Advanced Space LLC. is reporting a successful, recent test for CAPSTONE, a NASA-funded mission to the Moon. Advanced Space owns and operates the CAPSTONE mission, a trailblazing pathfinder for the Gateway. The Gateway, a lunar orbiting outpost, will support NASA’s Artemis missions that will establish a long-term, human presence at the Moon. CAPSTONE is the […]
Lunar
Rocket part on crash course with Moon
Astronomers say that a rocket section set to crash into the Moon in March did not come from Elon Musk’s space exploration company as they first thought. Instead they believe it is probably a Chinese rocket stage launched for a lunar mission in 2014. The impact of the collision with the Moon will be minor, […]
Ground Network Support For The LunIR Mission To Be Provided By KSAT For The Lockheed Martin Lunar Exploration Smallsat
KSAT will provide Ground network support to the LunIR mission in collaboration with Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of Terran Orbital Corporation. The lunar exploration cubesat hosts a payload developed by Lockheed Martin and will hitch a ride along with the launch of NASA’s Orion spacecraft on the Artemis 1 mission. KSAT has […]
Plus Ultra and ispace’s MoU Aim to Deploy Communications and Navigation Infrastructure in Lunar Orbit
Plus Ultra Space Outposts (Plus Ultra), a European company developing a lunar satellite constellation, and ispace Europe (ispace EU), the European branch of ispace, inc., have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on joint lunar missions. The MoU includes the transport and deployment of satellites into lunar orbit, as early as 20241, to […]
Voice + Video Tech On The Moon Being Developed By Lockheed Martin, Amazon + Cisco
Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) have teamed up to integrate unique human-machine interface technologies into NASA’s Orion spacecraft, providing an opportunity to learn how future astronauts could benefit from far-field voice technology, AI and tablet-based video collaboration. The Callisto technology demonstration will be integrated into NASA’s Orion spacecraft for […]
NASA’s Program Enables Astrobotic’s Hazard Detection System To Take Flight
Astrobotic was selected to receive funding for its LiDAR-based Hazard Detection sensor (LHD) as part of the NASA Flight Opportunities TechFlights solicitation. This LHD sensor will assist in the safe landing of Astrobotic’s Griffin lander, the largest lunar lander since Apollo’s Lunar Module. Griffin will be carrying NASA’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER, […]
First Commercial Lunar Distance Communications Network Validated In Space
Working together, Intuitive Machines (IM) and Goonhilly Earth Station (GES) Ltd. recently integrated GES’s newly commissioned deep space antenna (GHY-6) into IM’s Lunar Telemetry and Tracking Network (LTN). The LTN will provide near-continuous coverage during the company’s IM-1 mission to the Moon in early 2022. The validation concluded with the complete system ‘live-sky’ test receiving […]
CesiumAstro Accelerates Active Phased Array Payload Development For Lunar Missions
CesiumAstro, Inc., with support from NASA, is accelerating radio frequency (RF) active phased array antenna development enabling dual function communications and sensing for lunar and cislunar applications across common Ka-band, TDRS (Tracking and Data Relay Satellite) and 5G mmWave frequency bands High-performance communication links for lunar and deep space missions are essential to large scale […]
Rocket Factory Augsburg Agrees To Launch Lunar Research Service’s Smallsat
Lunar Research Service (LRS) and Rocket Factory Augsburg AG (RFA) have agreed on a launch service contract. RFA will fly a research mission of Ukraine-based LRS with its RFA ONE micro launcher into LEO. The flight, which will take place at the close of 2022 from Andøya, Norway, will be the maiden flight of the […]
Communications & Power Industries Awarded Million$ Contract By NASA For Specialized TWTAs
Communications & Power Industries (CPI) has received an award of more than $3 million from NASA to provide specialized K-band traveling wave tube amplifiers (TWTAs) for the space agency’s Artemis program, which calls for the establishment of a base camp on the Moon’s surface and a Gateway outpost in lunar orbit. CPI’s amplifiers will assist […]