Just in time for yesterday’s transit of innermost planet Mercury across the face of the sun, NASA released the first global elevation model of the sun scorched world, courtesy of the MESSENGER spacecraft. While Mercury is hardly at the top of anyone’s list of habitable planets, it is at least worth recalling that among its […]
The United States is not the only country seeking to establish a sound legal framework for domestic corporations to go to work in outer space. In Europe, Luxembourg has stepped into the fray with an initiative of its own, titled spaceresources.lu. Last week, it announced a partnership with U.S. based Deep Space Industries to support […]
As the NewSpace era gradually transitions from addressing the challenges of reaching orbit to building out the business cases for what can happen once you do, regulatory issues are going to continue to play a significant, and in many cases, enhanced role. For those who are prone to be unhappy about seeing the advance of […]
SpaceX achieved its second consecutive successful landing at sea overnight as a part of the JCSAT-14 satellite launch to Geostationary Transfer Orbit. Coming less than one month after the first successful drone ship landing which took place during the NASA CRS-8 resupply mission to ISS on April 8, last night’s achievement was even more challenging […]
After sitting out a day due to very inclement weather in Central Florida, SpaceX is counting down to the launch of the JCSAT-14 communications satellite to Geostationary Transfer Orbit. Liftoff from Cape Canaveral’s SLC-40 is scheduled at the start of a two hour launch window which begins at 1:21 am ET, 5:21am UTC. A backup window […]
From the ESO: Astronomers using the TRAPPIST telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory have discovered three planets orbiting an ultracool dwarf star just 40 light-years from Earth. These worlds have sizes and temperatures similar to those of Venus and Earth and are the best targets found so far for the search for life outside the […]
Over the weekend, SpaceX updated the maximum performance numbers for the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy boosters, helpfully including payload to Mars capability, (and Pluto) along with standard LEO and GTO numbers supplied by most launch vehicle providers. While the Falcon Heavy showed a somewhat surprisingly small increase, from 53,000 kg to 54,400 kg to […]
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