SpaceX Mission Update SpaceX is targeting Sunday, July 10 for a Falcon 9 launch of 46 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The instantaneous launch window is at 6:39 p.m. PT (01:39 UTC on Monday, July 11), and a backup opportunity is available on Monday, July 11 at 6:39 p.m. PT (01:39 UTC on Tuesday, July 12). The first […]

HOUSTON (Nanoracks PR) — We have some incredibly exciting news to share from the weekend: as of 7:05 PM Central on Saturday, July 2, we successfully cycled the Bishop Airlock aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and deployed Nanoracks’ first-of-its-kind technology to dispose of approximately 172  lbs of waste from the station!

WASHINGTON (Department of Justice PR) — Aerojet Rocketdyne Inc., headquartered in El Segundo, California, has agreed to pay $9 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by misrepresenting its compliance with cybersecurity requirements in certain federal government contracts, the Justice Department announced today. Aerojet provides propulsion and power systems for launch vehicles, missiles and satellites and other space vehicles to the Department of Defense, NASA and other federal agencies. 

The settlement resolves a lawsuit filed and litigated by former Aerojet employee Brian Markus against Aerojet under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act, which permit a private party (known as a relator) to file a lawsuit on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of any recovery. Mr. Markus and Aerojet reached a settlement of the case on the second day of trial. Mr. Markus will receive $2.61 million as his share of the False Claims Act recovery. 

“Whistleblowers with inside information and technical expertise can provide crucial assistance in identifying knowing cybersecurity failures and misconduct,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. 

NASA Mission Update

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, a partnership with ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency), will soon reveal unprecedented and detailed views of the universe, with the upcoming release of its first full-color images and spectroscopic data.

ESA Mission Update

ESA’s new medium-lift Vega-C rocket is nearly ready for its inaugural flight. You can follow live on ESA Web TV. Flight VV21 will lift off as soon as 13 July at 13:13 CEST, pending suitable conditions for launch.

    Broadcast begins 12:45 CEST/11:45 BST [6:45 a.m. EDT/10:45 UTC] on ESA Web TV

    13:13 CEST/12:13 BST [7:13 a.m. EDT/11:13 UTC] – liftoff

NASA Mission Update

NASA and SpaceX are targeting 8:44 p.m. EDT Thursday, July 14, to launch the agency’s next investigation to monitor climate change to the International Space Station. The mission, NASA’s Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT), will fly aboard SpaceX’s 25th commercial resupply services mission to the orbital laboratory.

SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft will lift off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to deliver new science investigations, supplies, and equipment for the international crew, including a new climate research investigation.

ROCHESTER, N.Y., July 8, 2022 (Orolia PR) — After an exclusive negotiation process that began in December 2021, Orolia — a company recognized globally for its positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) and related activities, technologies and equipment — today joins Safran Electronics & Defense, the European leader and world number three in inertial navigation systems.

NASA Mission Update After a thorough review, teams have determined what led to CAPSTONE’s communications issue that began on July 4.   During commissioning of NASA’s CAPSTONE (short for Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment) spacecraft, the Deep Space Network team noted inconsistent ranging data. While investigating this, the spacecraft operations team attempted to access diagnostic data on the spacecraft’s radio and sent an improperly formatted command that made the […]

CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION, Fla. — On Thursday, July 7 at 9:11 a.m. ET, SpaceX launched 53 Starlink satellites from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This was the 13th flight for the Falcon 9 first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Crew Demo-2, ANASIS-II, CRS-21, Transporter-1, Transporter-3, and now eight Starlink missions.

5Gfor12GHz Coalition Statement

The 5Gfor12GHz Coalition today responded to a recently filed Starlink submission into the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) 12 GHz proceeding, setting the record straight on the company’s misinformation campaign.

Since the FCC initiated the 12 GHz proceeding 18 months ago, the Coalition has worked with top experts, including RKF Engineering Solutions – a preeminent engineering firm with decades of experience in modeling Radio Frequency environments in collaboration with leading telecommunications companies and global regulators – to submit robust, data-driven technical analyses into the record. These studies demonstrate not only that coexistence is feasible in the band, with 99.85% of NGSOs experiencing no risk of harmful interference alongside 5G, but the substantial societal, economic and geopolitical benefits of unleashing more critical mid-band spectrum for two-way terrestrial services. After failing to submit any expert technical input during the public comment and reply comment periods in the proceeding, Starlink has only now submitted a self-produced political document in the guise of a technical analysis. This “study,” which was not produced by an independent expert, is both scientifically and logically flawed, as demonstrated in part by the following:

ABINDON, UK (Reaction Engines PR) — Reaction Engines today revealed the start of a new testing campaign to expand the performance envelope of their high-Mach enabling technology through the Foreign Comparative Testing (FCT) Program at the Department of Defense and supported by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL).

NASA Mission Update

NASA, in partnership with ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency), will release the James Webb Space Telescope’s first full-color images and spectroscopic data during a live broadcast beginning at 10:30 a.m. EDT Tuesday, July 12, from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Released one by one, these first images from the world’s largest and most powerful space telescope will demonstrate Webb at its full power as it begins its mission to unfold the infrared universe.