Author: starpathwp-production
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China Sends TJS-27 Pair Into New Orbit, Orbits First Third-Generation Tianlian Relay
A Long March 6A lifted off at 9:00 p.m. Eastern July 29 from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation announced launch success and identified the payloads as communication technology test satellites 27A and 27B. Hours earlier, a Long March 7A lifted from Wenchang Satellite Launch Center at 7:50 a.m. Eastern,…
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Here’s how engineers plan to save the satellite sent to save NASA’s Swift mission
One week ago, more than 200 miles above the Earth, a refrigerator-size satellite making its way toward an attempted rescue of NASA’s $500 million Swift gamma-ray observatory suddenly spun out of control. It didn’t look good. The spacecraft, named Link, was rotating on multiple axes, rendering it unable to maintain a reliable communications link with…
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The Key Forces Shaping the Space Economy: Who Is Really Growing—and Who Is Just Telling a Story?
If launch costs have fallen to a fraction of their level 20 years ago, why has the global space economy not grown at the same pace? Over the past decade, reusable rockets have reduced the cost of reaching orbit by an order of magnitude, while the number of satellites launched has increased severalfold. Yet the…
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Resecurity Joins Space ISAC to Strengthen Space Cybersecurity Collaboration
Cybersecurity company Resecurity has joined the Space Information Sharing and Analysis Center (Space ISAC), expanding the organization’s network of members focused on strengthening cybersecurity across the global space sector. The membership is intended to support collaboration on cyber threat intelligence, digital risk management and the protection of critical space infrastructure. Resecurity Expands Space Security Role…
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ArianeGroup Completes Wet Dress Rehearsal for Themis Reusable Booster
ArianeGroup has completed a wet dress rehearsal of its Themis reusable booster demonstrator at the Esrange Space Centre in Sweden, marking a key milestone in the vehicle’s ongoing test campaign. The rehearsal was carried out on July 23 by teams from ArianeGroup and SSC Space, the operator of Esrange Space Centre, with the company announcing…
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K2 Space Raises $500 Million in Series D, Valuation Approaches $7 Billion
K2 has positioned itself around a strategy of building bigger satellites for both commercial and defense customers. Its Torrance, California facility is designed for industrial-scale production of large, high-power satellites, a capability the company plans to demonstrate with its upcoming Trinity mission, which will operate across multiple Earth orbits. Kleiner Perkins and ICONIQ led the…
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Space Force Opens $981M Contract Pool to Fix Simulator Shortfall
The Space Force was stood up in December 2019. Despite that span of time, the people responsible for operating U.S. military space systems still do not have the basic simulators required for realistic training. The new contract pool is intended to close that gap. Gen. Greg Gagnon, head of Space Force Combat Forces Command, acknowledged…
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SpaceX Rebuilds Starbase Pad 1 While Block 3 Starships Fly From Pad 2
The Pad 1 retrofit began shortly after the end of Flight 11 and Block 2 of Starship. The work will bring the pad in line with Pad 2, LC-39A, and the still under construction SLC-37 pads. Since starting, crews have made progress on the flame trench and are now beginning construction of the launch mount…
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Poland to Create Space Operations Command in Sweeping Armed Forces Reform
The command is one element of a wider reform intended to create flexible structures that do not require fundamental reorganisation once a conflict begins. General Król, the Chief of the General Staff’s representative for the development of Poland’s wartime command system, described the effort in an interview with Defence24.pl. He stressed that the development of…
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NASA Opens First Major New Wind Tunnel in More Than 40 Years at Langley
The new facility combines and improves upon the capabilities of two historic NASA Langley wind tunnels, the 20-Foot Vertical Spin Tunnel and the 12-Foot Low-Speed Tunnel. It was built through a partnership with the U.S. General Services Administration and replaces aging infrastructure with an energy-efficient design that reduces maintenance costs. It is the fourth new…