India’s Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) project has achieved another significant milestone in producing segmented mirror components called Segment Support Assemblies (SSAs). The TMT is an enormous ground-based telescope built in partnership between astronomy institutions in the United States, India, China, Japan, and Canada. The TMT is expected to enable scientists to study the universe in unprecedented detail when it becomes operational in the mid-2020s from its location on the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii. The SSA is an essential component of the primary mirror of the TMT, which consists of 492 hexagonal mirror segments and holds the mirror segments…
Author: Team Interstellar
Read More
Until now, Chinese space launch startups have been regularly demonstrating launch vehicles, failures or otherwise, with solid-fueled rocket engines with a heritage in the Long March and Dong Feng series. This changed when the Chinese space startup, Beijing Tianbing Technology, also known as Space Pioneer, successfully launched its first commercial liquid-fueled carrier rocket, Tianlong-2 Y1, from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China on Sunday. On 2nd April 2023, at 4:48 p.m. BJT, the 35-metre-long rocket, with a take-off mass of 150 tonnes, blasted off into the sky, carrying a satellite into a pre-set orbit. The primary objective of…
The water bear, also known as a tardigrade or moss piglet, is an eight-legged animal smaller than 1 millimetre long and the hardiest creature on Earth. Over years of scientific testing, it has shown the ability to survive -200 degrees Celsius, more than an hour in boiling water, and even enduring radiation in space. The tardigrade’s extreme toughness comes partly from a gene that generates shield-like proteins to protect its cells against radiation and other environmental damage. Taking advantage of tardigrade’s natural features, a team of scientists from the People’s Liberation Army Academy of Military Medical Sciences in Beijing has…
Sompo Japan Insurance, Japan’s second-largest property insurance company, has formed a business and capital alliance with the Tsukuba-based startup Warpspace. The startup has received pre-series B funding from Sompo Japan. Warpspace is developing the WarpHub InterSat an optical inter-satellite data relay service, as against the now common electromagnetic, radio-frequency, data relays. Warpspace intends to use optical data relays for satellites operating in the more radiation dense medium-Earth-orbit. As compared to conventional radio communications, WarpHub InterSat’s optical communications will give higher data-throughput, lower transmission times, real-time accessible time, and with high data transmission security. Such real-time data transmission is useful for…
The China Great Wall Industry Corporation, a subsidiary of the China Aerospace Science & Technology Corporation launched four SAR satellites owned by Piesat and built by GalaxySpace, both commercial companies. The satellites were launched by the CGWIC on the Long March 2D launch vehicle, from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. Of the constellation, Piesat-1-A-01 is the master satellite, weighing 320 kg, while the other three, Piesat-1-B-01, Piesat-1-B-02, and Piesat-1-B-03, are assistant satellites weighing 270 kg. The wheel-like formation of this constellation is considered superior to the typical interferometric satellites. The satellite will carry out high-precision geophysical mapping and will have…
On March 30, 2023, Virgin Orbit Holdings, which is in the commercial business of aircraft-launched two-stage-to-orbit launch services, laid off 85% of its employees. The announcement came to the fore when Virgin Orbit, the Delaware-based company within the UK-based Virgin Group, filed a Form-8K with the U.S. Securities and Trade Commission. Virgin Group owns a 33% share in Virgin Orbit, while 18% is owned by the United Arab Emirates state-owned holding company – Mubadala. Virgin Orbit has announced that it will cease operations “for the foreseeable future” due to a lack of funding, according to CEO Dan Hart during an…
In this episode of ORBITAL RENDEZVOUS, we have among us Lt. Gen. Anil Bhatt (Retd.), Director General, Indian Space Association. Lt. Gen. Bhatt speaks to us about what has changed in the relations between the defence ministry and the private sector regarding supplies of space technologies in the past few years. He discusses the role of IDEX in space innovation, on hyperspectral satellites, Indian space startups going global, and, more importantly, the Defence Space Symposium that ISpA is organising from April 11-13 at the DRDO Bhawan in New Delhi.
Luxembourg’s most prominent technology ambassador, its satellite manufacturer SES, is holding talks with the US-based and world’s most prominent communications satellite operator, Intelsat, are holding talks over a merger. If it materialises, the SES-Intelsat merger could be one of the most lucrative sat-com partnerships, valued at more than USD 10 billion, including debt. SES has confirmed the merger but has not divulged greater details. SES said, “In response to rumours in the market, SES S.A. confirms that the company has engaged in discussions regarding a possible combination with Intelsat. At this stage, there can be no certainty that a transaction…
In late March, the Goa Science Centre and Planetarium organised a night sky observing activity that attracted both locals and tourists. The event, which took place on Miramar Beach near Panaji, featured portable telescopes that allowed attendees to observe celestial objects. While the activity may have seemed unremarkable, it was praised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for its promotion of India’s rich heritage in astronomy. The Goa Science Centre and Planetarium is a member of the National Council for Science Museums, which seeks to foster scientific awareness and promote the growth of science and technology in industry and human welfare.…
On March 29, 2023, the Ministry of Defence signed a contract with the Department of Space New Space India Limited – a public sector undertaking of the Department of Space – for the procurement of an advanced communication satellite for the Indian Army. The Ministry of Defence will procure from NSIL the GSAT-7B advanced communication satellite built indigenously under the Buy IDMM category, where IDDM stands for Indigenously Designed, Developed, and Manufactured, contiguous with the Aatmanirbhar Bharat push in defence. The GSAT-7B will be a geostationary satellite, like the GSAT-7A operated by the Indian Air Force and GSAT-7 operated by…
