NASA selects Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace for spacesuit contracts
by Jeff Foust — June 1, 2022
Collins spacesuit
A lunar spacesuit being developed by a team led by Collins Aerospace, which, along with Axiom Space, won NASA contracts to develop and provide spacesuits for Artemis missions and the ISS. Credit: Collins Aerospace
Updated 7 p.m. Eastern with additional contract details.
WASHINGTON — NASA awarded contracts to Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace to provide spacesuits for International Space Station spacewalks and Artemis moonwalks, although neither the agency nor the winning companies offered many technical or financial details.
NASA announced June 1 it selected the two companies for Exploration Extravehicular Activity Services, or xEVAS, contracts to support the development of new spacesuits as well as purchasing spacesuit services. The companies will own the suits they develop and will effectively rent them to NASA for space station and Artemis missions, while also being able to offer the suits to other customers.
The goal, NASA officials said at a briefing about the awards, is to have lunar spacesuits ready for the Artemis 3 lunar landing mission, currently scheduled for no earlier than 2025. NASA will also conduct an “orderly transition” from existing, decades-old suits on the ISS to the new suits around the same time.
NASA earlier planned to develop suits internally though an effort known as the Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit, or xEMU, but shifted gears to a services model with competition, building on the accomplishments of commercial cargo and crew transportation. NASA is making xEMU data and other capabilities available to the companies to support their work.
“I really believe that all of that data is helping to reduce the risk and speed that transition process up to the contractor community,” said Lara Kearney, manager of the extravehicular activity and human surface mobility program at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. “We were at a great place to transition just because of how mature the xEMU was at the time.”
Axiom, which is working with a team of companies that includes David Clark Company, KBR and Paragon Space Development Corporation, intended to develop spacesuits to support its commercial space station plans.
“We have a number of customers who already would like to do a spacewalk,” explained Michael Suffredini, president and chief executive of Axiom, said at the briefing. “It’s fantastic to have a partnership where we can benefit from the years of experience that NASA has and all the work they’ve done to advance designs.”
Collins Aerospace, working with ILC Dover and Oceaneering, plans to make use of experience that includes development of the Apollo moonwalking suits and the spacesuits used today on ISS spacewalks.
“The goal is to take the foundations that NASA laid with the xEMU in partnership with industry and evolve that technology, and create a suit that is compatible with the entire spectrum of crew members,” said Dan Burbank, senior technical fellow at Collins.
Both Burbank, a former astronaut, and Suffredini, a former NASA ISS program manager, emphasized their commitment to meeting NASA’s extensive requirements for the suits, including being compatible with astronauts ranging in height from the 5th percentile woman to the 95th percentile man.
However, the companies provided few technical details about their suit designs, and NASA did not even have illustrations of the winning designs to show, electing instead to release an illustration of two moonwalking astronauts wearing suits not necessarily associated with either company. Collins did later release several illustrations of its proposed suit as well as images of that design being testing in a lab.
The total value of the xEVAS contracts is $3.5 billion through 2034, a figure that assumes all task orders are exercised. NASA officials at the briefing declined to break out that total between the two companies, stating that information will instead be in the source selection statement for the procurement, expected to be
by Jeff Foust — June 1, 2022
Collins spacesuit
A lunar spacesuit being developed by a team led by Collins Aerospace, which, along with Axiom Space, won NASA contracts to develop and provide spacesuits for Artemis missions and the ISS. Credit: Collins Aerospace
Updated 7 p.m. Eastern with additional contract details.
WASHINGTON — NASA awarded contracts to Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace to provide spacesuits for International Space Station spacewalks and Artemis moonwalks, although neither the agency nor the winning companies offered many technical or financial details.
NASA announced June 1 it selected the two companies for Exploration Extravehicular Activity Services, or xEVAS, contracts to support the development of new spacesuits as well as purchasing spacesuit services. The companies will own the suits they develop and will effectively rent them to NASA for space station and Artemis missions, while also being able to offer the suits to other customers.
The goal, NASA officials said at a briefing about the awards, is to have lunar spacesuits ready for the Artemis 3 lunar landing mission, currently scheduled for no earlier than 2025. NASA will also conduct an “orderly transition” from existing, decades-old suits on the ISS to the new suits around the same time.
NASA earlier planned to develop suits internally though an effort known as the Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit, or xEMU, but shifted gears to a services model with competition, building on the accomplishments of commercial cargo and crew transportation. NASA is making xEMU data and other capabilities available to the companies to support their work.
“I really believe that all of that data is helping to reduce the risk and speed that transition process up to the contractor community,” said Lara Kearney, manager of the extravehicular activity and human surface mobility program at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. “We were at a great place to transition just because of how mature the xEMU was at the time.”
Axiom, which is working with a team of companies that includes David Clark Company, KBR and Paragon Space Development Corporation, intended to develop spacesuits to support its commercial space station plans.
“We have a number of customers who already would like to do a spacewalk,” explained Michael Suffredini, president and chief executive of Axiom, said at the briefing. “It’s fantastic to have a partnership where we can benefit from the years of experience that NASA has and all the work they’ve done to advance designs.”
Collins Aerospace, working with ILC Dover and Oceaneering, plans to make use of experience that includes development of the Apollo moonwalking suits and the spacesuits used today on ISS spacewalks.
“The goal is to take the foundations that NASA laid with the xEMU in partnership with industry and evolve that technology, and create a suit that is compatible with the entire spectrum of crew members,” said Dan Burbank, senior technical fellow at Collins.
Both Burbank, a former astronaut, and Suffredini, a former NASA ISS program manager, emphasized their commitment to meeting NASA’s extensive requirements for the suits, including being compatible with astronauts ranging in height from the 5th percentile woman to the 95th percentile man.
However, the companies provided few technical details about their suit designs, and NASA did not even have illustrations of the winning designs to show, electing instead to release an illustration of two moonwalking astronauts wearing suits not necessarily associated with either company. Collins did later release several illustrations of its proposed suit as well as images of that design being testing in a lab.
The total value of the xEVAS contracts is $3.5 billion through 2034, a figure that assumes all task orders are exercised. NASA officials at the briefing declined to break out that total between the two companies, stating that information will instead be in the source selection statement for the procurement, expected to be
released publicly in late June. In many other commercial procurements, NASA has released the value of individual awards to companies.
NASA spokesperson Rebecca Wickes later told SpaceNews that the individual contract values will not be published in the source selection statement. Instead, that document will list the percentage difference in the prices compared to other bidders,
“We guaranteed them an amount to make sure we could get them going and they had skin in the game, and we’re going to be careful to protect that,” said Mark Wiese of NASA, who chaired the source selection board for the xEVAS competition. He did not disclose those guaranteed amounts.
