Military/Aerospace Electronics

The European Space Agency (ESA) has awarded Tyvak International a €4.5 million ($4.7 million) contract for a “proximity operations and in-orbit servicing mission” that will deploy a nanosatellite spacecraft from Space Rider. This is the planned European uncrewed robotic laboratory. Tyvak – specifically, the Italian corporate entity of the organisation – will be the prime contractor for the project that ...

Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA), the Bavarian rocket company, has announced a partnership with Yuri and ATMOS Space for the launch of ‘Eva’, an end-to-end service for microgravity life science research and product development. ATMOS Space Cargo develops reusable and modular return space capsules designed for scientific payloads, experiments, and equipment, while Yuri develops modular bioreactors and incubators to be used, ...

A new framework to add resilience for Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) satellite information – involving sectors such as emergency services and banking – has been announced by the UK government. It involves the creation of our new National PNT Office, an updated PNT Crisis Plan to be activated if Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) providing PNT were lost, a ...

The European Space Agency (ESA) has been conducting a technology demonstration of a wheeled robot for precise sample collections without human intervention. The reddish terrain is in Stevenage, not yet Mars. The rover is pictured, navigating the terrain of a quarry on its own and retrieving an object. The sample tubes, explains ESA, are a replica of the hermetically sealed ...

Skyrora and Viasat will demonstrate the transmission of data beyond the horizon line without relying on ground stations following the award of a contract by the European Space Agency (ESA). Dubbed InRange, the demonstration system will feature a space-based launch vehicle telemetry relay, which will “benefit launch vehicle providers across the industry globally”. Basically, it will use geostationary satellites to ...

Powerbox has announced a ruggedised 1,200W ac-dc power supply for ground-based defense applications and harsh industrial environments. Called OFD1200A and suitable for use inside sealed enclosures, it has a metal chassis and requires cooling by conduction though its baseplate – which needs to be maintained between -40 and +95°C (derating applies sometimes – see the product manual). Shock and vibration ...

A government contract, worth £88 million, has been placed with UK company Smiths Detection to develop chemical sensing equipment to protect UK Armed Forces. The UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) say the sensor technology will have the capability to detect and monitor the presence of toxic industrial chemicals, including chemical warfare agents. The government describes it a first ...

SatVu has received the first high resolution thermal imagery from its recently launched satellite HOTSAT-1, which the company describes as a world-first. HOTSAT-1, pictured right, is the first of a planned eight-satellite constellation. Designed and manufactured in the UK in partnership with Surrey Satellite Technologies, it features a 3.5m resolution mid-wave infrared imager with video capability, while maintaining a sensitivity ...

Viasat has launched its student-focused ‘Viasat Beyond: Space’ competition, to “support the next generation of UK engineers, artists, space lovers, and scientists”. The STEM challenge is to submit ideas and suggestions for a safe and sustainable UK space sector, with students in years 12 and 13 from schools around the UK (and their equivalents in Scotland) working individually or in ...

Astroscale UK is highlighting the space sector’s contribution to the wider UK economy, in terms of job creation and regional development. The company – a specialist in space debris removal – has shared a study of its own economic impact, marking the anniversary of opening its UK facility at the Harwell Science & Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire. The site includes ...