Military/Aerospace Electronics

The third generation of Meteosat satellites (Meteosat Third Generation – MTG) are poised to ensure the continuity of data for weather forecasting for the next two decades, says the European Space Agency (ESA). MTG will improve the current imager capabilities, with real-time lightning imaging and an all-new infrared sounding capability for early detection of severe storms. The companies involved include Thales ...

OneWeb, the satellite company partially owned by the UK government, has signed an insurance agreement for an aggregate insured value of more than $1 billion for its LEO satellite launches. The contract is with the New York-based insurance broker and risk advisor Marsh, which has arranged a multi-launch insurance programme. This will cover physical loss or damage to the remaining ...

The James Webb Space Telescope has successfully completed its final tests and is being prepared for shipment ahead of its launch into space. Specifically, the replacement for the Hubble Telescope – a joint NASA, European Space Agency (ESA) and Canada Space Agency (CSA) – will now be shipped to its launch site at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. Tests were ...

Four organisations have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on a moon mining rover with a multipurpose robotics arm using virtual reality. It will be for “in situ resource utilization” (ISRU) activities on the Moon. The four are: ispace (including ispace Europe SA), Stardust Technologies, the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and EXPLOR Space Technologies. The proposed collaboration will ...

Skywater, the US military foundry, is to fab Carillon Technologies’ Holographic Optical Beam Steering (HOBS) chips for satellite and other free-space optical communications (FSOC) applications. aHOBS technology was invented and is being developed for Automotive LIDAR applications by Carillon partner Lumotive. In partnership with DARPA, Carillon is onshoring HOBS technology, standing up a complete design, manufacturing, packaging and test supply ...

With space debris an ever growing problem, Astroscale has announced the successful completion of Phase 3A of its ELSA-d mission (End-of-Life Services by Astroscale-demonstration). It successfully tested its ability to capture its client spacecraft using the servicer’s magnetic system, in a demonstration performed on 25 August 25. Basically, the procedure was a validation of ELSA-d’s ability to dock with a ...

One to record: The U.S. Space Force (USSF) has activated its third and final field command, its Space Training and Readiness Command, dubbed STARCOM. At a ceremony at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado last week, Brig. Gen. Shawn N. Bratton, Air National Guard assumed its command. “Today marks a significant milestone for the U.S. Space Force,” said overall Chief of ...

New research published suggests that commercial space revenue grew 6.6% in 2020, exceeding $356 billion, despite the Covid-19 pandemic. Space Foundation released “The Space Report 2021 36th Annual Space Symposium Special Edition” at the Symposium, which took place earlier in the week at Colorado Springs. Headline points include infrastructure and support industries growing the most, by 16.4%, surpassing $137 billion. ...

Lockheed Martin has created a novel millimetre-wave dish antenna for satellites and ground terminals, particularly for space-based 5G communication. Called ‘wide angle ESA fed reflector’ (Waefr), it is a hybrid of a phased array electronically steerable antenna (ESA) and a parabolic dish, and is claimed to increases coverage area by 190% compared to traditional phased array antennas, at lower cost. ...

iSpace – the lunar space transportation company based in Tokyo – has unveiled its next generation lunar lander, dubbed Series 2. It will first be used for the company’s third lunar mission. The new design of the lander sees an increase in size and payload design capacity. Standing at approximately 9 ft tall and 14 ft wide (approx. 2.7 m ...