“NASA will protect the exact amounts of contract guaranteed minimums and/or individual task order award amounts due to the proprietary nature of the commercial solutions while also protecting the ongoing competitive nature of this contract,” Wickes said.
NASA said in the statement that each company “has invested a significant amount of its own money” into development, but did not disclose those amounts. Burbank said that since he focused on the technical side of spacesuit development, he did not know how much the company had spent. Recent work for the xEVAS contract, he said, “is just the latest version of continual investment in internal R&D.”
Suffredini said that Axiom’s suit development was entirely internally funded. “Now you have to go figure out what that is,” he said.
Both companies said they expected to have spacesuits ready for testing on the ISS and for the Artemis 3 mission by the mid-2020s, but another company plans to test its own spacesuit in orbit before then. As part of the Polaris Program announced in February and funded by billionaire Jared Isaacman, SpaceX is developing a version of its Crew Dragon pressure suit that can be used for spacewalks. That suit will be tested on the Polaris Dawn mission scheduled for later this year.
NASA spokesperson Rebecca Wickes later told SpaceNews that the individual contract values will not be published in the source selection statement. Instead, that document will list the percentage difference in the prices compared to other bidders,
“We guaranteed them an amount to make sure we could get them going and they had skin in the game, and we’re going to be careful to protect that,” said Mark Wiese of NASA, who chaired the source selection board for the xEVAS competition. He did not disclose those guaranteed amounts.
“NASA will protect the exact amounts of contract guaranteed minimums and/or individual task order award amounts due to the proprietary nature of the commercial solutions while also protecting the ongoing competitive nature of this contract,” Wickes said.
NASA said in the statement that each company “has invested a significant amount of its own money” into development, but did not disclose those amounts. Burbank said that since he focused on the technical side of spacesuit development, he did not know how much the company had spent. Recent work for the xEVAS contract, he said, “is just the latest version of continual investment in internal R&D.”
Suffredini said that Axiom’s suit development was entirely internally funded. “Now you have to go figure out what that is,” he said.
Both companies said they expected to have spacesuits ready for testing on the ISS and for the Artemis 3 mission by the mid-2020s, but another company plans to test its own spacesuit in orbit before then. As part of the Polaris Program announced in February and funded by billionaire Jared Isaacman, SpaceX is developing a version of its Crew Dragon pressure suit that can be used for spacewalks. That suit will be tested on the Polaris Dawn mission scheduled for later this year.
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Ingenuity “hunkering down” during Martian dust storms and winter
by Jeff Foust — May 30, 2022
Ingenuity
NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter is waiting out dust storms and a winter season that reduce the amount of power its solar panels generate and thus its ability to fly. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
WASHINGTON — Dust storms and changing seasons will limit the ability of NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter to fly for the next several months, a project engineer said May 27.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory released May 27 a video compiled from images taken by Ingenuity on a record-setting flight April 8. On that flight, the helicopter traveled 704 meters at a speed of 5.5 meters per second, the longest and fastest flight yet for the tiny helicopter.
That flight was the 25th for Ingenuity, which was originally intended to perform no more than five flights over the course of a few weeks in April 2021. The helicopter’s most recent flight, and the 28th overall, was April 29.
Ingenuity, though, lost communications with the Perseverance rover, which serves as a relay between the helicopter and controllers back on Earth, on May 3. Contact was reestablished two days later, with engineers concluding that the rover had gone into a “low-power state” when its battery levels dropped below a lower limit.
In a May 6 statement, JPL said that increased dust in the atmosphere was blocking sunlight, reducing the power Ingenuity’s solar panels could generate. The lab said it was taking steps to reduce the helicopter’s battery usage, such as reducing the temperature at which the helicopter turns on heaters.
“We are hopeful that we can accumulate battery charge in order to return to nominal operations and continue our mission into the weeks ahead,” Teddy Tzanetos, team lead for Ingenuity at JPL, said in the May 6 statement. In the May 27 release of the flight video, JPL said only that “the team is looking forward to its next flight on Mars.”
“Currently we’re going through the worst of the Martian dust storm season. The skies are full of dust and our solar array generation is way down,” said Jaakko Karras, chief engineer for Ingenuity, after a May 27 presentation at the National Space Society’s International Space Development Conference. However, he said Ingenuity is now heading into winter, with less solar power and colder temperatures.
“The hope is that, if we can make it through both of those,” he said, referring to the dust storms and winter, “in a handful of months we’ll start getting back into Martian spring where we get very energy positive again and back to business.”
That will limit the ability of Ingenuity to continue flying. Karras said there may be tweaks the mission can do, like parking the helicopter on an incline to increase the amount of sunlight reaching the arrays, an approach previously used for solar-powered rovers like Spirit and Opportunity. However, he noted it may be difficult to land the helicopter on the right incline. For now, the helicopter is “mostly hunkering down,” he said.
He didn’t saw how long it would be before Ingenuity will fly again and how frequently. “It will certainly be at least a couple of months before we’re back to the more luxurious energy levels that we’re used to,” he said.
by Jeff Foust — May 30, 2022
Ingenuity
NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter is waiting out dust storms and a winter season that reduce the amount of power its solar panels generate and thus its ability to fly. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
WASHINGTON — Dust storms and changing seasons will limit the ability of NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter to fly for the next several months, a project engineer said May 27.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory released May 27 a video compiled from images taken by Ingenuity on a record-setting flight April 8. On that flight, the helicopter traveled 704 meters at a speed of 5.5 meters per second, the longest and fastest flight yet for the tiny helicopter.
That flight was the 25th for Ingenuity, which was originally intended to perform no more than five flights over the course of a few weeks in April 2021. The helicopter’s most recent flight, and the 28th overall, was April 29.
Ingenuity, though, lost communications with the Perseverance rover, which serves as a relay between the helicopter and controllers back on Earth, on May 3. Contact was reestablished two days later, with engineers concluding that the rover had gone into a “low-power state” when its battery levels dropped below a lower limit.
In a May 6 statement, JPL said that increased dust in the atmosphere was blocking sunlight, reducing the power Ingenuity’s solar panels could generate. The lab said it was taking steps to reduce the helicopter’s battery usage, such as reducing the temperature at which the helicopter turns on heaters.
“We are hopeful that we can accumulate battery charge in order to return to nominal operations and continue our mission into the weeks ahead,” Teddy Tzanetos, team lead for Ingenuity at JPL, said in the May 6 statement. In the May 27 release of the flight video, JPL said only that “the team is looking forward to its next flight on Mars.”
“Currently we’re going through the worst of the Martian dust storm season. The skies are full of dust and our solar array generation is way down,” said Jaakko Karras, chief engineer for Ingenuity, after a May 27 presentation at the National Space Society’s International Space Development Conference. However, he said Ingenuity is now heading into winter, with less solar power and colder temperatures.
