Latest news on "Space"

Billionaire Branson launched 10 satellites from an airplane]

Billionaire Richard Branson finally managed to launch a rocket with 10 satellites from a Boeing 747. His company expects to occupy a niche of such launches and reduce the cost of putting small satellites into orbit.

Engineers from Switzerland and the Netherlands have developed a new algorithm for quadrocopters that allows them to stay in the air after turning off one propeller. Unlike similar algorithms developed earlier, the new one allows the drone to move controllably, not just hover in place, and also works only with the drone's own sensors, without requiring an external tracking system or GPS. The paper is published in the journal IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, and its preprint is available on the website of the University of Zurich.

Soyuz-2.1 v quarrels with the creators of space engines

Despite the successful completion of the Soyuz-2.1 v flight and design tests, this light-class launch vehicle did not perform a single launch last year. The situation is aggravated by the struggle between UEC-Kuznetsov and PNO Energomash for orders of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation for the main engine of the first stage.

OneWeb has raised $ 400 million from SoftBank and Hughes Network Systems: this will allow the company to continue deploying the satellite constellation.

The State Duma of Russia is considering the issue of fines against individuals and legal entities that intend to use the services of the Western satellite Internet. The future law should, first of all, limit access to the Internet using the Starlink services of SpaceX, OneWeb and other foreign satellite systems.

Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Victoria Abramchenko approved a "road map" to improve the system of forest protection from fires, which provides for the use of space and unmanned vehicles, the press service of Abramchenko reports.

NASA will install additional solar panels on top of the existing ones on the ISS. They will partially replace the old ones, which have degraded over time, but due to high efficiency, they will increase the available electric power from 160 to 215 kilowatts. The new batteries are made of a flexible film that is rolled into a scroll for easy transport.

Russian scientists have proposed a qualitatively new type of engine for working in outer space. It is based on the principle of plasma excitation using a microwave spark discharge. This unit can be installed on small-format satellites.

The American company Aerojet Rocketdyne assembled the first liquid rocket engine AR1. Perhaps it will be used on the American-Ukrainian carrier from the company Firefly Aerospace.

The Russian Academy of Sciences recommended to postpone the creation of the Yenisei rocket

Russian scientists agreed on the need to postpone the creation of a super-heavy lunar rocket "Yenisei". Earlier, President Vladimir Putin criticized the leadership of Roscosmos for delaying it.

At the end of December, the RD-191 liquid-propellant rocket engine for the Angara launch vehicle was also successfully tested

NPO Energomash (part of Roscosmos) has successfully tested the RD-180 and RD-191 rocket engines designed for the American Atlas launch vehicles and the Russian Angara rockets, respectively. This was reported on Tuesday in the press service of Roscosmos.

Scientists, engineers and other specialists from several leading Chinese scientific institutions, led by scientists from the Chinese University of Science and Technology in Hefei, have completed the deployment of the world's first and largest integrated quantum communication network, which now combines about 700 fiber-based channels and several satellite channels.

The works, according to the head of Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin, will become an element of the third stage of construction at the cosmodrome

The construction of the launch pad for the Amur-LNG launch vehicle will be an element of the third stage of construction of the Vostochny cosmodrome. This was announced on Monday by the Director General of Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin on his Facebook page.

Competition in the space launch market is getting tougher every year, which pushes developers to various unusual solutions. So, a small private firm SpinLaunch can test its revolutionary method of launching satellites using a centrifuge.

The Russian Space Systems Holding (RKS, part of the State Corporation ROSCOSMOS) has completed work on improving the multi-zone scanning devices of the advanced hydrometeorological satellites of the Electro-L, Arktika-M, Meteor-M and Canopus series as part of the development of on-board systems of the Earth remote sensing (ERS) spacecraft.

In 2021, the intensity of combat training in the Russian Armed Forces will increase

In 2020, the geography of challenges for Russia has expanded, the role of military force in solving international problems has increased, the Ministry of Defense notes. In this regard, it is of particular importance to maintain the combat capability and combat readiness of the army and navy at the required level. "Newspaper.Ru " analyzed what activities of combat and operational training will be carried out in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in 2021.

Thales Alenia Space and the European Space Agency have signed an agreement to create an ESPRIT module for the future Gateway space station. The contract amount is almost 300 million euros.

Hundreds of spacecraft fragments threaten big problems

A Japanese startup decided to clean up a little in space and launch a device for cleaning up space debris. Scientists have already delivered their device to Baikonur to send the device into space in March along with the Soyuz spacecraft.

In the coming year, the program of re-equipping the Strategic Missile Forces with new equipment should be completed

In the coming years, Russia's strategic nuclear forces will reach a fundamentally new level. Already in 2021, they will be equipped with only the most modern equipment.

Gazprom and Roscosmos have signed a cooperation agreement under which the production of

civil spacecraft, in particular Yamal satellites and Earth-sensing devices, will be created, the gas holding said in a statement. The production will be established in the Moscow region.