space

The UK has announced it will help developing countries tackle disaster relief, waste management and disease control using space expertise and technologies. One such project is the UK Space Agency’s International Partnership Programme, which plans to use remote sensing data to minimise the risk of tailings dams failures in Peru. Tailing dams are banks of […]

The UK Space Agency is providing £38 million in funding to use satellite technology to help deliver innovative solutions to global issues. It has announced grants for 10 projects, worth £38 million in total, which include work into climate change mitigation, forestry, carbon emissions reduction and disaster management. Leatherhead-based technology firm CGI received £2 million […]

A space-based mission aims to set up an early-monitoring system for solar flares and geomagnetic storms. The European Space Agency (ESA) project, which will be led by Airbus UK, aims to put a spacecraft between the sun and the Earth to keep track of when the sun ejects material. This causes ‘space weather’, which can […]

NASA has conducted successful initial tests of a small-scale nuclear fission system designed to power a long-duration manned mission to Mars. Officials from the agency have said a full-power run of the Kilopower project is scheduled for March. Its purpose is to enable robotic missions and potentially develop colonies in space, which requires a power […]

The US Air Force has developed new highly efficient, radiation-tolerant solar cells for use in space. The US Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) inverted metamorphic multi-junction (IMM) solar technology offers increased power efficiency at reduced costs and will be used primarily for military space applications. Each unit’s multiple layers of light-absorbing materials means it can […]

US space agency NASA wants to replace the battery technology which has long powered its space exploration programme. Yesterday the agency put out a call for proposals to develop new, “more capable” energy storage technologies. Michael Gazarik, Associate Administrator for space technology at NASA Headquarters in Washington said: “NASA is focusing on creating new advanced […]

American scientists have tested a type of nuclear fission technology which could be used on space flights. It is the first experiment to produce electricity with a nuclear reactor system meant for space since 1965. The team from NASA and the USA’s Department of Energy demonstrated the first use of a heat pipe to cool […]

US space agency NASA is hosting a competition to find the fuel efficient aircraft of the future. Five teams will compete in the 2011 Green Flight Challenge to bag $1.65 million (£1m) in prize money. The planes can be electric, biofuel or hybrid powered. To win, an aircraft must fly 200 miles in less than […]