“The hope is that, if we can make it through both of those,” he said, referring to the dust storms and winter, “in a handful of months we’ll start getting back into Martian spring where we get very energy positive again and back to business.”
That will limit the ability of Ingenuity to continue flying. Karras said there may be tweaks the mission can do, like parking the helicopter on an incline to increase the amount of sunlight reaching the arrays, an approach previously used for solar-powered rovers like Spirit and Opportunity. However, he noted it may be difficult to land the helicopter on the right incline. For now, the helicopter is “mostly hunkering down,” he said.
He didn’t saw how long it would be before Ingenuity will fly again and how frequently. “It will certainly be at least a couple of months before we’re back to the more luxurious energy levels that we’re used to,” he said.
The Philippines gives green light to Starlink
by Park Si-soo — May 27, 2022
The Philippine government has approved the registration of SpaceX's subsidiary in the country, enabling the latter to start providing Starlink broadband in services in the country. Credit: SpaceX
SEOUL, South Korea — The Philippines has approved plans that will see it become the first country in Southeast Asia to access SpaceX’s Starlink broadband services.
The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) approved May 26 the registration of Starlink Internet Services Philippines Inc., a subsidiary of SpaceX that will provide the satellite broadband to the archipelago.
The approval set the stage for the subsidiary to start providing Starlink services in the country, according to the government-funded Philippine News Agency.
In a statement, the commission said it had approved Starlink’s registration as a “value-added service (VAS) provider,” enabling the company to “directly access satellite systems, and build and operate broadband facilities to offer internet services,” according to the news agency.
“The NTC is steadfast in helping ensure that roll-out of Starlink’s internet access services will be done expeditiously and professionally,” NTC commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba said in the statement.
“The NTC’s swift processing of Starlink’s VAS provider registration was meant to expedite the service”s immediate roll-out.”
The commissioner said Starlink is expected to cover villages in urban and suburban areas and rural regions that remain unserved or underserved with internet access services.
The Philippines’ internet penetration rate stood at 67% of the country’s 110 million population as of January 2021, according to data from DataReportal, an independent data collector.
Starlink’s expansion into the country comes after Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte signed legislation March 21 that allows up to 100% foreign ownership of public services in the Philippines.
The amended Public Service Act encourages investments in telecoms, transport and other sectors deemed essential to public welfare.
In a March 31 statement, Philippine Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said Starlink will “augment as well as complement existing broadband capacities” and “further capacitate micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), facilitate online learning, e-commerce and fintech.”
by Park Si-soo — May 27, 2022
The Philippine government has approved the registration of SpaceX's subsidiary in the country, enabling the latter to start providing Starlink broadband in services in the country. Credit: SpaceX
SEOUL, South Korea — The Philippines has approved plans that will see it become the first country in Southeast Asia to access SpaceX’s Starlink broadband services.
The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) approved May 26 the registration of Starlink Internet Services Philippines Inc., a subsidiary of SpaceX that will provide the satellite broadband to the archipelago.
The approval set the stage for the subsidiary to start providing Starlink services in the country, according to the government-funded Philippine News Agency.
In a statement, the commission said it had approved Starlink’s registration as a “value-added service (VAS) provider,” enabling the company to “directly access satellite systems, and build and operate broadband facilities to offer internet services,” according to the news agency.
“The NTC is steadfast in helping ensure that roll-out of Starlink’s internet access services will be done expeditiously and professionally,” NTC commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba said in the statement.
“The NTC’s swift processing of Starlink’s VAS provider registration was meant to expedite the service”s immediate roll-out.”
The commissioner said Starlink is expected to cover villages in urban and suburban areas and rural regions that remain unserved or underserved with internet access services.
The Philippines’ internet penetration rate stood at 67% of the country’s 110 million population as of January 2021, according to data from DataReportal, an independent data collector.
Starlink’s expansion into the country comes after Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte signed legislation March 21 that allows up to 100% foreign ownership of public services in the Philippines.
The amended Public Service Act encourages investments in telecoms, transport and other sectors deemed essential to public welfare.
In a March 31 statement, Philippine Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said Starlink will “augment as well as complement existing broadband capacities” and “further capacitate micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), facilitate online learning, e-commerce and fintech.”
Elon Musk says an IPO of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet business is still 3 or 4 years away
PUBLISHED TUE, JUN 7 202210:11 AM EDTUPDATED TUE, JUN 7 202212:05 PM EDT
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Michael Sheetz
@THESHEETZTWEETZ
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KEY POINTS
Elon Musk last week told SpaceX employees the company isn’t likely to take its Starlink satellite internet business public until 2025 or later, CNBC has learned.
The latest timeline signals another IPO delay and comes despite repeated questions from a variety of investors over the years about owning a piece of SpaceX.
Musk emphasized, as he has previously, that the Starlink business needs to be “in a smooth sailing situation” with “good predictability” before it goes public.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk stands at the base of a Starship rocket prototype at the company's facility in Boca Chica, Texas.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk stands at the base of a Starship rocket prototype at the company’s facility in Boca Chica, Texas.
Steve Jurvetson on flickr
Elon Musk last week told SpaceX employees the company isn’t likely to take its Starlink satellite internet business public until 2025 or later, CNBC has learned, extending the estimated timeline for an initial public offering yet again.
“I’m not sure exactly when that [IPO] is, but maybe it will be like — I don’t know, just guessing — three or four years from now,” Musk said at an all-hands meeting of the private company’s employees on Thursday, according to an audio recording obtained by CNBC.
Musk emphasized, as he has previously, that the Starlink business needs to be “in a smooth sailing situation” with “good predictability.” At that point, “I think spinning it off as a public company can make a lot of sense,” the SpaceX CEO said.
The latest timeline delay comes despite repeated questions from a variety of investors over the years about owning a piece of SpaceX, a stock which remains privately traded.
Musk previously targeted an offering as soon as this year, according to an email to SpaceX employees obtained by CNBC. The email, sent by Musk in May 2019, said “it will probably make sense to take Starlink public in about three years or so.”
Musk then pushed back that estimate, saying in a tweet last year that it would be “at least a few years before Starlink revenue is reasonably predictable,” adding that “going public sooner than that would be very painful.”
SpaceX did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on Musk’s remarks.
SpaceX’s Starlink network is designed to deliver high-speed internet anywhere on the globe through thousands of satellites in low Earth orbit. The company disclosed late last month that Starlink now has over 400,000 subscribers around the world. SpaceX has launched about 2,500 satellites to date to support the system.
