) May 25, 2020
The first test launch of a rocket that is released from a jumbo jet at 35,000 feet and then propels itself into orbit to deploy a satellite failed on Monday, the Virgin Orbit company said. ... more

America gets ready to again see astronauts head into space from U.S. soil
Orlando FL (UPI) May 26, 2020
NASA and SpaceX plan to provide more than 24 hours of live coverage for the return of human spaceflight from the United States, with programming starting at noon Wednesday. Astronauts Bob Behn ... more

NASA astronauts will test new SpaceX capsule, execute spacewalks
Orlando FL (UPI) May 26, 2020
Astronauts heading to space from U.S. soil for the first time in nine years will test SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule and perform spacewalks on the International Space Station. The spacecraft, wh ... more

Weather threatens U.S. astronauts' SpaceX launch from Florida

China space program targets July launch for Mars mission
Beijing (AFP) May 25, 2020
China is targeting a July launch for its ambitious plans for a Mars mission which will include landing a remote-controlled robot on the surface of the red planet, the company in charge of the project has said. ... more

Trump to attend SpaceX launch; As NASA says go for May 27 launch
Washington (AFP) May 23, 2020
US President Donald Trump will attend the May 27 launch of two astronauts aboard a SpaceX mission - the first crewed space flight from US soil in nine years, the White House said Saturday. ... more

NASA, SpaceX review clears historic mission for launch next week
Washington DC (UPI) May 22, 2020
NASA and SpaceX cleared next week's historic SpaceX Crew Dragon launch to the International Space Station after a flight readiness review Friday. ... more

When lives depend on lines of communication, satellite delivers
Germantown MD (SPX) May 22, 2020
When a natural disaster strikes - no matter where in the world - lives depend on lines of communication. Yet while hurricanes, floods, tornadoes and wildfires incite an urgent need for communication ... more

US approves sale of 84 Patriot missiles to Kuwait
Washington (AFP) May 28, 2020
The United States said Thursday it has approved the sale of 84 of the most recent generation of Patriot missiles to Kuwait, plus equipment to modernize the country's antimissile program, for a total of $1.425 billion. ... more

Sirkorsky awarded $17.9M modification for work on the H-53K
Washington DC (UPI) May 28, 2020
Sikorsky was awarded a $17.9 million contract modification Thursday for work on the H-53K helicopter. ... more

Machine-learning tool could help develop tougher materials
Boston MA (SPX) May 21, 2020

For engineers developing new materials or protective coatings, there are billions of different possibilities to sort through. Lab tests or even detailed computer simulations to determine their exact properties, such as toughness, can take hours, days, or more for each variation. Now, a new artificial intelligence-based approach developed at MIT could reduce that to a matter of milliseconds, maki ... more

+ New Observatory Will Track Near-Earth Satellites and Space Debris

+ SpaceChain invests in Core Semiconductor to drive open Direct Satellite-to-Devices Communication

+ UK commits new funding to combat space debris

+ Solving the space junk problem

+ New Army 3-D printing study shows promise for predictive maintenance

+ Designing a flexible material to protect buildings, military personnel

+ CSIRO uncovers innovative approach to gold exploration

UK nears final stage of Skynet satellite contract competition
London, UK (Sputnik) May 26, 2020

Britain's Ministry of Defense will soon launch the final stage of a competition to manage ground station capabilities for Skynet, a military communications satellite network which provides strategic communication services to the British Armed Forces and NATO. According to a report by C4ISRNET, the invitation to industry consortia to "negotiate documents" was expected to occur last week. Ho ... more

+ Roccor creates Helical L-Band Antenna for first-ever space demonstration of Link 16 Networks

+ NIST researchers boost microwave signal stability a hundredfold

+ IBCS Goes Agile

+ Northrop Grumman to rapidly develop net-centric gateway

+ Dominate the electromagnetic spectrum

+ L3Harris Technologies awarded third LRIP order on US Army's HMS Manpack IDIQ contract

+ Lockheed Martin's new contract with DARPA can disrupt the future of space

Out-of-the-box spoofing mitigation with Galileo's OS-NMA service
Prague, Czech Republic (SPX) May 25, 2020

Over the past two decades, satellite-based positioning has become an indispensable, every-day technology that we constantly rely on - often even without being aware of it. With the relentless expansion of applications and use cases, driven largely by falling cost of ownership and improvements in positioning accuracy, there will soon be one GNSS receiver in operation for every person on the plane ... more

