Page 15 - Space

China launches signal relay satellite for mission to far side of moon

The moon's near side always faces Earth. That means data transfers from the far side are impossible as there is no direct line of sight

US seeks UN resolution calling on nations to ban nuclear weapons in space

The United States and Japan are sponsoring a UN Security Council resolution calling on all nations not to deploy or develop nuclear weapons in space, the US ambassador has announced. Linda Thomas-Greenfield told a UN Security Council meeting on Monday that "any placement of nuclear weapons into orbit around the Earth would be unprecedented, dangerous, and unacceptable". The announcement that the US and Japan had circulated a resolution follows White House confirmation last month that Russia has obtained a "troubling" anti-satellite weapon capability, although such a weapon is not operational yet. Russian President Vladimir Putin declared later that Moscow has no intention of deploying nuclear weapons in space, claiming that the country has only developed space capabilities similar to those of the US. The Outer Space Treaty ratified by about 114 countries including the United States and Russia prohibits the deployment of "nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass ...

SpaceX's Starship successfully lifts off, but crashes before last stage

SpaceX came close to completing an hourlong test flight of its mega rocket on its third try on Thursday, but the spacecraft was lost as it descended back to Earth. The company said it lost contact with Starship as it neared its goal, a splashdown in the Indian Ocean. Until then, most everything had gone well following liftoff from the southern tip of Texas near the Mexican border. The ship has been lost. So no splashdown today, said SpaceX's Dan Huot. But again, it's incredible to see how much further we got this time around. Two test flights last year both ended in explosions minutes after liftoff. By surviving for close to 50 minutes this time, Thursday's effort was considered a win by not only SpaceX's Elon Musk, but NASA as well as Starship soared higher and farther than ever before. The space agency is counting on Starship to land its astronauts on the moon in another few years. The nearly 400-foot (121-meter) Starship, the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built, headed o

SpaceX faces hearing on engineers fired after criticising Musk over sexism

Starbucks, Amazon.com and Trader Joe's, all of which are facing nationwide union organizing campaigns, have raised similar arguments in pending board cases

Russia mulls putting nuclear power plant on moon with China: Report

Borisov, a former deputy defence minister, said that Russia and China had been jointly working on a lunar programme and that Moscow was able to contribute with its expertise on "nuclear space energy"

'India targets 5-fold increase in share of global space economy by 2030'

Union minister Dr Jitendra Singh on Tuesday said the Centre has set the target of increasing the share of the Indian space sector five-fold by 2030 - from the current 2 per cent to 10 per cent. Singh, the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology, made the statement after inaugurating "IN-SPACe Technical Centre' at the headquarters of the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) in Bopal area of Ahmedabad city. Addressing a gathering after the inauguration, he said there was a time when the world did not take India very seriously in the space sector, while it is the other way round now. "Our target is to take the space economy from 2 per cent to 10 per cent by 2030, a five-fold increase. And as per our vision document, we have mentioned 15 per cent by 2047. That is 15 per cent share in the global space economy," he said. "India's space economy today stands at a modest USD 8 billion, but our own projection is that by 2040 it .

Analysts remain selective on space-related stocks as govt eases FDI norms

Valuations wise, most are trading at price to equity multiples of 50-100 times on a 12-month trailing basis, data from BSE shows. Apollo Micro Systems, for instance, commands a PE of 152 times

Aditya-L1 mission's 'PAPA' detects first solar wind impact from the Sun

Advanced sensors of a payload on board India's maiden solar mission Aditya-L1 have successfully detected the impact of coronal mass ejections (CMEs), according to ISRO. The payload -- Plasma Analyser Package for Aditya (PAPA) -- is an energy and mass analyser designed for in-situ measurements of solar wind electrons and ions in the low energy range, the space agency noted. It has two sensors: the Solar Wind Electron Energy Probe (SWEEP, measuring electrons in the energy range of 10 eV to 3 keV) and the Solar Wind Ion Composition Analyser (SWICAR, measuring ions in the energy range of 10 eV to 25 keV and mass range of 1-60 amu). The sensors are also equipped to measure the direction of arrival of solar wind particles. The data collected by PAPA, developed by the Space Physics Laboratory and Avionics Entity of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, revealed the occurrence of CME events, notably on December 15, 2023, and during February 10-11, 2024. "The CME on December 15, 2023, was a ..

Space industry says easing of FDI norms will pave way for innovation

India's nascent private space industry on Thursday welcomed the easing of FDI policy for the sector, terming it as a "pivotal move" to boost investments and help the country increase its share in the global space economy. "The easing of FDI norms will have a similar impact on the space sector as the 1991 liberalisation policy had on the overall economy," Tushar Jadhav, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Manastu Space told PTI. Industry leaders said the government decision to permit 100 per cent overseas investment in making components for satellites and up to 49 per cent FDI through the automatic route for launch vehicles and associated systems or subsystems, creation of spaceports for launching and receiving spacecraft has given the much needed clarity for the sector. Several industry leaders cited examples of how foreign investors were hesitant to invest in the space sector through the government route, which was the case earlier, due to a series of approvals that were require

Govt eases FDI norms in space sector; 100% in satellites components

The government on Wednesday eased Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) norms in the space sector by allowing 100 per cent overseas investment in making components for satellites, as part of efforts to attract overseas players and private companies into the segment. The decision was taken at the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Now, the satellite sub-sector has been divided into three different activities with defined limits for foreign investment in each such sector, according to an official statement. Presently, FDI in the space sector is allowed up to 100 per cent in the area of satellite establishment and operations through government route only. By changing the current policy, the government has allowed up to 74 per cent FDI under automatic route in satellites-manufacturing and operation, satellite data products, and ground and user segments. Beyond this limit, government approval will be required in these areas for FDI, it said. Up to 49 per cent FDI is al

