Latest news on "Space"

Products, materials and technologies created within the framework of space programs have become firmly embedded in modern life. Using communication, navigation applications in a smartphone, watching TV, we sometimes do not think that these and many other familiar things now have cosmic roots. TASS — about how space technologies help us every day.

The Pentagon is going to work out a scenario in space for the rapid deployment of a satellite orbital grouping in response to the threat posed by spacecraft of a potential enemy. During the exercises, the US military will use two satellites that private aerospace companies will develop specifically for this mission. Thus, the United States wants not only to "send a signal" to other countries that they will be able to quickly resist "aggression in orbit", but also to show exactly how they will do it.

Like any universal platform, the MZKT-490100 became the ancestor of a whole family of special purpose vehicles, such as reconnaissance, medical, communications and electronic warfare vehicles, and many others.

Russia is rolling out a new heavy launch vehicle "Angara-A5"

Russia has launched a new heavy launch vehicle Angara-A5 from the Vostochny cosmodrome into space. This is the most important event in the Russian space industry in several decades. How does the new carrier differ from the legendary Proton, what tasks will the new Angara perform and what significance does it have for the whole country?

The ExoMars project has been in limbo for the past two years. On the one hand, the European Space Agency promised to find resources to reformat the Rosalind Franklin rover mission, because without Russian participation, the rover lost its landing platform. On the other hand, it takes a lot of money and time. Finally, ESA has decided on all the nuances and signed a contract to perform the necessary work. The mission has become noticeably more expensive and will be delayed for several more years.

Chinese scientists have assessed their capabilities to implement the project of a promising space nuclear reactor with an electric capacity of one and a half megawatts. This is an installation with a liquid metal coolant and a gas turbine, which by weight and dimensions fits on a medium-class launch vehicle. Several prototypes of its critical components have already passed successful ground tests. But many of the necessary technologies require either international participation or intensive funding to refine.

NASA has selected three private companies: Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost and Venturi Astrolab, which will compete for the right to build a lunar rover for the Artemis mission. There are special requirements for it — this is a new type of device that should work on the Moon for a long time. Therefore, $ 4.6 billion and 10 years were allocated for its creation.

The initiative introduces the concept of a "space object" and proposes to empower Roscosmos to conclude concession agreements and PPP agreements on behalf of the Russian Federation in relation to space objects

The State Duma Committee on Property, Land and Property Relations recommended that the lower house of parliament adopt in the first reading a bill on the application of concession agreements and public-private partnership (PPP) agreements in the field of space activities. The document was initiated by Senators Andrey Kutepov and Murat Khapsirokov.

Colonel Khodarenok: massive use of FAB-3000 can change the course of its

The Russian FAB-3000 aerial bomb, equipped with a guidance device, can become a "doomsday" weapon in a military operation in Ukraine, Chinese expert Shao Yongling believes.

The private space company Intuitive Machines, which recently managed to land its Odyssey module in the southern circumpolar region of the Moon, announced the development of a new device. This time, the company's engineers will create a jumping robot to explore permanently shaded areas of the Earth's satellite and uneven surface, including steep slopes, craters and hills — difficult areas that engineers can use in the future for the construction of lunar bases.

The Assistant Secretary of Defense of the United States for Space Policy, John Plum, said that Washington is working closely with Kiev on this issue

The US government is working with the authorities in Kiev and the American company Starlink, trying to block the use of its satellite communication terminals in Ukraine by the Russian Armed Forces (AF). This was announced at a meeting with the Washington Group of Military Observers (Defense Writers Group), of which TASS is a member, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy John Plum.

In an interview with TASS correspondent Yevgeny Pakhomov, Hero of the Soviet Union Sharma told how he remembered the training in Star City, how space struck him and why all people who saw the Earth from orbit become supporters of peace.

In mid-March 2024, the launch of two Chinese satellites turned into a failure. The upper stage could not provide the correct trajectory, and the payload did not reach the target orbit. The mission was officially recognized as an emergency, but no details about its goals and the course of the flight were reported. New data from the American space intelligence showed that the vehicles were definitely not lost: they made a maneuver to change the orbit.

As the researchers note, there are currently virtually no telescopes in Russia capable of performing observations at frequencies above 100 GHz

Russian astronomers have proposed building a telescope on the surface of the Moon that would operate in the sub-terahertz range of electromagnetic waves. Such an installation will allow scientists to obtain detailed images of the surroundings of black holes and for the first time study in detail the motion of matter at the event horizon. This was announced on Monday by the press service of the FIAN Astrocosmic Center.

Lasers for space debris control

Humanity has set up a dump in near-Earth orbit. Millions of fragments of old satellites and other particles of industrial origin are orbiting the Earth, threatening the ISS and other spacecraft. Scientists are developing ways to solve this problem before it's too late.

Cosmonautics and the use of space technology have become firmly embedded in our lives. Our special correspondent Vyacheslav Terekhov talks about one of these areas with corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the department of Earth Science, head of the laboratory at the Otto Yulievich Schmidt Institute of Physics of the Earth Valentin Mikhailov.

Mikhail Kotov — about the features of the "Chinese space" and the interaction between Russia and China

The Russian government has approved a bill providing for the ratification of an agreement with China on the establishment of a joint International scientific lunar Station (MNLS).

Today, Russia is developing a promising reusable rocket powered by Amur-LNG methane — it will receive a returnable first stage and will take off from the Vostochny cosmodrome in the Amur Region. Nikolay Nestechuk, Director General of the Center for the Operation of Ground-based Space Infrastructure Facilities (CENKI, part of Roscosmos), told TASS in an interview about how the launch complex project is being created now, when construction can begin and what is planned to be borrowed from the Sea Launch.

The Avangard hypersonic missile created in Russia is in fact a complex, the key feature of which is a guided combat unit delivered to the target by an intercontinental ballistic missile. The speed of movement of the block reaches 9.5 km/sec, which provides it with kinetic energy corresponding to 18 tons in TNT equivalent without taking into account the power of the warhead.

The reconstruction of the Dnieper Flotilla will give Russia access to the right bank of the river

The Dnieper River Flotilla and a brigade of river boats have been formed in Russia. This was stated by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. At one time, such a flotilla made a great contribution to the victory in the Great Patriotic War. Its reconstruction is called a significant factor for victory in the SVO, since access to the right bank of the Dnieper can bring down the enemy's defenses.