➀ A father-daughter team has deciphered a coded 'alien signal' sent from Mars to Earth, revealing depictions of amino acids. ➁ The signal was part of an art project called 'A Sign in Space' by the ESA, aimed at testing the process of deciphering potential alien signals. ➂ The team decoded the message by extracting it from raw radio data with the help of over 5,000 citizen scientists.
Recent #ESA news in the semiconductor industry
➀ The European Space Agency (ESA) has selected Tyvak to build the first CubeSat for the Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety (Ramses).
➁ The mission aims to rendezvous with the asteroid 99942 Apophis and study its surface and internal structure.
➂ Tyvak will develop a hybrid CubeSat, combining technologies from previous missions.
➀ The UK Space Agency (UKSA) has achieved a record six-month period for contract wins involving the European Space Agency (ESA).
➁ The agency highlights a significant increase in funds for ESA programmes, with an additional £112 million (€134 million) in contracts for the UK space sector between June 2022 and December 2024.
➂ The UK now receives 99p back in contracts for every £1 invested, after overheads, marking an improvement from the previous 93p.
➀ This week's highlights include an interview with ANDtr, TSMC's $100 billion investment in Arizona fabs, TI's claim of the 'world's smallest' MCU, and ESA's investment in the Edinburgh Astronomy Technology Centre.
➁ The Electronics Weekly team shares their picks of the week, including announcements, developments, product releases, quotes, and more from the electronics industry.
➂ The team discusses the second episode of the CHIIPS podcast, featuring insights from ANDtr's Valerie Lynch and Nicola Thorn, and the announcement of new facilities at the UK Astronomy Technology Centre.
➀ EnSilica, in partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA), is designing a key ASIC for multi-band GNSS capabilities.
➁ The project is part of the ESA NAVISP Element 2 programme, aiming to enhance European competitiveness in satellite navigation.
➂ EnSilica is known for its expertise in high-performance RF systems-on-chip.
XCAM is advancing its work on a CubeSat imaging system for Craft Prospect, shifting from the SALIENT project to the OPS-SAT VOLT mission in LEO.
The Context Imager on the satellite utilizes imagery from XCAM’s NuSCIS system for real-time decision-making in satellite operations.
The mission is supported by the Centre for Earth Observation Instrumentation (CEOI) and marks the first flight of NuSCIS with a CMV4000 CMOS image sensor, opening up possibilities for similar applications.
➀ The ESA's EarthCARE satellite, a flagship mission for the agency, has been fully commissioned and is now streaming Level-1 data. The data aims to improve climate and weather prediction models by analyzing the impact of clouds and aerosols on atmospheric heating and cooling. ➁ The satellite's instruments include an atmospheric lidar, cloud profiling radar, multispectral imager, and broadband radiometer. ➂ The data is initially available to ESA project teams but will soon be publicly accessible.
➀ The European Space Agency (ESA) has developed a technological 'to-do list' to aid in its space-sustainability 'Zero Debris' initiative. The list identifies technologies that will contribute to the goal of Zero Debris by 2030.➁ The list outlines six key technological goals for the space industry, including preventing new debris release, improving space traffic surveillance, and learning more about space debris.➂ The Technical Booklet was officially released to the public on 15 January 2025 as part of the Debris Charter initiative for sustainable space operations.
➀ The ESA and Telesat have established a world-first 5G connection to a non-geostationary spacecraft. This is a significant step towards making space-based connections as simple as using a mobile phone. ➁ The connection was made using 5G Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) technology in the Ka-band frequency range. ➂ The initiative showcases the collaboration between ESA, Telesat, and Amarisoft, aiming to support services requiring real-time, interactive connections, such as rural healthcare and remote industrial operations.
➀ The European Space Agency (ESA) has successfully launched the VEGA-C rocket and its Copernicus Sentinel-1C satellite, which has provided the first radar images of Earth. The satellite features a state-of-the-art C-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) instrument. ➁ Sentinel-1C will orbit 700km above the Earth’s surface and provide high-resolution imagery day and night, in all weather conditions. ➂ The satellite will play a vital role in marine surveillance, including oil-spill detection and maritime security.