+ Harnessing space to save lives at sea

+ Galileo in high latitudes and harsh environments

+ New BeiDou satellite starts operation in network

+ Velodyne Lidar announces multi-year sales agreement with GeoSLAM

+ Galileo positioning aiding Covid-19 reaction

+ GPS celebrates 25th year of operation

+ Galileo Green Lane, easing pressure at the EU's internal borders

Russia begins building first stealth bomber
Moscow (AFP) May 26, 2020

Russia has begun manufacturing the prototype of its first strategic stealth bomber, state news agency TASS reported on Tuesday, as the country presses ahead with the modernisation of its military. Quoting defence industry sources, TASS said the state-controlled United Aircraft Corporation was overseeing the project. It said material was being shipped for the project and that work had beg ... more

+ Sirkorsky awarded $17.9M modification for work on the H-53K

+ U.S. Air Force scales back fitness testing, citing COVID-19 concerns

+ Hong Kong airport to resume limited transit services

+ AFRL, AFSOC launch palletized weapons from cargo plane

+ China becomes large shareholder in Norwegian Air Shuttle

+ UAVenture Capital spins off FreeFall Aerospace to form FreeFall 5G

+ Senators call for investigation of KC-46 problems

DARPA Selects Teams to Increase Security of Semiconductor Supply Chain
Washington DC (SPX) May 29, 2020

As Internet of Things (IoT) devices rapidly increase in popularity and deployment, economic attackers and nation-states alike are shifting their attention to the vulnerabilities of digital integrated circuit (IC) chips. Threats to IC chips are well known, and despite various measures designed to mitigate them, hardware developers have largely been slow to implement security solutions due t ... more

+ Xilinx 'lifts off' with launch of industry's first 20nm space-grade FPGA for space applications

+ 'One-way' electronic devices enter the mainstream

+ Huawei says 'survival' at stake after US chip restrictions

+ Scientists break the link between a quantum material's spin and orbital states

+ Light, fantastic: the path ahead for faster, smaller computer processors

+ US seek to cut off China's Huawei from global chip suppliers

+ Taiwan chip giant TSMC to build $12bn US plant

Calling for ideas for next Earth Explorer
Paris (ESA) May 26, 2020

As part of ESA's continuing commitment to realise cutting-edge satellite missions to advance the scientific understanding of our planet and to show how new technologies can be used in space, a new Call for Earth Explorer mission ideas has been released. The Call invites scientists working in Earth observation to submit ideas for ESA's 11th Earth Explorer mission. Our planet works as ... more

+ ESA's oldest Earth-observer images Delhi airport

+ NASA's AIM Spots First Arctic Noctilucent Clouds of the Season

+ Volcanic eruptions reduce global rainfall

+ Common CFC replacements break down into persistent pollutants

+ Tiny NASA satellite captures first image of clouds and aerosols

+ New, rapid mechanism for atmospheric particle formation

+ Space video streaming company Sen awards Momentus orbital deployment contract

Gold mining with mercury threatens health of communities miles downstream
Washington DC (UPI) May 28, 2020

Small-scale gold mining using mercury in the Peruvian Amazon threatens the health of communities 100 miles or more downstream, according to new research. In 2015, scientists collected hair and blood samples of mercury from more than 1,200 Peruvian households in 23 communities, some close to mining operations and others more than 100 miles away. The research team returned a year later to ... more

+ Copenhagen under fire over massive sewage dump

+ Wind can carry PFAS pollution miles away from manufacturing facilities

+ Amazon shareholders reject dissident moves to reshape company

+ Up to 90 percent fewer condensation trails due to reduced air traffic over Europe

+ Research aircraft investigate reduced concentrations of pollutants in the air

+ In China, quarantine improves air and prevents thousands of premature deaths

+ Gloves and masks litter Middle East amid virus panic

China space program targets July launch for Mars mission
Beijing (AFP) May 25, 2020

China is targeting a July launch for its ambitious plans for a Mars mission which will include landing a remote-controlled robot on the surface of the red planet, the company in charge of the project has said. Beijing has invested billions of dollars in its space programme in an effort to catch up with its rival the United States and affirm its status as a major world power. The Mars mis ... more

+ More details of China's space station unveiled

+ China's tracking ship Yuanwang-5 back from rocket monitoring mission

+ China's Kuaizhou rocket industrial park partially operational

+ China's experimental new-generation manned spaceship works normally in orbit

+ Long March-5B rocket enables China to construct space station

+ China's new spacecraft returns to Earth: official

+ China's space test hits snag with capsule 'anomaly'

