That changed dramatically in July last year, when he was arrested by agents from the FSB, the country’s top domestic security agency, and charged with treason. In a statement, officials said that he was suspected of passing state secrets to spooks from a NATO nation. On Tuesday last, a Moscow …
Read More »China sets goal of sending 12 astronauts to space by 2023, opening of space station by 2022
Yang Liwei, China’s first astronaut and now a member of the National Committee of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) broke the news on Saturday, explaining that the tightly packed spaceflight schedule was to facilitate the speedy construction of a new Chinese orbital station. The upcoming missions are set to …
Read More »Russian space agency Roscosmos begins design of ‘Venera-D’ orbital station, set to be Moscow’s 1st mission to Venus since USSR era
Speaking to the TASS news agency, the scientific director of the Institute of Space Research Lev Zeleny explained that the vessel will first be launched in 2029, if everything runs on schedule. “The technical design of the project has begun,” he said, after a meeting between the Russian Academy of …
Read More »Russian space freighter launched from Baikonur, slated to put an end to ISS’ outdated docking module (VIDEO)
The space freighter was boosted by a Soyuz-2.1a rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Monday morning, carrying almost 2.5 tons of cargo, including propellant, fresh water, pressurized gases, and various equipment and supplies. Among other things, it will deliver a repair kit necessary to seal a small crack in the …
Read More »India’s space agency to build homegrown alternative to Google Maps, after country introduces ‘own’ Twitter & WhatsApp
The new project was announced by the Indian Space Research Organisation and MapmyIndia late on Friday. The two have not yet specified any timeframe within which the service might arrive, nor revealed what it will be called. The ISRO said the “collaboration will enable them to jointly identify and build …
Read More »Russian space agency boss attacks US proposal to militarize Moon after Pentagon suggests using Defense Department to protect bases
His comments came after an article from the Wall Street Journal revealed that the Pentagon plans to protect NASA bases on the moon, as well as commercial operations, such as water and mineral extraction. “Driving the changes are actions by Moscow and Beijing to challenge American space interests with anti-satellite …
Read More »Ground control to major lawsuit? Dubai launches ‘space court’ to settle celestial corporate disputes
While lawyers themselves won’t actually be floating around in zero gravity, the new court, launched under the auspices of the Dubai International Financial Centre, will settle commercial disputes and violations of bi- and multilateral space-related treaties. The DIFC, an independent arbitration center, is modeled after British common law and already …
Read More »Foes on the ground, but friends in space: American astronauts on ISS give their food to Russian cosmonauts after supplies run out
The Progress MS-16 spacecraft, which was due to be launched on December 11, would have brought rations to Russian cosmonauts stationed on the ISS. Its delay to February 15 prompted the Americans to share some of their own food. “When we asked the Americans about delivering our rations on their …
Read More »Trump outlines NUCLEAR future with mini-reactors for US military and space programs
The order promoting “Small Modular Reactors for National Defense and Space Exploration” was published on Tuesday. Though it promptly got lost in the media cacophony over the inauguration, impeachment and last week’s unrest at the US Capitol, its contents could have a long-lasting effect on US nuclear policy. Declaring nuclear …
Read More »Russian Defense Ministry, air and space companies on US list of ‘prohibited’ export destinations
The list, published Monday by the Bureau of Industry and Security amends the Export Administration Regulations, and represents just the first tranche of entries that will be expanded going forward, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said. Commerce is “leveraging its partnerships with US and global companies to combat efforts by China …
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