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https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/Copernicus/Future_of_Copernicus_Expansion_Missions_secured
Future of Copernicus Expansion Missions secured
17/10/2024
The Copernicus Sentinel Expansion Missions are a major leap forward in Europe’s Earth observation capabilities.
With the United Kingdom’s re-entry to the EU’s Copernicus programme, funding has been confirmed to complete the development of all six Copernicus Sentinel Expansion Missions, as discussed this week during the International Astronautical Congress taking place in Milan, Italy.
Copernicus is served by a set of six dedicated satellite families, the Sentinels, which are specifically designed to meet the needs of the Copernicus services and their users.
The Copernicus Sentinel Expansion Missions will further bolster these efforts, providing even deeper insights into the dynamics of our planet.
With missions such as CO2M to track greenhouse gas emissions, CIMR to provide detailed insights into sea ice and the polar environment, CHIME to gather hyperspectral observations from Earth’s surface, CRISTAL to monitor ice thickness and change, LSTM to map land-surface temperature variations, and ROSE-L to improve radar observations, users will be equipped with a wider range of precise data on the state of our planet.
ESA’s Director of Earth Observation Programmes, Simonetta Cheli, said, “The decision by the UK Government to participate to the EU Copernicus Programme has been essential to secure the completion of the Copernicus Sentinel Expansion Missions.
These missions are critical for addressing EU policy and gaps in Copernicus user needs, and to expand the current capabilities of the Copernicus Space Component.”
CO2M: Copernicus Anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide Monitoring
The Copernicus Anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide Monitoring (CO2M) mission will be the first of the Sentinel Expansion Missions to be launched.
The constellation includes a total of three satellites, CO2M-A and CO2M-B currently under development, and CO2M-C whose implementation will be initiated in 2025.
The CO2M satellites will orbit Earth in Sun-synchronous orbits, at an altitude of 735 km.
CO2M's main goal is to help us track greenhouse gas emitters and transparently assess which nations are on track to meet the emissions targets set by the Paris Climate Change Agreement.
The satellites will look at three important metrics in the fight against climate change: carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide emissions from human sources.
CIMR: Copernicus Imaging Microwave Radiometer Mission
The Copernicus Imaging Microwave Radiometer Mission (CIMR) will provide decision-makers with evidence of change and impact in the polar regions – with a focus on the Arctic.
The mission, comprising a constellation of two satellites, features the largest radiometer developed by ESA to provide high-resolution measurements of sea-ice concentration, sea-surface temperature, sea-surface salinity and snow.
CIMR places the Arctic in a global context to support solutions for this fragile region and to combat the effects of climate change worldwide.
Positioned in quasi-polar orbits, the A-satellite will follow near-circular, Sun-synchronous orbits, allowing scientists to closely observe changes over time in ice- and sea-covered regions.
CHIME: Copernicus Hyperspectral Imaging Mission
The Copernicus Hyperspectral Imaging Mission for the Environment, or CHIME, is being developed to support EU policies on the management of natural resources – ultimately helping to address the global issue of food security.
CHIME will carry a unique visible to shortwave infrared spectrometer to provide routine hyperspectral observations to support new and enhanced services for sustainable agricultural and biodiversity management, as well as soil property characterisation.
CHIME consists of constellation of two satellites, CHIME-A and CHIME-B, that will orbit Earth in a Sun-synchronous orbit at an average altitude of 632 km, covering land around the globe.
CRISTAL: Copernicus Polar Ice and Snow Topography Altimeter
The Copernicus Polar Ice and Snow Topography Altimeter (CRISTAL) mission will provide a full picture of the changes taking place in some of the most inhospitable regions of the world.
It will carry – for the first time – a dual-frequency radar altimeter and microwave radiometer, that will measure and monitor sea-ice thickness, overlying snow depth and ice-sheet elevations.
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These data will support maritime operations in the polar oceans and contribute to a better understanding of climate processes.
