There’s a new intelligence unit in town. On Friday, the US Space Force announced the establishment of Space Delta 18 and the National Space Intelligence Center, which will begin supplying US lawmakers with intelligence about the space domain. Space Delta 18, so named because USSF is the 18th US entity to join the intelligence community, […]
On Monday, NASA and Rocket Lab are set to launch a pathfinding mission that will probe out a peculiar orbit around the moon that could be used for the Gateway lunar station in a few more years. CAPSTONE, as the mission is known, stands for Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment. The […]
AstroAccess, a nonprofit that promotes disability inclusion in space, partnered with the Aurelia Institute to advance astronaut diversity by doing research on zero-gravity missions. “In one sense, space is the ultimate equalizer: everyone who leaves Earth is subject to the radical experience of leaving gravity behind,” the Aurelia Institute said in a blog post. But […]
The UK government released a plan for space sustainability at the 4th Summit for Space Sustainability in London today. UK Science Minister George Freeman said that the country is angling to make the UK a hub for space investment and drive commercial space sector growth. “A ‘Wild West’ space race without effective regulation risks a […]
Italy’s D-Orbit and Germany’s Isar Aerospace have inked a launch services deal. The mission will be launched aboard the German launch startup’s two-stage Spectrum rocket from Norway’s Andøya Space no earlier than 2023. D-Orbit offers “last-mile” space transportation services via its ION Satellite Carrier. The orbital transfer vehicle is capable of deploying several satellites into […]
On Thursday, we asked you: “If your employer covered costs, would you take a trip to low-Earth orbit? For the sake of this poll, assume you’d have a one-month stay and 10-hour workdays. So…would you go?” We received 266 votes. We have a winner! Definitely yes won with ~74% of the vote. Bear in mind: […]
On Pathfinder 0004, we sit down with Katherine Boyle, a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz (or a16z, for short). Pathfinder is brought to you by SpiderOak Mission Systems. Check out the company’s space cybersecurity white paper here. Resume, in brief Katherine heads up a16z’s American Dynamism practice, where she invests in companies involved in national […]
The UK has announced that it has committed £30M ($36.9M) to ESA’s Ariel exoplanet telescope. What is it? The Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey (Ariel) telescope will be the first mission dedicated to measuring the chemical composition and atmospheric thermal properties of exoplanets. To do this, the telescope will study ~1,000 known exoplanets in visible […]
Not everything that ends up in space from the Earth’s surface is traveling on a rocket. In January, the island volcano Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai erupted, causing shockwaves across the Pacific… …and in the ionosphere, the region of space between 80-1000km above the Earth’s surface. Up there, Earth’s weather mixes together with that of space. Space […]
If your phone dies on the Moon, Astrobotic has you covered. Yesterday, the Pittsburgh-based company announced it has completed testing on a wireless charging system that can prep a variety of lunar surface infrastructure for the two-week lunar night. The lunar colony: Big plans are in the works for a lunar and cislunar economy in […]
In need of some tunes this summer? We’ve got you covered. We’re pleased to present Space Jams, the only space-themed playlist you’ll ever need. We polled the team, asked readers for input, and consulted with the top DJs in the galaxy to come up with this space-inspired playlist. Shout out to Payload readers Erin B. and […]
QuadSAT said today that it’s received €500,000 ($520,000) in additional ESA funding under the ARTES program. The European funds are earmarked for satcom companies looking to productize and commercialize core technology they’ve developed. QuadSAT’s core technology The Danish startup has paired specialized radiofrequency (RF) payloads with quadcopter drones. The company’s engineers have also written code […]
