Category Archives: Space Today

Frontier Aerospace, has completed the design of attitude control thrusters developed with NASA and Astrobotic Technologies for deep space missions. “We are well on our way to qualifying both 150 and 10 [pounds of thrust] engines for Astrobotic’s near-term Peregrine lunar lander mission,” Frontier Aerospace announced Nov. 2 on LinkedIn. Frontier Aerospace has been developingRead More

The launch of the MeznSat satellite is a significant contribution from Ras Al Khaimah to the UAE’s position in the global space sector, asserted the American University of Ras Al Khaimah (AURAK) following the official announcement that the MeznSat launch was a success. Sixteen students from the American University of Ras Al Khaimah are celebratingRead More

Canadian startup Kepler Communications launched its first two satellites in September built in its own facility as the company ramps up its plans to deploy a constellation for data and Internet of Things services. The two six-unit XL cubesats, known as Kepler-4 and Kepler-5 but nicknamed Antilles and Amidala, were among the 15 smallsat secondaryRead More

China’s human spaceflight agency has selected a group of 18 new astronauts to participate in the country’s upcoming space station project. The 18 new Chinese astronauts consist of seven pilots, seven spaceflight engineers and four payload specialists. The final selection includes just one woman. The process, which included primary, secondary and final selections, began inRead More

The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC) has announced the completion of an updated map of Abu Dhabi and Dubai using the UAE’s first high-resolution satellite image “Mosaic”, captured by KhalifaSat. The system captures a matrix of individual digital images to create a single high-resolution picture of the UAE’s terrain. This imaging system by MBRSCRead More

Al Yah Satellite Communications Company, a UAE global satellite operator, has selected Airbus to build Thuraya 4-NGS, the next generation mobile telecommunications system that will drive the continued advancement of Thuraya’s L-band business. Thuraya 4-NGS will deliver higher capabilities and flexibility while increasing capacity and coverage across Europe, Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East,Read More

Airbus Defense and Space has won a contract for a fully reconfigurable telecomunications satellite from Australia’s second largest telecommunications company and leading satellite operator Optus. The satellite will be based on Airbus’ new standard OneSat product line and is Airbus’ first contract from the Australian operator. Airbus will deliver an end-to-end solution, including design andRead More

The Southwest Research Institute won a $15.6 million contract to design and build the Solar Wind Plasma Sensor for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Follow On (SWFO) Lagrange 1 satellite. NOAA announced the cost plus, fixed-fee contract July 1, which it awarded through NASA. Under the contract, the Southwest Research Institute willRead More

The first half of 2020 has been sluggish for the commercial launch industry, but its problems can’t be explained solely by the coronavirus pandemic. According to statistics compiled by SpaceNews, there were 45 orbital launch attempts in first six months of 2020, including four failed launches. That would put the overall launch industry on aRead More

The UAE’s Mars Hope Probe is scheduled to launch to the red planet on July 15, 2020, the Emirates Mars Mission has announced. The first interplanetary exploration undertaken by an Arab nation, the probe will undertake a 495,000,000km journey to Mars. It is anticipated to enter Mars’ orbit in February 2021. The countdown to theRead More