While SpaceX offers a variety of Starlink products and services, the base price of $110 per month and the company’s most recent subscriber numbers suggest annual service revenue of more than $500 million a year.
A Starlink satellite terminal, also known as a dish, setup in front of an RV.
A Starlink satellite terminal, also known as a dish, setup in front of an RV.
SpaceX
Musk warned employees during his comments on Thursday that they “should not think of things going public as, like, a sure path to riches.”
“The public markets are fickle” and “really pistol-whip you if you don’t meet expectations,” he said.
Musk has had an often contentious relationship with the regulations of publicly traded companies. In 2018, he agreed to pay millions in settlement charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission in response to fraud charges around an aborted plan to take his electric vehicle maker Tesla private. He’s also currently battling with Twitter over a proposal to take the social media company private.
“Being public is definitely an invitation to pain,” he told SpaceX employees Thursday. “And the stock price is just distracting.”
SpaceX continues to raise billions in capital to develop both Starli
PUBLISHED TUE, JUN 7 202210:11 AM EDTUPDATED TUE, JUN 7 202212:05 PM EDT
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Michael Sheetz
@THESHEETZTWEETZ
SHARE
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Share Article via Email
KEY POINTS
Elon Musk last week told SpaceX employees the company isn’t likely to take its Starlink satellite internet business public until 2025 or later, CNBC has learned.
The latest timeline signals another IPO delay and comes despite repeated questions from a variety of investors over the years about owning a piece of SpaceX.
Musk emphasized, as he has previously, that the Starlink business needs to be “in a smooth sailing situation” with “good predictability” before it goes public.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk stands at the base of a Starship rocket prototype at the company's facility in Boca Chica, Texas.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk stands at the base of a Starship rocket prototype at the company’s facility in Boca Chica, Texas.
Steve Jurvetson on flickr
Elon Musk last week told SpaceX employees the company isn’t likely to take its Starlink satellite internet business public until 2025 or later, CNBC has learned, extending the estimated timeline for an initial public offering yet again.
“I’m not sure exactly when that [IPO] is, but maybe it will be like — I don’t know, just guessing — three or four years from now,” Musk said at an all-hands meeting of the private company’s employees on Thursday, according to an audio recording obtained by CNBC.
Musk emphasized, as he has previously, that the Starlink business needs to be “in a smooth sailing situation” with “good predictability.” At that point, “I think spinning it off as a public company can make a lot of sense,” the SpaceX CEO said.
The latest timeline delay comes despite repeated questions from a variety of investors over the years about owning a piece of SpaceX, a stock which remains privately traded.
Musk previously targeted an offering as soon as this year, according to an email to SpaceX employees obtained by CNBC. The email, sent by Musk in May 2019, said “it will probably make sense to take Starlink public in about three years or so.”
Musk then pushed back that estimate, saying in a tweet last year that it would be “at least a few years before Starlink revenue is reasonably predictable,” adding that “going public sooner than that would be very painful.”
SpaceX did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on Musk’s remarks.
SpaceX’s Starlink network is designed to deliver high-speed internet anywhere on the globe through thousands of satellites in low Earth orbit. The company disclosed late last month that Starlink now has over 400,000 subscribers around the world. SpaceX has launched about 2,500 satellites to date to support the system.
While SpaceX offers a variety of Starlink products and services, the base price of $110 per month and the company’s most recent subscriber numbers suggest annual service revenue of more than $500 million a year.
A Starlink satellite terminal, also known as a dish, setup in front of an RV.
A Starlink satellite terminal, also known as a dish, setup in front of an RV.
SpaceX
Musk warned employees during his comments on Thursday that they “should not think of things going public as, like, a sure path to riches.”
“The public markets are fickle” and “really pistol-whip you if you don’t meet expectations,” he said.
Musk has had an often contentious relationship with the regulations of publicly traded companies. In 2018, he agreed to pay millions in settlement charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission in response to fraud charges around an aborted plan to take his electric vehicle maker Tesla private. He’s also currently battling with Twitter over a proposal to take the social media company private.
“Being public is definitely an invitation to pain,” he told SpaceX employees Thursday. “And the stock price is just distracting.”
SpaceX continues to raise billions in capital to develop both Starli
nk and its mammoth Starship rockets. The company’s valuation hit $127 billion during its latest funding round.
It's not so long ago, in the grand scheme of things, that SpaceX was struggling to make it to orbit.
Last week, May 31, marked the 10-year anniversary of the completion of SpaceX's first Dragon mission, COTS 2, to and from the International Space Station.
Only a few years before, on September 28, 2008, the company reached orbit on its fourth attempt with Falcon 1.
Despite his PR inelegance and all his deadline exaggerations, it's hard to argue against SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's impressive track record when it comes to spaceflight — his most far-out statements are known to cause even skeptical space enthusiasts to froth at the mouth.
Still, Musk's latest claim shared on Twitter, alongside a slide deck for a presentation he recently gave at SpaceX, will likely prove divisive.
Researchers just broke the standard model for solar flares
The plan is to "build 1000+ Starships to transport life to Mars. Basically, (very) modern Noah's Arks," Musk wrote, reiterating a statement he had made during a recent interview with TED curator Chris Anderson. In that interview, he stated that SpaceX would achieve this goal by 2050.
SpaceX has yet to launch the Mars-bound spacecraft to orbit, but it is hoping to carry out its orbital maiden flight at some point this summer — though the FAA continues to delay its environmental review of the spacecraft.
Starship will be made up of two parts. The first stage will be a 230 feet tall booster powered by 33 Raptor 2 engines. The Starship spacecraft, which is 164 feet tall, will sit atop the first stage. During his presentation, Musk also teased Starship's deployment method for Starlink 2.0.
NASA's Mars plans are more conservative than Musk's
The main reason Musk's plans may prove divisive is the fact that, even given SpaceX's lofty standards, they're just not very realistic. Perhaps the main indicator for this point is how unaligned Musk's statement is with the plans NASA have set out for Mars.
While Musk says SpaceX will send one million humans to Mars by 2050, NASA aims to get the first humans to Mars — likely with the help of SpaceX — by the 2030s or 2040s, kicking off a years-long campaign of scientific research.
The U.S. space agency recently published 50 key objectives it wishes to achieve before and during its first Mars mission. The plan outlines and highlights harsh obstacles NASA will face, such as the fact that astronauts' muscles will have degraded to the point they may struggle to walk when they first reach the red planet.
Colonizing Mars will be an incredibly slow process full of trial and error. As such, the first humans NASA plans to send to the red planet will be scientists and trained experts. By contrast, Musk recently announced that "almost anyone" will be able to save up to $100,000 to buy a Starship ticket and go live on Mars.
