Category Archives: Space Today

China launched four new communications satellites this week in two launches from different launch sites, within hours of each other, as the country’s intense launch activity continues. First up, a Long March 2C lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert, northwest China on Aug. 24. The rocket used a YuanzhengRead More

Mubadala’s GlobalFoundries is collaborating with BAE Systems to produce radiation-hardened RAD510 System on Chip (SoC) single board computers (SBCs) for space. Designed by BAE Systems and manufactured by GlobalFoundries (GF), the radiation-hardened RAD510 System on Chip (SoC) for space-based computing is now entering fabrication. The RAD510 SoC will be the core of a single boardRead More

Significantly faster communications could be coming to the International Space Station in 2024, after SpaceLink won funding to test its incoming relay satellites. The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), which manages the U.S. National Laboratory on the ISS, selected the startup to test its 10 gigabit per second (Gbps) optical terminalRead More

Japanese lunar lander developer ispace raised $46 million in a new funding round to support future missions to the moon. Tokyo-based ispace said it raised the $46 million Series C round from seven investors, led by Incubate Fund, a Japanese venture capital fund. Incubate Fund had been investing in ispace since its seed round inRead More

The Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) subsidiary of UAE-based Al Yah Satellite Communications Company, Thuraya, has launched its web-based SatTrack maritime tracking and monitoring service in partnership with FrontM, an international developer of software applications. Developed for vessels and fleets serviced by the Thuraya MarineStar Solution (supporting voice, tracking and monitoring), SatTrack facilitates sustainable fishing practices,Read More

The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center has partnered with French space agency, CNES for the Emirates Lunar Mission. Under the cooperation initiative, the French space agency will provide Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre with two optical cameras for the Rashid rover, which will provide high resolution images in full HD. Yousuf Hamad AlShaibani, Director-General, MBRSC,Read More

Firefly Aerospace announced in May it selected SpaceX to launch its first lunar lander mission for NASA, the latest in a series of contract wins by SpaceX for lunar missions. Firefly said that a SpaceX Falcon 9 will launch its Blue Ghost lunar lander in 2023 on a mission to land in Mare Crisium onRead More

The Japanese and Canadian space agencies announced plans May 26 to send small rovers to the moon in the next several years, as Lockheed Martin unveiled a partnership with automaker General Motors to propose a rover for NASA’s Artemis program. The Japanese space agency JAXA said it is working with several Japanese companies to flyRead More

Former senator Bill Nelson formally became NASA’s 14th administrator in a short ceremony in May. Vice President Kamala Harris gave the oath of office to Nelson at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington. Only a handful of guests and a media pool were in attendance, and the swearing-in ceremony was not broadcast live onRead More

NASA has flown a small rotorcraft on Mars, marking the first powered controlled flight of an aircraft on another planet. The US space agency says on 19 April that helicopter “Ingenuity” ascended to 10ft above the surface during a 39sec flight. The aircraft hovered, turned 96° and hovered again before landing. The Ingenuity team atRead More