CRISTAL will also support applications related to coastal and inland waters, as well as providing observations of ocean topography.
CRISTAL follows-on from ESA’s CryoSat mission, but consists of two identical altimetry satellites, A- and B-units, allowing to ensure the continuity of measurements well within the next decade.
LSTM: Land Surface Temperature Monitoring
The upcoming Copernicus Land Surface Temperature Monitoring, LSTM, mission will improve sustainable agricultural productivity in a world of increasing water scarcity and variability.
The mission will carry a high spatial-temporal resolution thermal infrared sensor to provide observations of land-surface temperature.
These data are key to understand and respond to climate variability, manage water resources for agricultural production, predict droughts and also to address land degradation.
The LSTM mission will provide actionable information to improve sustainable agricultural productivity and adapt to climate variability.
The mission consists of a constellation of two satellites, LSTM-A and LSTM-B. The satellites will operate in a low-Earth polar orbit with a combined two-day revisit period at the equator.
ROSE-L: Radar Observing System for Europe in L-band
The Copernicus Radar Observation System for Europe in L-band (ROSE-L) will provide continuous day-and-night all-weather monitoring of Earth’s land, oceans and ice, and offer frequent observations of Earth’s surface at a high spatial resolution.
ROSE-L, features a constellation of two satellites, that will operate in a Sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 693 km and will carry one instrument: the ROSE-L Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), designed to provide high-resolution, all-weather imaging with a spatial resolution of 5–10 m. The radar antenna will be the largest deployable planar antenna ever built measuring an impressive 40 sq m.
ROSE-L will deliver many benefits including essential information on forests and land cover, leading to improved monitoring of the terrestrial carbon cycle and carbon accounting.
The mission will also greatly extend our ability to monitor minute surface displacements and helping detect geohazards.
It will automatically map surface soil moisture conditions over land helping improve hydrology and weather forecasts and support the operational monitoring of sea and land ice across the Arctic.
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SpiderOak announces open-source initiative for zero-trust cybersecurity
October 17, 2024
The cybersecurity firm SpiderOak announced Oct. 17 that it will make its encryption-based software open source.
This allows external developers to contribute to the project and improve security features through collaboration.
SpiderOak’s software is sold to U.S. government agencies, as well as companies in the space and defense sectors.
The company uses a zero-trust cybersecurity architecture, which assumes no entity is trustworthy by default.
Open-source projects allow public access to the software’s code, enabling third parties to inspect, modify, and improve it, which can lead to faster identification and resolution of vulnerabilities.
Project ‘Aranya’
The open-source project, called Aranya, offers the same protections as the OrbitSecure platform used by the Defense Department, SpiderOak said in a news release.
“Technology manufacturers will be able to embed and extend these same zero-trust protections natively into their own systems,” the company said.
“OrbitSecure customer-specific code remains safely kept on closed SpiderOak networks and is not nor ever included in the open-source releases.”
“Nothing is changing in the execution of our contracts,” SpiderOak said in a statement.
OrbitSecure is a cybersecurity platform designed for space systems that uses distributed-ledger technology for managing encryption keys.
This decentralized system allows for continuous operations even in disconnected or contested environments,
SpiderOak last year demonstrated OrbitSecure aboard the International Space Station.
With the Aranya project the company is seeking to harden systems against increasingly sophisticated AI assisted attacks including malware, ransomware, command injection and spoofing techniques.
Satellite software manufacturers, for example, could use Aranya to embed protections across entire networks.
“By open sourcing the core technology, we’re providing both the defense and commercial industries with a critical tool to cyber harden their most important systems and protect the critical operations these systems support,” said Charles Beames, executive chairman of SpiderOak.
SpiderOak’s Aranya project is available for GitHub members.