It's understandable that the CEO of SpaceX is busy selling the dream of humanity as a spacefaring civilization, but his Mars 2050 statement risks putting him in similar territory as he was with Tesla's progress on Level 5 autonomy. The more he makes unsustainable claims, the more people will forget how far SpaceX has come in such a short amount of time.
Last week, May 31, marked the 10-year anniversary of the completion of SpaceX's first Dragon mission, COTS 2, to and from the International Space Station.
Only a few years before, on September 28, 2008, the company reached orbit on its fourth attempt with Falcon 1.
Despite his PR inelegance and all his deadline exaggerations, it's hard to argue against SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's impressive track record when it comes to spaceflight — his most far-out statements are known to cause even skeptical space enthusiasts to froth at the mouth.
Still, Musk's latest claim shared on Twitter, alongside a slide deck for a presentation he recently gave at SpaceX, will likely prove divisive.
Researchers just broke the standard model for solar flares
The plan is to "build 1000+ Starships to transport life to Mars. Basically, (very) modern Noah's Arks," Musk wrote, reiterating a statement he had made during a recent interview with TED curator Chris Anderson. In that interview, he stated that SpaceX would achieve this goal by 2050.
SpaceX has yet to launch the Mars-bound spacecraft to orbit, but it is hoping to carry out its orbital maiden flight at some point this summer — though the FAA continues to delay its environmental review of the spacecraft.
Starship will be made up of two parts. The first stage will be a 230 feet tall booster powered by 33 Raptor 2 engines. The Starship spacecraft, which is 164 feet tall, will sit atop the first stage. During his presentation, Musk also teased Starship's deployment method for Starlink 2.0.
NASA's Mars plans are more conservative than Musk's
The main reason Musk's plans may prove divisive is the fact that, even given SpaceX's lofty standards, they're just not very realistic. Perhaps the main indicator for this point is how unaligned Musk's statement is with the plans NASA have set out for Mars.
While Musk says SpaceX will send one million humans to Mars by 2050, NASA aims to get the first humans to Mars — likely with the help of SpaceX — by the 2030s or 2040s, kicking off a years-long campaign of scientific research.
The U.S. space agency recently published 50 key objectives it wishes to achieve before and during its first Mars mission. The plan outlines and highlights harsh obstacles NASA will face, such as the fact that astronauts' muscles will have degraded to the point they may struggle to walk when they first reach the red planet.
Colonizing Mars will be an incredibly slow process full of trial and error. As such, the first humans NASA plans to send to the red planet will be scientists and trained experts. By contrast, Musk recently announced that "almost anyone" will be able to save up to $100,000 to buy a Starship ticket and go live on Mars.
It's understandable that the CEO of SpaceX is busy selling the dream of humanity as a spacefaring civilization, but his Mars 2050 statement risks putting him in similar territory as he was with Tesla's progress on Level 5 autonomy. The more he makes unsustainable claims, the more people will forget how far SpaceX has come in such a short amount of time.
SpaceX launches Egyptian communications satellite, lands rocket on ship at sea
By Mike Wall published 4 days ago
It was the seventh launch and landing for this Falcon 9 first stage.
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SpaceX launched a communications satellite and landed the returning rocket on a ship at sea on Wednesday (June 8).
A two-stage Falcon 9 rocket carrying Nilesat 301, a satellite that will be operated by the Egyptian company Nilesat, launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida Wednesday at 5:04 p.m. EDT (2104 GMT).
The Falcon 9's first stage came back to Earth about 8 minutes and 45 seconds after launch, touching down on the SpaceX droneship Just Read the Instructions, which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean a few hundred miles off the Florida coast.
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It was the seventh launch and landing for this Falcon 9 first stage, according to a SpaceX mission description(opens in new tab).
The booster previously helped loft two GPS satellites, two batches of SpaceX's Starlink internet spacecraft and two private crewed missions — the September 2021 Inspiration4 mission to Earth orbit and Ax-1, which in April became the first all-private astronaut mission to go to the International Space Station.
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— SpaceX's Starship will deploy next-gen Starlink satellites Pez-dispenser style (video)
— SpaceX launches 40 satellites into orbit, lands rocket at sea
The Falcon 9's first stage, meanwhile, continued hauling Nilesat 301 to a geostationary transfer orbit, eventually deploying the satellite there 33 minutes after liftoff. (Nilesat 301 will operate from geostationary orbit, which lies about 22,245 miles, or 35,800 kilometers, above Earth.)
The Nilesat 301 launch continues a very busy stretch for SpaceX; Elon Musk's company has now launched 23 orbital missions in 2022, and the year isn't even half-over yet.
Editor's note: This story was updated at 5:22 p.m. EDT (2122 GMT) with news of successful launch and rocket landing, then again at 5:39 p.m. EDT (2139 GMT) with news of satellite deployment.
By Mike Wall published 4 days ago
It was the seventh launch and landing for this Falcon 9 first stage.
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SpaceX launched a communications satellite and landed the returning rocket on a ship at sea on Wednesday (June 8).
A two-stage Falcon 9 rocket carrying Nilesat 301, a satellite that will be operated by the Egyptian company Nilesat, launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida Wednesday at 5:04 p.m. EDT (2104 GMT).
The Falcon 9's first stage came back to Earth about 8 minutes and 45 seconds after launch, touching down on the SpaceX droneship Just Read the Instructions, which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean a few hundred miles off the Florida coast.
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Related: 8 ways that SpaceX has transformed spaceflight
Click here for more Space.com videos...
It was the seventh launch and landing for this Falcon 9 first stage, according to a SpaceX mission description(opens in new tab).
The booster previously helped loft two GPS satellites, two batches of SpaceX's Starlink internet spacecraft and two private crewed missions — the September 2021 Inspiration4 mission to Earth orbit and Ax-1, which in April became the first all-private astronaut mission to go to the International Space Station.
RELATED STORIES:
— The 20 most memorable SpaceX missions in photos
— SpaceX's Starship will deploy next-gen Starlink satellites Pez-dispenser style (video)
— SpaceX launches 40 satellites into orbit, lands rocket at sea
The Falcon 9's first stage, meanwhile, continued hauling Nilesat 301 to a geostationary transfer orbit, eventually deploying the satellite there 33 minutes after liftoff. (Nilesat 301 will operate from geostationary orbit, which lies about 22,245 miles, or 35,800 kilometers, above Earth.)
The Nilesat 301 launch continues a very busy stretch for SpaceX; Elon Musk's company has now launched 23 orbital missions in 2022, and the year isn't even half-over yet.
Editor's note: This story was updated at 5:22 p.m. EDT (2122 GMT) with news of successful launch and rocket landing, then again at 5:39 p.m. EDT (2139 GMT) with news of satellite deployment.