Putin says Russia has no intention of putting nuclear weapons in space

Russian President Vladimir Putin declared on Tuesday that Moscow has no intention of deploying nuclear weapons in space, claiming that the country has only developed space capabilities similar to those of the US. Putin's statement follows the White House confirmation last week that Russia has obtained a troubling anti-satellite weapon capability, although such a weapon is not operational yet. White House national security spokesman John Kirby said it would violate the international Outer Space Treaty, but declined to comment on whether the weapon is nuclear-capable. The treaty signed by more than 130 countries, including Russia, prohibits the deployment of nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction in orbit or the stationing of weapons in outer space in any other manner. The White House said it would look to engage the Russians directly on the concerns. Our position is quite clear and transparent: we have always been and remain categorically opposed to the ...

Ananth Technologies claims crucial role in 55 modules for launch system

For the satellite INSAT-3DS, ATL has supplied complete power control system, solar array generation system, power distribution system, DC-DC power converters, star sensors

Countdown for launch of INSAT-3DS meteorological satellite begins: Isro

The countdown for the launch of INSAT-3DS meteorological satellite onboard a Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle commenced on Friday, the ISRO said on Friday. The lift-off for the GSLV-F14 in its 16th mission is scheduled at 5.35 pm on Saturday from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. The INSAT-3DS satellite is a follow-on mission of the third generation meteorological satellite to be placed in a geostationary orbit, and it is fully funded by the Ministry of Earth Sciences. "GSLV-F14/INSAT-3DS Mission: 27.5 hours countdown leading to the launch on February 17, 2024 at 17.35 hrs has commenced" ISRO said.

Elon Musk pushes forward on transfer of legal home for SpaceX to Texas

Elon Musk is looking to move the legal home of SpaceX to Texas from Delaware after a judge in that state voided the billionaire's USD 55.8 billion Tesla pay package. A certificate of conversion for Space Exploration Technologies Corp. was filed to reincorporate in Texas from Delaware, which became effective on Wednesday. SpaceX has moved its state of incorporation from Delaware to Texas! If your company is still incorporated in Delaware, I recommend moving to another state as soon as possible, Musk said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. The change by SpaceX comes just days after Musk's brain implant company Neuralink moved its legal corporate home from Delaware to Nevada. Musk is a co-founder of the privately held Neuralink. Most corporations set up legal shop in Delaware because state law is typically favorable to corporations and experts say the change could backfire. Last month Delaware Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick invalidated the pay package that Tesla ..

Beyond Pluto: Hunt for the elusive Planet Nine set to intensify this year

With the Vera Rubin Observatory due to start operating in mid-2024, the hope is that the mystery around the planet will be solved

India's ambitious plans on space station on track: Chandrayaan-3 director

India's ambitious plans to have its own space station by 2035 and have an Indian astronaut on the moon by 2040 are progressing on track, Project Director of ISRO's Chandrayaan-3 mission, P Veeramuthuvel said on Saturday. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ISRO chairman have already said that by 2040 we should have an Indian astronaut on the moon and also to have our space station by 2035. These are very ambitious plans that ISRO has taken up and we are working towards that, he told PTI here. On ISRO's success in bringing back the Propulsion Module (PM) of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft to Earth's orbit, Veeramuthuvel said, as far as Chandrayaan-3 is concerned, the lander and rover mission successfully completed one lunar day. We successfully completed the hop on experiment wherein we used the same engine where we landed and again we operated the payload for one earth day, the ISRO scientist added. The propulsion module which was supposed to orbit around the moon met all the mission ..

Space regulator IN-SPACe release plans for 30 launches over next 14 months

India's space regulator IN-SPACe on Thursday said about 30 space launches, including seven by private startups Skyroot and Agnikul, are scheduled in the fourth quarter of 2023-24 and the next fiscal. The Integrated Launch Manifesto for space launches announced by the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) include seven launches related to the Gaganyaan mission, two launches each of ISRO's newest rocket the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) and the warhorse PSLV developed by an industry consortium. Chennai-based Agnikul Cosmos is scheduled to launch its first 3-D printed rocket Agnibaan-SOrTeD for the fourth quarter of the current fiscal year. The maiden flight of the Agnibaan rocket will be a sub-orbital mission. The other launches this fiscal year include that of GSLV-F14 to put the INSAT-3DS satellite in orbit to augment weather forecasting, disaster management, and related meteorological services. The third development flight of SSLV is also ...

History set to be made: India's first pvt launchpad readies for takeoff

Agnibaan is a two stage launch vehicle with the capability to carry up to 100 kilo gram payload to an extent of around 700 km to the lower earth orbit

MRPL earns certification from IAQG for distribution of aviation fuel

The Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) has been certified with AS9100:D standard prepared by International Aerospace Quality Group (IAQG) to assure customer satisfaction in aviation, space, and defence organisations under the scope of 'production, storage, testing and distribution of aviation turbine fuel.' MRPL is India's first refinery to get this new aerospace standard. The aerospace industry demands the utmost precision, reliability, and safety in its supply chain. As a certified organisation, MRPL is now well-positioned to serve as a trusted partner to aerospace companies within India and globally, a release from the MRPL said on Wednesday. The standard ensures the interaction and configuration of various processes, from sourcing raw materials to the final product certification. The certification process involves a stage audit of the entire life cycle of ATF, involving production criticalities like the addition of qualified additives and catalysts, ...

China accuses US of 'exaggerating threat in space' to boost forces

Wang Wenbin's remarks came after the US Space Force released an assessment report, which claimed that Russia and China are designing and testing counter-space weapons