“Non-SpiderOak contributions are both analyzed by automated malware scanning services as well as carefully reviewed by security-trained developers before inclusion,” the company said.
https://spacenews.com/spideroak-announces-open-source-initiative-for-zero-trust-cybersecurity/
NASA further delays first operational Starliner flight
October 17, 2024
NASA will use SpaceX’s Crew Dragon for its two crew rotation missions to the International Space Station in 2025 as it continues to evaluate if it will require Boeing to perform another test flight of its Starliner spacecraft.
In an Oct. 15 statement, NASA said it will use Crew Dragon for both the Crew-10 mission to the ISS, scheduled for no earlier than February 2025, and the Crew-11 mission scheduled for no earlier than July.
Crew-10 will fly NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers along with astronaut Takuya Onishi from the Japanese space agency JAXA and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov. NASA has not yet announced the crew for the Crew-11 mission.
Earlier this year, NASA had hoped that Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner would be certified in time to fly the early 2025 mission.
Problems with the Crew Flight Test mission, which launched in June with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on board, led NASA to conclude in July that the spacecraft would not be certified in time.
It delayed that Starliner-1 mission from February to August 2025, moving up Crew-10 to February.
NASA also announced then that it would prepare Crew-11 in parallel with Starliner-1 for launch in that August 2025 slot.
“The timing and configuration of Starliner’s next flight will be determined once a better understanding of Boeing’s path to system certification is established,” NASA said in its statement about the 2025 missions.
“NASA is keeping options on the table for how best to achieve system certification, including windows of opportunity for a potential Starliner flight in 2025.”
NASA has not provided any updates on the reviews of Starliner’s Crew Flight Test mission, which ended Sept. 7 with an uncrewed landing in New Mexico after NASA concluded it was safer to have Wilmore and Williams return on the Crew-9 Crew Dragon mission in early 2025.
At the time of Starliner’s return, agency officials suggested they could still proceed directly to Starliner-1 despite thruster problems and helium leaks with the spacecraft.
“It’s under data review. We need to have a decision: do we need another test flight?”
NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy said when asked about the status of the Starliner review at a press conference during the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) here Oct. 16. She added there was no timeline for completing that data review.
Another open issue for future commercial crew flights is whether NASA and Roscosmos will continue to exchange seats between Soyuz and commercial crew vehicles.
Such “integrated crews,” where NASA astronauts fly on Soyuz spacecraft and Roscosmos cosmonauts on Crew Dragon, is meant to ensure both agencies maintain a presence on the station if either spacecraft is grounded for an extended period.
Currently, no NASA astronauts are assigned to Soyuz spacecraft beyond Jonny Kim on the next Soyuz mission to the ISS, Soyuz MS-27 in March 2025.
Roscosmos officials released in August crew manifests for the following two Soyuz flights, Soyuz MS-28 in late 2025 and Soyuz MS-29 in 2026, that were comprised entirely of Roscosmos cosmonauts.
At another IAC press conference Oct. 15, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson expressed confidence that NASA and Roscosmos would agree to extend the seat barter agreement.
“That’s coming in due course. It will be a normal negotiation,” he said. “We fully expect that the flights will continue to be integrated.”
https://spacenews.com/nasa-further-delays-first-operational-starliner-flight/
China launches new Gaofen-12 remote sensing satellite
October 16, 2024
China added a fifth Gaofen-12 satellite to its national Earth observation system Tuesday, while providing no details regarding its capabilities.
A Long March 4C rocket lifted off at 7:45 p.m. (2345 UTC) from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert.
The Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST) confirmed launch success and revealed the payload to be Gaofen-12 (05).
The satellite successfully entered its predetermined orbit, according to the SAST statement.
It is likely to join the four existing Gaofen-12 satellites in roughly circular 630-kilometer-altitude orbits inclined by 98 degrees, indicating a sun-synchronous orbit.
The Gaofen-12 (05) (“High resolution-12 (05)”) satellite is nominally part of the civilian China High-resolution Earth Observation System (CHEOS).
CHEOS satellites are equipped with different imaging technologies such as optical, infrared and synthetic aperture radar (SAR).
