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Category: satellites

China has begun launching satellites for a giant computer network in space, according to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

Newsweek contacted the company and the United States Space Force for comment.

Why It Matters

Space is an increasing frontier for competition between China and the United States. Putting a computer network in space marks a step change from using satellites for sensing and communications, but leaving them dependent on their connections to Earth for data processing.

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A new study combining satellite imagery with genetic analysis reveals that climate and land use changes are driving increased vegetation growth in Europe’s mountain regions, ultimately leading to a decline in the genetic diversity of medicinal plants such as Greek mountain tea. Mountain regions a.

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An international team of astronomers reports the discovery of two new exoplanets, a few times more massive than Earth, orbiting a sun-like star known as HD 35843. The finding was reported in a research paper published May 1 on the arXiv pre-print server.

To date, NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has identified more than 7,600 candidate exoplanets (TESS Objects of Interest, or TOI), of which 622 have been confirmed by follow-up observations. The satellite’s main aim is to complete a survey of about 200,000 of the nearest brightest stars, searching for transiting exoplanets—from small, rocky worlds to gaseous giants.

HD 35,843, or TOI 4,189, is a metal-poor G-dwarf star with a radius of approximately 0.9 solar radii and mass comparable to that of the sun. TESS observed this star between 2018 and 2022, which resulted in the detection of a transit signal in its light curve.

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When it comes to creating images of the earth from above, satellites, drones, planes and spacecraft are what tend to come to mind. But a startup called Near Space Labs is taking a very different approach to taking high-resolution photos from up high.

Near Space Labs is building aircraft that are raised by helium balloons and then rely on air currents to stay up, move around to take pictures from the stratosphere, and eventually glide back down to earth. On the back of significant traction with customers using its images, the startup has now raised $20 million to expand its business.

Bold Capital Partners (a VC firm founded by Peter Diamandis of XPRIZE and Singularity University fame), is leading the Series B round. Strategic backer USAA (the U.S. Automobile Association) is also investing alongside Climate Capital, Gaingels, River Park Ventures, and previous backers Crosslink Capital, Third Sphere, Draper Associates, and others that are not being named. Near Space Labs has now raised over $40 million, including a $13 million Series A in 2021.

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A perfect storm of range restrictions and suboptimal weather seems to finally be clearing for Firefly Aerospace. After delaying the flight of their sixth Alpha rocket for more than a month, the company announced a new launch window, which opens on Sunday.

Onboard the rocket, designated FLTA006 by Firefly Aerospace, is a technology demonstration for Lockheed Martin’s LM400 satellite bus. The mission, dubbed ‘Message in a Booster,’ has its first launch opportunity during a window that runs from 6:37–7:29 a.m. PDT (9:37–10:29 a.m. EDT, 1337–1429 UTC).

That roughly one-hour window is the first opportunity in a five-day stretch approved by the Western Range. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 2 West (SLC-2W) at Vandenberg Space Force Base is contingent upon good weather and Firefly Aerospace said it will “continue to evaluate wind conditions” as the planned launch day approaches.

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“When weather conditions become more favorable, collection of new gas data will help us improve this assessment,” it added.

Cloudy weather has rendered AVO planes, helicopters and satellites useless for data collection since March 21, the agency said.

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India’s space program is gaining momentum with astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla’s upcoming trip to the ISS as part of the Axiom-4 mission, marking the second Indian in space. Following this, the joint Indo-US NISAR satellite, a significant Earth observation project, is scheduled for launch in June. These missions highlight India’s growing capabilities and international collaborations in space exploration.

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