Space News reports, “Construction of the Shanghai-led Qianfan constellation continued to accelerate this week with a pair of Long March launches, following on from two recent experimental flights. China launched Long March 6A and Long March 8 rockets Thursday and Friday respectively, adding 36 satellites to the project led by Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST), or Spacesail.”
Full Story (Space News)
Tag: Deployment
NATO Ally Taps Red Cat’s Black Widow Drones for Next-Gen Defense
Unmanned Systems Technology reports, “The Black Widow small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS) from Red Cat Holdings has been selected by a NATO ally following a competitive tender process.”
Full Story (Unmanned Systems Technology)
Space Force Eyes Faster Deployment of Space-Based Airborne Sensors
Breaking Defense reports, “The Space Force has seen positive results from experiments with space-based sensors to track airborne targets, and now is hoping to use incoming funds to speed capability to orbit, according to Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman.”
Full Story (Breaking Defense)
V-BAT UAS Cleared for Coast Guard Deployment After Successful Testing
Defense Daily reports, “The V-BAT unmanned aircraft system (UAS) has successfully complete{d} operational test and evaluation with the Coast Guard, clearing the way for the service to begin employing the drones aboard its National Security Cutters (NSCs) for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance uses, the service and drone supplier said on Thursday.
Full Story (Defense Daily)
NASA’s Mars Helicopter Begins Deployment Phase
Spaceflight Now reports that NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter “is being lowered from the belly of the Perseverance rover this week as ground teams run through a choreographed long-distance command sequence to safely release the $80 million rotorcraft onto the surface of Mars.” The deployment “is projected to take around six days, assuming everything goes as planned. The first command uplinked from engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory was to release a launch lock that kept the Ingenuity helicopter firmly attached to the belly of the Perseverance rover during the journey to Mars.” The deployment “sequence continued Tuesday to extend the helicopter’s other two landing legs. At that point, the helicopter remained attached to the rover by a single bolt and a couple of tiny electrical connectors, according to NASA.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)