DoD space agency to acquire 10 satellites for experiments in low Earth orbit
by Sandra Erwin — June 12, 2022
The Space Development Agency's vision for a national defense space architecture. Credit: SDA
This new procurement of satellites – known as the NExT experimental testbed – replaces a previous SDA program called T1DES
WASHINGTON — The Space Development Agency is looking to acquire as many as 10 satellites to host military payloads for experiments in low Earth orbit.
This new procurement of satellites – known as the NExT experimental testbed – replaces a previous SDA program called T1DES announced last fall.
The T1DES procurement was for 18 satellites hosting industry-developed experimental payloads. The plan was to integrate them with the agency’s 126-satellite broadband constellation known as the Transport Layer Tranche 1 projected to launch in 2024. Under the new plan, SDA will move forward with the deployment of the Transport Layer and will select a separate contractor to produce 10 satellites that will host government-developed payloads for technology experiments.
SDA will hold an industry day briefing June 22 to discuss the NExT procurement with potential contractors. The selected contractor will develop, manufacture and operate the NExT satellites and the ground systems for the duration of the contract.
The contractor also will be responsible for procuring commercial rideshare launches for the 10 NExT satellites. SDA wants the experimental payloads deployed between March 2024 and March 2025, in two planes of four and one plane of two.
The NExT satellites will have optical crosslink communications terminals so they can connect with the Transport Layer satellites.
by Sandra Erwin — June 12, 2022
The Space Development Agency's vision for a national defense space architecture. Credit: SDA
This new procurement of satellites – known as the NExT experimental testbed – replaces a previous SDA program called T1DES
WASHINGTON — The Space Development Agency is looking to acquire as many as 10 satellites to host military payloads for experiments in low Earth orbit.
This new procurement of satellites – known as the NExT experimental testbed – replaces a previous SDA program called T1DES announced last fall.
The T1DES procurement was for 18 satellites hosting industry-developed experimental payloads. The plan was to integrate them with the agency’s 126-satellite broadband constellation known as the Transport Layer Tranche 1 projected to launch in 2024. Under the new plan, SDA will move forward with the deployment of the Transport Layer and will select a separate contractor to produce 10 satellites that will host government-developed payloads for technology experiments.
SDA will hold an industry day briefing June 22 to discuss the NExT procurement with potential contractors. The selected contractor will develop, manufacture and operate the NExT satellites and the ground systems for the duration of the contract.
The contractor also will be responsible for procuring commercial rideshare launches for the 10 NExT satellites. SDA wants the experimental payloads deployed between March 2024 and March 2025, in two planes of four and one plane of two.
The NExT satellites will have optical crosslink communications terminals so they can connect with the Transport Layer satellites.
Xenesis signs launch pact with Evolution Space
by Debra Werner — June 10, 2022
Evolution Space is developing, building and testing small rockets in Mojave, Calif. Credit: Evolution Space
SAN FRANCISCO – Launch startup Evolution Space signed a memorandum of understanding to launch a small satellite constellation for optical communications startup Xenesis.
Under the $120 million deal signed in May, Evolution will conduct five suborbital and 25 orbital launches for Xenesis beginning in 2025.
Mojave, Calif.-based Evolution is taking an iterative approach to developing small solid rockets to deliver 250 to 450 kilograms to low-Earth orbit.
“We focus on simplicity and have no ambitions to build bigger rockets,” Steve Heller, Evolution founder and CEO, told SpaceNews. “We are starting with a suborbital platform and using that as a leap pad for an orbital platform.”
A subscale version of Evolution’s suborbital rocket, which will serve as the booster for company’s orbital vehicle, cost the company about $70,000 to build. That rocket reached an altitude of 56,219 meters during tests conducted in Mojave in November.
In May, Evolution conducted further tests of a new suborbital vehicle. That rocket, built in three weeks for less than $50,000, demonstrated improvement in the company’s guidance, navigation and control system, Heller said. Six more launches are scheduled to be completed within the next year.
Evolution, originally called Sugarhouse Aerospace, was founded in Salt Lake City in 2018. Since rebranding one year ago, the company has assembled a staff of 10 people, which it plans to double within a year.
“We’re solid propulsion geeks. We build every piece of our rockets” from the propulsion to starter pellets, Heller said.
The company’s streamlined approach makes it a good fit for the times, since investors are not as eager to back space companies as they were a year ago.
“I think the spend mirrors the market,” Heller said.
Working with Xenesis is helping Evolution refine its rocket development program.
“We’ve been looking for is a customer to tell us exactly what to build,” Heller said. “Is 250 kilograms to low-Earth orbit or is it 400? What’s more important: customizable inclinations or time to launch, because solids are broadly applicable to customers trying to put things up where they want, when they want?”
Founded in 2017, Xenesis plans to establish an optical communications constellation to provide connectivity for mobile network operators, internet service providers and enterprises.
Mark LaPenna, Xenesis founder and CEO, said he’s pleased to be working with Evolution because “these guys represent a paradigm shift in the way we do business in this industry.”
“It’s the rapid iteration,” LaPenna said. “It’s the fail fast, succeed fast mentality that these guys are hammering home. It’s also a high degree of professionalism. They have a build schedule. They’re executing.”
by Debra Werner — June 10, 2022
Evolution Space is developing, building and testing small rockets in Mojave, Calif. Credit: Evolution Space
SAN FRANCISCO – Launch startup Evolution Space signed a memorandum of understanding to launch a small satellite constellation for optical communications startup Xenesis.
Under the $120 million deal signed in May, Evolution will conduct five suborbital and 25 orbital launches for Xenesis beginning in 2025.
Mojave, Calif.-based Evolution is taking an iterative approach to developing small solid rockets to deliver 250 to 450 kilograms to low-Earth orbit.
“We focus on simplicity and have no ambitions to build bigger rockets,” Steve Heller, Evolution founder and CEO, told SpaceNews. “We are starting with a suborbital platform and using that as a leap pad for an orbital platform.”
A subscale version of Evolution’s suborbital rocket, which will serve as the booster for company’s orbital vehicle, cost the company about $70,000 to build. That rocket reached an altitude of 56,219 meters during tests conducted in Mojave in November.
In May, Evolution conducted further tests of a new suborbital vehicle. That rocket, built in three weeks for less than $50,000, demonstrated improvement in the company’s guidance, navigation and control system, Heller said. Six more launches are scheduled to be completed within the next year.
Evolution, originally called Sugarhouse Aerospace, was founded in Salt Lake City in 2018. Since rebranding one year ago, the company has assembled a staff of 10 people, which it plans to double within a year.
“We’re solid propulsion geeks. We build every piece of our rockets” from the propulsion to starter pellets, Heller said.