US approves sale of 84 Patriot missiles to Kuwait
Washington (AFP) May 28, 2020

The United States said Thursday it has approved the sale of 84 of the most recent generation of Patriot missiles to Kuwait, plus equipment to modernize the country's antimissile program, for a total of $1.425 billion. The State Department said in a statement that sale benefits both parties. "The proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security of the United States by ... more

+ Advanced Air and Missile Defense, in the hands of soldiers

+ Boeing awarded $128.5M modification to GMD missile upgrade contract

+ US pulling Patriot missile batteries from Saudi

+ Northrop Grumman and Raytheon Missiles and Defense Partner on Next Generation Interceptor

+ US Army awards $6B contract to Lockheed Martin for PAC-3 MSE production

+ SBIRS GEO-5 space vehicle enters critical thermal vacuum testing

+ Syria air defence intercepts 'Israeli' missiles: state media

Raytheon nabs $92.4M for work on NASAMS
Washington DC (UPI) May 21, 2020

Raytheon was awarded a $92.4 million contract for work on the National Advanced Surface to Air Missile System, the Pentagon announced Thursday. According to Raytheon, NASAMS is a mid-range air defense missile system that consists of the Sentinel radar, Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles - for which Raytheon was awarded a $768.3 million contract in December - and Kongsberg's Fir ... more

+ Morocco to purchase missiles, missile defense system from France

+ Boeing nabs $3.1B in cruise missile deals for Saudi Arabia, other partners

+ Boeing scores deals to deliver more than 1,000 missiles to Saudi

+ Javelin JV completes the first F-Model missile

+ Raytheon nabs $19M for RAM missiles, GMLS launchers

+ Lockheed completes final test of Precision Strike Missile for Army

+ Northrop Grumman's Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile continues to protect the US Navy

Transporting energy through a single molecular nanowire
Groningen, Netherlands (SPX) May 11, 2020

Photosynthetic systems in nature transport energy very efficiently towards a reaction centre, where it is converted into a useful form for the organism. Scientists have been using this as inspiration to learn how to transport energy efficiently in, for example, molecular electronics. Physicist Richard Hildner from the University of Groningen and his colleagues have investigated energy transport ... more

+ To make an atom-sized machine, you need a quantum mechanic

+ Magnetic nanoparticles help researchers remotely release adrenal hormones

+ New DNA origami motor breaks speed record for nano machines

+ Deep-sea osmolyte makes biomolecular machines heat-tolerant

+ Nanobubbles in nanodroplets

+ New production method for carbon nanotubes gets green light

+ A quantum breakthrough brings a technique from astronomy to the nano-scale

Algorithm quickly simulates a roll of loaded dice
Boston MA (SPX) May 29, 2020

The fast and efficient generation of random numbers has long been an important challenge. For centuries, games of chance have relied on the roll of a die, the flip of a coin, or the shuffling of cards to bring some randomness into the proceedings. In the second half of the 20th century, computers started taking over that role, for applications in cryptography, statistics, and artificial intellig ... more

+ Denmark develops robot to conduct coronavirus tests

+ The concept of creating brain-on-chip revealed

+ Next generation of soft robots inspired by a children's toy

+ Robot dog on virus park patrol in Singapore

+ A soft touch for robotic hardware

+ E-commerce startup banks on robotics, AI to win consumers

+ UCLA and Carnegie Mellon researchers develop real-time physics engine for soft robotics

Researchers use drones, machine learning to detect dangerous 'butterfly' landmines
Binghamton NY (SPX) May 27, 2020

Using advanced machine learning, drones could be used to detect dangerous "butterfly" landmines in remote regions of post-conflict countries, according to research from Binghamton University, State University at New York. Researchers at Binghamton University had previously developed a method that allowed for highly accurate detection of "butterfly" landmines using low-cost commercial drone ... more

+ Citadel Defense launches Deepfake AI to prevent drone attacks on military and government assets

+ How drones can monitor explosive volcanoes

+ Northrop Grumman supports government flight testing of the MQ-8C Fire Scout Radar

+ FLIR to supply Black Hornet Nano-UAV Systems for US Army's Soldier Borne Sensor Program

+ Textron nabs $20.7M contract modification for Navy drone program

+ Elbit Systems Introduces a UAS-Based Long-Range Maritime Rescue Capability

+ US military lose second drone in Niger

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