Author: starpathwp-production
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BAE Systems Sees Potential to Double Ball Aerospace Sales by 2030 With Acquisition
Britain’s BAE Systems on Thursday said it has agreed to a acquire Ball Corp.’s aerospace unit for $5.6 billion and highlighted the business is forecast to generate $2.2 billion in sales this year and could grow to $4 billion by 2030 due to strong demand in the space, missiles, and munitions markets. Ball Aerospace has nearly doubled…
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NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer Gets Final Science Instrument for Lunar Surface Mapping
NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer is nearing completion now that its second and final cutting-edge science instrument has been added to the small spacecraft. Built by the University of Oxford in England and contributed by the UK Space Agency, the Lunar Thermal Mapper (LTM) joins the High-resolution Volatiles and Minerals Moon Mapper (HVM3), which was integrated with…
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Engineers at NASA Complete Installation of High-Gain Antenna on Europa Clipper
NASA’s Europa Clipper is designed to seek out conditions suitable for life on the ice-covered moon of Jupiter. On Aug. 14, the spacecraft received a piece of hardware central to that quest: the massive dish-shaped high-gain antenna. Stretching 10 feet (3 meters) across the spacecraft’s body, the high-gain antenna is the largest and most prominent…
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Rocket Lab Signs Double Launch Deal with NASA for Climate Change Research Mission
Rocket Lab USA, a launch services and space systems company, announced it has signed a double-launch deal with NASA to deliver the Agency’s climate change research-focused mission, PREFIRE, to low Earth orbit in 2024. The two dedicated missions on Electron will deploy one small satellite each to a 525km circular orbit from Rocket Lab Launch…
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SpeQtral Taps NanoAvionics and Mbryonics for Quantum Mission
SpeQtral has tapped Kongsberg NanoAvionics (NanoAvionics) and Mbryonics to build its SpeQtral-1 satellite. The deal was announced Aug. 16. SpeQtral-1 is aimed at providing communications services that require quantum security, as it says traditional cryptographic techniques are threatened by the emergence of quantum computing. NanoAvionics will be the satellite bus provider and Mbryonics will produce…
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Viasat Opens New Ground Station in Japan at Infostellar Site
Viasat’s Real-Time Earth location in Japan. Photo: Viasat Viasat has opened a new ground station for its Real-Time Earth (RTE) service in Hokkaido, Japan, hosted at Infostellar’s site. Viasat said the new 7.3 meter, Ka-band antenna will support high data rate remote sensing missions in polar and inclined orbits through the RTE network. Viasat’s ground-station-as-a-service…
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SpaceX launches Starlink mission from Florida, delays west coast mission
Update 5:30 a.m. EDT/0930 UTC): SpaceX has delayed the Starlink Group 7-1 mission to Friday at 12:30 a.m. PDT (3:30 a.m. EDT (0430 UTC). No explanation was given. Update (10:10 p.m. EDT/0210 UTC): SpaceX adjusted the launch time of the Starlink Group 7-1 mission. The new T-0 is now 1:42 a.m. PDT (4:42 a.m. EDT,…
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Launch Roundup: SpaceX launches Starlink Group 6-10
Following a plethora of launches last week, the week of Aug. 14 through Aug. 20 only had three orbital launches—most of which are Chinese Starlink launches. The week started with the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) launching the HEAD-3A/B/C/D/E satellites atop its Kuaxzhou 1A rocket. After that, SpaceX launched the Starlink Group 6-10…
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Let the review begin—SpaceX takes another step toward launching Starship again
The Federal Aviation Administration is now reviewing a mishap investigation report submitted by SpaceX regarding the company’s April test flight of its giant Starship rocket, a spokesperson for the regulatory agency said Tuesday. The milestone is noteworthy because it signals SpaceX has completed its investigation into the Starship test launch on April 20, which ended…