The company’s streamlined approach makes it a good fit for the times, since investors are not as eager to back space companies as they were a year ago.
“I think the spend mirrors the market,” Heller said.
Working with Xenesis is helping Evolution refine its rocket development program.
“We’ve been looking for is a customer to tell us exactly what to build,” Heller said. “Is 250 kilograms to low-Earth orbit or is it 400? What’s more important: customizable inclinations or time to launch, because solids are broadly applicable to customers trying to put things up where they want, when they want?”
Founded in 2017, Xenesis plans to establish an optical communications constellation to provide connectivity for mobile network operators, internet service providers and enterprises.
Mark LaPenna, Xenesis founder and CEO, said he’s pleased to be working with Evolution because “these guys represent a paradigm shift in the way we do business in this industry.”
“It’s the rapid iteration,” LaPenna said. “It’s the fail fast, succeed fast mentality that these guys are hammering home. It’s also a high degree of professionalism. They have a build schedule. They’re executing.”
'Dark' black hole wandering the Milky Way may be the smallest yet detected
By Keith Cooper published about 1 hour ago
The stellar-mass black hole is likely one of 100 million solitary black holes in the Milky Way, scientists said.
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Artist's illustration showing a black hole at the center of the image, surrounded by stars in the Milky Way.
Artist's illustration of a black hole drifting through the Milky Way. (Image credit: FECYT, IAC)
A rogue black hole wandering the space lanes of our Milky Way galaxy alone could be the smallest black hole yet found, according to one estimate of its mass.
Earlier this year, astronomers led by Kailash Sahu of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, announced the discovery of the first known isolated stellar-mass black hole.
The black hole is 5,000 light-years away and was discovered thanks to the power of its gravity to act as a gravitational lens, magnifying the light of a background star 19,000 light-years away. It was initially spotted by two ground-based surveys, the Polish-led Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) which mostly uses the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile, and the Microlensing Observations in Astrophysics (MOA) project at the Mount John University Observatory in New Zealand.
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Sahu's team used the Hubble Space Telescope to follow up on the discovery, and the degree of gravitational lensing allowed them to conclude that the black hole has a mass about 7.1 times greater than the sun's mass.
However, a second team has now come forward with a different mass calculation. The group, led by Casey Lam of the University of California, Berkeley, concluded that the object has a mass between 1.6 and 4.4 times the mass of the sun. If correct, then this could have intriguing implications.
Stellar-mass black holes are the product of the supernovae of stars with masses 20 times greater than the Sun. On the other hand, when stars with between 8 and 20 solar masses go supernovae, they leave behind a neutron star instead.
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— A black hole formed by a lopsided merger may have gone rogue
— Listen to the 'echoes' of black holes chowing down on stars
— Building a better black hole with supercomputer simulations
Neutron stars can theoretically have masses up to about 2.3 solar masses. Observations of stellar-mass black holes detectable in binary systems have not turned up any with less than 5 solar masses, creating a gap between the most massive neutron stars and the least massive black holes. If the black hole is at the upper end of Lam's mass range, it would help plug this gap. (Several candidate gravitational-wave events have also been detected involving objects that fall into this mass gap.)
"Whatever it is, the object is the first dark stellar remnant discovered wandering through the galaxy unaccompanied by another star," said Lam in a NASA statement(opens in new tab).
Star filled image with four close-up images of a star changing brightness.
A composite image captured by the Hubble Space Telescope shows the change in brightness of a star caused by a foreground black hole drifting in front of it. The apparent brightening of the background star is caused by gravitational lensing. (Image credit: NASA, ESA, Kailash Sahu (STScI) IMAGE PROCESSING: Joseph DePasquale (STScI))
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Even though stars with more than 20 solar masses account for just 0.1% of all the stars in the Milky Way, there are so many stars in the Milky Way (an estimated 100–200 billion), and the Milky Way is so old (approximately 13 billion years) that there should now be 100 million or more stellar-mass black holes in our galaxy.
Many of these are found in binary systems, where their presence is evident from their gravitational pull on their companion star and their accretion of m
By Keith Cooper published about 1 hour ago
The stellar-mass black hole is likely one of 100 million solitary black holes in the Milky Way, scientists said.
(opens in new tab)
(opens in new tab)
(opens in new tab)
(opens in new tab)
(opens in new tab)
Artist's illustration showing a black hole at the center of the image, surrounded by stars in the Milky Way.
Artist's illustration of a black hole drifting through the Milky Way. (Image credit: FECYT, IAC)
A rogue black hole wandering the space lanes of our Milky Way galaxy alone could be the smallest black hole yet found, according to one estimate of its mass.
Earlier this year, astronomers led by Kailash Sahu of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, announced the discovery of the first known isolated stellar-mass black hole.
The black hole is 5,000 light-years away and was discovered thanks to the power of its gravity to act as a gravitational lens, magnifying the light of a background star 19,000 light-years away. It was initially spotted by two ground-based surveys, the Polish-led Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) which mostly uses the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile, and the Microlensing Observations in Astrophysics (MOA) project at the Mount John University Observatory in New Zealand.
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Related: A 'trove' of black hole discoveries emerge from dwarf galaxies
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Sahu's team used the Hubble Space Telescope to follow up on the discovery, and the degree of gravitational lensing allowed them to conclude that the black hole has a mass about 7.1 times greater than the sun's mass.
However, a second team has now come forward with a different mass calculation. The group, led by Casey Lam of the University of California, Berkeley, concluded that the object has a mass between 1.6 and 4.4 times the mass of the sun. If correct, then this could have intriguing implications.
Stellar-mass black holes are the product of the supernovae of stars with masses 20 times greater than the Sun. On the other hand, when stars with between 8 and 20 solar masses go supernovae, they leave behind a neutron star instead.
RELATED STORIES:
— A black hole formed by a lopsided merger may have gone rogue
— Listen to the 'echoes' of black holes chowing down on stars
— Building a better black hole with supercomputer simulations
Neutron stars can theoretically have masses up to about 2.3 solar masses. Observations of stellar-mass black holes detectable in binary systems have not turned up any with less than 5 solar masses, creating a gap between the most massive neutron stars and the least massive black holes. If the black hole is at the upper end of Lam's mass range, it would help plug this gap. (Several candidate gravitational-wave events have also been detected involving objects that fall into this mass gap.)
"Whatever it is, the object is the first dark stellar remnant discovered wandering through the galaxy unaccompanied by another star," said Lam in a NASA statement(opens in new tab).
Star filled image with four close-up images of a star changing brightness.
