Space Industry Analysis
Dec 31, 2012
Asian investors continue to take big stakes in the aircraft leasing market. A consortium of three Chinese investors plans to close on a deal to acquire the International Lease Finance Corp. That follows earlier sales of Jackson Square Aviation and the Royal Bank of Scotland's aircraft leasing business to Japanese buyers and Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise's acquisition by the Bank of China.
Dec 31, 2012
Unmanned vehicles able to accompany troops and alleviate their loads have made a debut in Afghanistan, but if autonomous systems are truly to carry the burden they must be able to go wherever the soldiers go. Darpa's Agency's Legged Squad Support System (LS3) program aims to develop a four-legged robot that can carry 400 lb. and follow soldiers over rugged terrain, interacting like a trained animal with its handler. After initial outdoor trials early in 2012, Boston Dynamics is refining its LS3 for a U.S. Marine Corps field exercise in 2014.
Dec 31, 2012
Nothing reveals the political nature of this year's debate over across-the-board budget cuts as much as the dramatic change of discourse in the weeks leading to the deadline for preventing them. After a year of hearings, press conferences and road shows clamoring for a stop to sequestration, lawmakers and the Obama administration are now met with the deadline. Late last week, they appeared to have rationalized missing it.
Dec 31, 2012
Aurigny is first European operator to use satellite approach system
Dec 31, 2012
Unmanned vessels are about to take a leap in capability, on the surface and beneath. The desire for persistent sensing is driving the need to develop fully autonomous, long-duration vehicles that can covertly patrol coastal waters or overtly follow submerged submarines. The U.S. Office of Naval Research plans to build prototypes of the Large-Displacement Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (LDUUV) to address the autonomy, sensing and energy challenges of a vessel able to operate independently for months.
Dec 31, 2012
To lower costs, Pentagon could turn milsat procurement on its head.
Jul 23, 2020
British lawmakers have expressed concern that the government’s decision to invest in the failed OneWeb satellite constellation ignored input from advisers.
Jul 23, 2020
The U.S. has released evidence that Russia conducted a “nondestructive” test July 15 of a space-based, anti-satellite weapon (ASAT).
Jul 23, 2020
A Long March 5 rocket launched the first all-Chinese mission to Mars on July 23, placing the 5-metric-ton Tianwen 1 spacecraft directly into an Earth-Mars transfer orbit.
Jul 22, 2020
An international team of astronomers has directly imaged a very young, Sun-like star with multiple large planets—a first that may help astronomers better understand how our Solar System’s planets formed and evolved.
Jul 22, 2020
Space situational awareness provider LeoLabs is to locate its fourth space radar in Costa Rica.
Jul 21, 2020
NASA astronauts Chris Cassidy and Bob Behnken teamed July 21 for their fourth and final planned spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS) over the past month.
Jul 21, 2020
The modernized version of the Russian Rockot light launch vehicle is gradually taking shape, as the technical design of the new Rockot-M variant is complete, according to Russian media reports.
Jul 20, 2020
Fifty-two days after launching a crewed capsule to space on May 30, SpaceX recovered the first stage again during a mission to deliver a South Korean military communications satellite to space