➀ The European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) have committed to a deeper working relationship, focusing on exploring asteroids, the Moon, and Mars. They have signed a joint statement outlining five aspects of their collaboration, including accelerating studies for the ESA's Ramses mission to Apophis, contributing to the Gateway programme for a lunar space station, and working together on lunar exploration, including the Artemis programme. ➁ They plan to advance discussions on a potential collaborative Mars mission and continue working together in space science, including high-energy astrophysics and studying the plasma around Earth. ➂ The agencies have a history of collaboration, such as the BepiColumbo mission to Mercury and the EarthCARE mission to study Earth's climate.
➀ Space Forge has signed an MOU with Voyager Space to support in-space research and manufacturing. The collaboration aims to integrate Space Forge's ForgeStar platform with Voyager's orbital capabilities for commercial applications. ➁ The ForgeStar platform is designed for reusable satellite operations in microgravity, supported by ESA and NATO. ➂ Voyager Space, with its commercial space station infrastructure, is working on projects funded by NASA, targeting new frontiers in bio-medicine and material science.
➀ A consortium has completed an initial European Space Agency (ESA) RocketRoll project on nuclear electric propulsion for space exploration. ➁ The project aims to harness the potential of nuclear electric propulsion (NEP) for space missions, including a space tug for distant expeditions. ➂ The candidate NEP design is expected to become a European demonstrator by 2035, aiming to explore beyond Mars orbit where solar power is limited.
➀ About 41,000 years ago, Earth's magnetic field briefly flipped during the Laschamp event; ➁ Scientists recreated the sound of the event using data from the ESA's Swarm mission; ➂ The event resulted in a significant weakening of Earth's magnetic field, allowing more cosmic rays to reach Earth's atmosphere.
➀ The European Space Agency's (ESA) Euclid space mission has released the first chunk of its 208-gigapixel map of the universe. The map, created from 260 observations, covers 132 square degrees of the Southern Sky. ➁ The map contains around 100 million sources, including stars and galaxies. ➂ Euclid's sensitive cameras have captured intricate structures of spiral galaxies, and the mission is expected to reveal more than one third of the sky in six years.
➀ The European Space Agency's Hera spacecraft is en route to the asteroid impacted by NASA's DART mission in 2022. The probe is part of a mission to study the 'kinetic impact' technique for asteroid deflection. ➁ Hera will conduct detailed surveys of the asteroid Dimorphos and perform deep-space technology experiments. ➂ The spacecraft is expected to arrive at the binary asteroid in autumn 2026, providing valuable data for planetary defense.
➀ The European Space Agency (ESA) has commissioned a feasibility study on merging satellite communication and earth observation services for civil security. ➁ The study, led by CGI and Fraunhofer Heinrich-Hertz-Institut (HHI), aims to support civil security activities and provide timely information in crisis and disaster situations. ➂ A key focus is creating a new generation 'digital marketplace' for integrated satcom and EO services, leveraging AI technologies for natural disaster management.
➀ The European Space Agency (ESA) has commissioned a feasibility study to integrate satellite communication and earth observation services on a single central platform, aiming to support civil security activities and provide timely information in crisis and disaster situations. ➁ The study, conducted by CGI in collaboration with Fraunhofer Heinrich-Hertz Institute (HHI), focuses on creating a new generation 'digital marketplace' for rapid access to integrated satellite communication and earth observation services. ➂ Fraunhofer HHI will lead the integration of AI technologies into the framework of the CSS-Hub, specifically in modeling rainfall runoff, utilizing services developed in the DAKI-FWS project.
➀ SBQuantum has secured contracts with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) to develop and test quantum diamond magnetometers for space applications. ➁ The ESA contract focuses on evaluating the technology's reliability and accuracy, and its potential for applications like monitoring magnetic storms. ➂ The CSA will test the magnetometers at high altitudes and extreme conditions, including low temperatures and radiation, to demonstrate their precision and potential for magnetic field-based positioning.
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