A composite image captured by the Hubble Space Telescope shows the change in brightness of a star caused by a foreground black hole drifting in front of it. The apparent brightening of the background star is caused by gravitational lensing. (Image credit: NASA, ESA, Kailash Sahu (STScI) IMAGE PROCESSING: Joseph DePasquale (STScI))
(opens in new tab)
Even though stars with more than 20 solar masses account for just 0.1% of all the stars in the Milky Way, there are so many stars in the Milky Way (an estimated 100–200 billion), and the Milky Way is so old (approximately 13 billion years) that there should now be 100 million or more stellar-mass black holes in our galaxy.
Many of these are found in binary systems, where their presence is evident from their gravitational pull on their companion star and their accretion of m
atter from their neighbor. One has even been found inside a star cluster, NGC 1850 in the Large Magellanic Cloud. However, many others will be wandering between the stars, going unnoticed until a chance alignment with a background star means we spot them creating a gravitational lens.
This discovery is just the tip of the iceberg. NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which is planned for launch in 2027, will survey large swathes of the Milky Way and is expected to identify several thousand microlensing events, many of which could be black holes.
This discovery is just the tip of the iceberg. NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which is planned for launch in 2027, will survey large swathes of the Milky Way and is expected to identify several thousand microlensing events, many of which could be black holes.
Scientists think they've detected radio emissions from an alien world
By Meghan Bartels published December 17, 2020
Similar findings may tell scientists about magnetic fields around exoplanets.
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Scientists may have detected radio emissions from a planet orbiting a star beyond our sun for the first time.
The astronomers behind the new research used a radio telescope in the Netherlands to study three different stars known to host exoplanets. The researchers compared what they saw to observations of Jupiter, diluted as if being seen from a star system dozens of light-years away. And one star system stood out: Tau Boötes, which contains at least one exoplanet. If the detection holds up, it could open the door to better understanding the magnetic fields of exoplanets and therefore the exoplanets themselves, the researchers hope.
"We present one of the first hints of detecting an exoplanet in the radio realm," Jake Turner, an astronomer at Cornell University and lead author of the new research, said in a statement. "We make the case for an emission by the planet itself. From the strength and polarization of the radio signal and the planet's magnetic field, it is compatible with theoretical predictions."
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However, Turner and his colleagues aren't yet positive that the signal they detected really is coming from the planet, dubbed Tau Boötes b; the researchers called for additional observations of the system, which is about 51 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Boötes.
The new research actually began at Jupiter; the researchers had previously studied that planet's radio emissions and then tweaked those measurements to reflect the effect they expected closeness to the host star and distance from Earth would have had on their observations of an exoplanet.
Then, the scientists consulted observations made in 2016 and 2017 by the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) in the Netherlands. In addition to the potential signal from Tau Boötes b, the researchers also report that they may have picked up a signal from the star Upsilon Andromedae or its planet, but that detection was even fainter than the one from Tau Boötes b.
The researchers are interested in detecting radio emission from planets because such information may help scientists decipher what's happening in the same worlds' magnetic fields. Those magnetic fields, in turn, influence conditions on the surface of the planet — Earth's magnetic field protects the atmosphere that makes the world one we can survive, for example. Such magnetic fields can also tell scientists about other qualities of a world, like its structure and history.
An artist's depiction of the exoplanet Tau Boötes b shows a magnetic field, which may cause the radio emissions scientists believe they have detected.
An artist's depiction of the exoplanet Tau Boötes b shows a magnetic field, which may cause the radio emissions scientists believe they have detected. (Image credit: Jack Madden/Cornell University)
But so far, studying those magnetic fields directly has been difficult for scientists to manage, despite the fact that nearly every planet in our solar system has had one at some point in its history. Hence the interest in using radio emissions as an intermediate.
"We learned from our own Jupiter what this kind of detection looks like," Turner said. "We went searching for it and we found it."
But that's just the beginning of the story, not the end of it, he emphasized, since the radio emissions could still be coming from the stars or another source instead of the planet. "There remains some uncertainty that the detected radio signal is from the planet. The need for follow-up observations is critical."
By Meghan Bartels published December 17, 2020
Similar findings may tell scientists about magnetic fields around exoplanets.
Click here for more Space.com videos...
CLOSE
Scientists may have detected radio emissions from a planet orbiting a star beyond our sun for the first time.
The astronomers behind the new research used a radio telescope in the Netherlands to study three different stars known to host exoplanets. The researchers compared what they saw to observations of Jupiter, diluted as if being seen from a star system dozens of light-years away. And one star system stood out: Tau Boötes, which contains at least one exoplanet. If the detection holds up, it could open the door to better understanding the magnetic fields of exoplanets and therefore the exoplanets themselves, the researchers hope.
"We present one of the first hints of detecting an exoplanet in the radio realm," Jake Turner, an astronomer at Cornell University and lead author of the new research, said in a statement. "We make the case for an emission by the planet itself. From the strength and polarization of the radio signal and the planet's magnetic field, it is compatible with theoretical predictions."
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USA Job from Home | Search Ads
Related: 7 ways to discover alien planets
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However, Turner and his colleagues aren't yet positive that the signal they detected really is coming from the planet, dubbed Tau Boötes b; the researchers called for additional observations of the system, which is about 51 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Boötes.
The new research actually began at Jupiter; the researchers had previously studied that planet's radio emissions and then tweaked those measurements to reflect the effect they expected closeness to the host star and distance from Earth would have had on their observations of an exoplanet.
Then, the scientists consulted observations made in 2016 and 2017 by the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) in the Netherlands. In addition to the potential signal from Tau Boötes b, the researchers also report that they may have picked up a signal from the star Upsilon Andromedae or its planet, but that detection was even fainter than the one from Tau Boötes b.
The researchers are interested in detecting radio emission from planets because such information may help scientists decipher what's happening in the same worlds' magnetic fields. Those magnetic fields, in turn, influence conditions on the surface of the planet — Earth's magnetic field protects the atmosphere that makes the world one we can survive, for example. Such magnetic fields can also tell scientists about other qualities of a world, like its structure and history.
An artist's depiction of the exoplanet Tau Boötes b shows a magnetic field, which may cause the radio emissions scientists believe they have detected.
An artist's depiction of the exoplanet Tau Boötes b shows a magnetic field, which may cause the radio emissions scientists believe they have detected. (Image credit: Jack Madden/Cornell University)
But so far, studying those magnetic fields directly has been difficult for scientists to manage, despite the fact that nearly every planet in our solar system has had one at some point in its history. Hence the interest in using radio emissions as an intermediate.
"We learned from our own Jupiter what this kind of detection looks like," Turner said. "We went searching for it and we found it."
But that's just the beginning of the story, not the end of it, he emphasized, since the radio emissions could still be coming from the stars or another source instead of the planet. "There remains some uncertainty that the detected radio signal is from the planet. The need for follow-up observations is critical."