The first Gaofen satellite was launched in 2013. The CHEOS system aims to provide all-time, all-weather Earth observation coverage.
Commercial Chinese Earth observation constellations, notably optical and SAR, have since emerged in China, adding to comprehensive remote sensing coverage.
Chinese state media reported the Gaofen-12 (05) satellite will be used in a variety of fields including land surveys, urban planning, road network design, crop yield estimation and disaster relief.
The lack of publicly available information, however, suggests the satellite could be in part intended for military customers.
It could also be a civilian counterpart to a Yaogan satellite used for military applications.
Resolution capabilities and other information has been published for lower numbered Gaofen series satellites.
However, information for Gaofen satellites numbered 8 and above has not been openly released, suggesting the satellites are for national defense purposes.
Gaofen-11 satellites are believed to have an aperture of around 1.5 meters.
They are able to deliver optical imagery at a resolution on the order of 10 centimeters, according to the Chinese Society for Geodesy, Photogrammetry and Cartography.
Tuesday’s mission was China’s 49th orbital launch attempt of 2024. It followed the launch of a second group of 18 satellites for the Qianfan/Thousand megaconstellation.
The project aims to put around 14,000 flat panel communications satellites into low Earth orbit.
China is preparing to send the Shenzhou-19 crewed mission to the Tiangong space station around the end of October.
Three as yet unknown astronauts will join the Shenzhou-18 crew aboard Tiangong and take over residency of the space station.
The Tianzhou-8 cargo resupply mission is expected to follow in November, launching on a Long March 7 rocket from Wenchang.
https://spacenews.com/china-launches-new-gaofen-12-remote-sensing-satellite/
PNT Delta redesignated as Mission Delta 31
Published Oct. 16, 2024
Position, Navigation and Timing Provisional Delta officially redesignated as Mission Delta 31 in a ceremony at Peterson Space Force Base Oct. 15, presided by U.S. Space Force Lt. Gen. David N. Miller Jr., commander of Space Operations Command.
The ceremony marks the activation of the United States Space Force’s first integrated mission delta, which merges operational activities with sustainment capabilities, as well as integrates intelligence support directly into the unit.
"This represents the change in warfighter mindset.
We provide a critical capability called navigation warfare, where we deliver PNT through a contested environment and operate through almost any threat,” Miller said.
“Many people think it's just precision guided munitions. It is the timing signal associated with our coding schemes.
It is the security upon which our baseline defenses depend. Many things depend on a signal from GPS, and all of it starts with Mission Delta 31.”
Initially stood up as provisional on Oct. 13, 2023, the delta will continue to provide, operate and sustain high-integrity PNT capabilities to protect our nation’s interests and assure an unparalleled global utility of the Global Positioning Satellite constellation, but with additional units dedicated to future capability development.
Remaining under command of Col. Andrew Menschner, MD 31 will function as a vital bridge connecting operations, engineering and capability development experts.
“The men and women of Mission Delta 31 are focused on mission readiness in a way that was not possible just a few years ago,” Menschner said.
“I think our delta motto, ‘we know the way’, says it best. A key aspect of resiliency in the GPS system is making sure our team is ready to respond to the unexpected.
We're training our operators using intelligence-based scenarios, bringing every bit of capability out of fielded systems and developing new tactics and the ability to test them.
We're combining operations, acquisition and sustainment under unified command. Together, we did great things as the PNT Delta provisional.
I’m excited to be the commander for Mission Delta 31 because I know what this team will accomplish in the next year.”
The new MD 31 flag was unveiled during the ceremony and includes components such as the Polaris star and southern cross, which represent centuries of humanity looking to the stars for navigation, as well as its critical role in driving the course of progress, then, now and in the future.
https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3937161/pnt-delta-redesignated-as-mission-delta-31/
https://www.spoc.spaceforce.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/3878190/mission-delta-31-pnt-integrated-mission-delta