The United States has established its first-ever space domain awareness (SDA) site in South America by installing an experimental telescope. The site is located at Cerro Moreno Air Force Base near Antofagasta, Chile, and was set up by a 12-member team comprising representatives from the US Space Force, U.S. Air Force, Chilean Air Force, U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, and the US Air Force Academy. The 14-inch Celestron telescope was installed alongside an all-sky camera called Panopticon and an Astrohaven dome between March 25 and April 1. The equipment will spend the next five months tracking satellites along the equator…
Author: Team Interstellar
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Space investing is a relatively new theme, but it is attracting some of the biggest names in business, including consulting giants Bain, BCG, McKinsey, and Deloitte. Deloitte has recently formed its space consulting division, which Brett Loubert leads. Loubert outlined two opportunities in space: space missions and space growth. The former represents clients that design and launch systems into orbit or have a dedicated business unit focused on space. The latter presents the more lucrative potential, according to CNBC. The $280.7 million ARK Space Exploration & Innovation ETF (ARKX) is an actively managed ETF that can respond to emerging space…
South Korea’s science ministry has announced that Danuri, which is Korea’s first lunar orbiter, has captured high-resolution images of the dark side of the moon. These images are part of ongoing research to observe the moon from approximately 100 kilometres above its surface. According to a statement from South Korea’s Ministry of Science on Wednesday, this is the first time a Korean spacecraft has photographed craters, valleys, basins, and other traces of the moon’s dark side, which are difficult to observe from Earth due to the moon being tidally locked to our planet. Built by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute…
China has announced its plans to launch a planetary defence mission to the near-Earth asteroid 2019 VL5. The target was announced by Chen Qi, who is associated with China’s Deep Space Exploration Laboratory, during a presentation at the 8th IAA Planetary Defense Conference held in Vienna last week. If successful, this mission will be the second planetary defence test to collide with an asteroid, following NASA’s DART mission in 2021. The 2019 VL5 is a small asteroid that measures around 108 feet (33 metres) in diameter and orbits the Sun approximately once every 365 days, which means it often comes…
Industry experts are calling for China and France to join forces in space exploration and development, citing the complementary strengths of both nations. Pang Zhihao, a well-known writer on spaceflight and an expert on space exploration technology, stated that China’s strengths lie in designing and building sophisticated spacecraft and organising large-scale space programs and possessing extensive science and technology resources and engineering expertise for space exploration. On the other hand, France’s expertise lies in creating delicate scientific instruments essential for many space projects and having abundant knowledge of space science. The call for collaboration comes after a joint declaration by…
Japanese telecommunications giant NTT has partnered with satellite operator SES to provide edge-based networking services to enterprise customers. The partnership will converge NTT’s networking and enterprise-managed services competence with SES’s satellite capabilities. It will combine NTT’s fully managed private-5G and Edge-as-a-Service solution with SES’s O3b mPOWER medium earth orbit communications system. The combined solution aims to offer expanded and reliable connectivity to companies operating in regions where terrestrial networks are lacking. It is aimed at helping energy, mining, maritime and manufacturing industries that have been limited by connectivity to carry out their digital transformation plans and increase revenue streams. The…
The acting Chief Executive Officer of the Saudi Space Commission, Dr Mohammed Bin Saud Al-Tamimi, recently held a virtual meeting with Carlos de Mora, the Head of the Brazilian Space Agency, to explore possible areas of collaboration between the two entities in the space sector. During the meeting, Al-Tamimi outlined the Kingdom’s aspirations for the space sector and its strategic goals and emphasised the importance of accelerating efforts to strengthen relations between the two countries. He also called for developing future partnerships, especially in research, science, and technology, and promoting technical cooperation, innovation, and investment in the space sector to…
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman visited the Spacecraft Testing and Integration Complex at NASA’s Goddard Centre in Greenbelt, Maryland, during her official trip to the United States. Her visit to NASA’s biggest facility marks India’s growing interest and investment in the space sector, particularly in private sector participation. In June 2020, the government announced a significant transformation of the Indian space sector with enhanced participation of private players in India’s space programme. This move aimed to boost India’s market share in the global space economy, and within three years, the number of start-ups in the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) reached…
NEW DELHI: In order to examine ways and means to boost India’s space defence capabilities, the Indian Space Association (ISpA), which represents the private space industry, and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) have organised the first edition of DefSpa, a three-day symposium on space defence here from April 11-13. According to DefSpa, the idea behind the event is to create a platform for all stakeholders interested in India’s military space capability by bringing together experts from multiple domains to discuss the latest trends and challenges in that domain. The focus will be on delivering space domain awareness and satellite…
GHGSat, the Canadian company that operates the world’s first and only high-resolution methane monitoring satellite system, has released its 2022 Methane Emissions Report, sharing key results and insights. The report highlights that GHGSat successfully launched three satellites in May 2022, doubling the size of its constellation. As a result, the company achieved a higher revisit frequency and greater coverage, measuring more emissions in 2022 than in the previous five years combined. The expansion of GHGSat’s fleet allowed it to fine-tune its offshore monitoring expertise, measure numerous world-first emission events, and partner with global organizations such as the International Methane Emissions…
