September 17, 2023

China Builds New Radio Telescope to Support Lunar, Deep-Space Missions (Source: Xinhua)
China launched the construction of a 40-meter-aperture radio telescope in Shigatse, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, on Friday, to offer technical support for the country's lunar and deep-space probe missions in the future. The telescope, developed by Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (SHAO) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, will be added to a very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) network in China. (9/16)

Over 140 Private Firms Ready to Send Satellites on ISRO’s Launch Vehicles (Source: The Hindu)
Over 140 private firms are showing interest in sending their satellites into the space by the trustworthy launch vehicles of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), former Chairman of the space agency K. Sivan said. (9/15)

Rockets and Porsches: Rich Russians Flock to Baikonur Spaceport (Source: Macau Business)
Everyone should witness a rocket launch in their lifetime, says Yevgeniya Degtyarnikova as she watches the rollout of a Soyuz from its hangar in the vast steppes of Kazakhstan. “Unfortunately, my husband could not come so I am fulfilling my dream and his,” said the 35-year-old from the city of Tyumen in western Siberia. “I will bring my entire family here. This is the place that everyone must visit,” she told AFP at the Russian-operated Baikonur spaceport.

Degtyarnikova, the owner of an amusement park, has forked out over 200,000 rubles (more than $2,000) for a week-long tour to Baikonur which included viewing a rocket launch on Friday. She was one of a few hundred spectators who excitedly watched a Soyuz slowly emerge from its hangar, laid on its side, this week. (9/16)

General Atomics Acquires Electro-Optical Sensor Supplier EO Vista (Source: Space News)
Defense contractor General Atomics announced Sept. 15 it acquired EO Vista, a supplier of space and airborne electro-optical sensors. The value of the acquisition was not disclosed. EO Vista, based in Acton, Massachusetts, will be integrated into the General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) group. (9/16)

Senator Warren Presses Pentagon on L3 Harris Deal to Buy Aerojet (Source: Reuters)
Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat who wants more mergers scrutinized, questioned Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin about the Pentagon's role in the approval in July of L3 Harris Technologies' purchase of Aerojet Rocketdyne at a time when the number of defense contractors is at a historic low. L3 Harris said on July 26 it was informed that the Federal Trade Commission would not block its $4.7 billion deal for Aerojet Rocketdyne. It closed the deal within days. (9/15)

How two SATCOM Companies are Responding to Starlink’s Dominance (Source: C4ISRnet)
SpaceX, with its 5,000-satellite Starlink fleet, has a hedge on the satellite communication market, but executives at U.K.-based OneWeb and Luxembourg-based Intelsat said they see opportunities to join the behemoth in meeting increasing connectivity demands. “We’ve got a supply problem — it’s a good problem to have,” he said. “There’s plenty of room for us and Starlink in terms of meeting the world’s connectivity problems in the short term. And of course, others are going to be coming online.” (9/15)

Service Was a Second Chance for the Space Force's Enlisted Leader (Source: Military.com)
Roger Towberman vividly remembers selling his 1976 Pontiac Catalina. The one he'd curl up in for a couple of hours of sleep each night as he panhandled and chased the dreams of a musician decades earlier. The one he'd traded to a gas station attendant for a hot dinner, shower tokens and a duffel bag to haul his belongings after it exhaled its last breaths and he had to hitchhike home. Click here. (9/15)

Greek-French Deal on Space Technology Inked (Source: Ekathimerini)
French company Promethee and Greek company Terra Spatium, both of which are engaged in space technology with applications for better responses to natural disasters and strengthening of space assets, signed a strategic cooperation agreement on Friday at the French Embassy in the presence of Maximos Senetakis, the deputy minister of development. (9/16)

Neutrinos: 'Ghost Particles' Can Interact With Light After All (Source: Science Alert)
Neutrinos, the tricky little particles that just stream through the Universe like it's virtually nothing, may actually interact with light after all. According to new calculations, interactions between neutrinos and photons can take place in powerful magnetic fields that can be found in the plasma wrapped around stars. It's a discovery that could help us understand why the Sun's atmosphere is so much hotter than its surface. (9/17)