Virgin Orbit has launched its first set of satellites into space which is great news for small satellite operators.
Congratulations to the team and Sir Richard Branson!
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Author: Zaf
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Real Time Data
SPARC provides tailored space radiation environment plots utilising near real time measurements from ESA EU Galileo and NOAA GOES measurements.
The instruments for the ESA Euclid space telescope, scheduled for launch in 2022, have been integrated after passing the qualification and acceptance review. Congratulations to the team!
https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2020/12/Instruments_installed_on_Euclid_spacecraft
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SWE Portal 3.2.0 Release Note
The Space Weather Service Network Portal has been updated.
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Gaia Early Data Release 3
The latest data collected from the Gaia spacecraft has been released.
Basically a 3D space catalog with billions of astronomical objects.
We are proud that SPARC has been appointed as an expert consultant of the Space Radiation Expert Service Centre (R-ESC) of ESA SSA Space Weather Service Network.
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The science documentary which SPARC participated has been broadcast on ERT, Greece’s public broadcaster.
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The cameras and sound equipment overflowed at SPARC HQ when a TV shoot, for a science documentary, recorded Dr. Sandberg explaining space safety to the nation.
We sill keep you posted when the documentary is shown.
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SafeSpace
SafeSpace is a scientific research project, funded by Horizon 2020, the new EU framework Programme for Research and Innovation, and submitted in response to the H2020-SPACE-2018-2020 call SU-SPACE-22-SEC-2019: Space Weather topic.
The SafeSpace project aims at advancing space weather nowcasting and forecasting capabilities and, consequently, at contributing to the safety of space assets through the transition of powerful tools from research to operations (R2O). To ensure an efficient and optimized transfer from science to application, we have foreseen close collaboration between academia (NKUA, ONERA, KUL, IAP, UPS, IASB-BIRA), a major European space industry (TAS) and a space-oriented SME (SPARC). This team shall improve radiation belt modelling through the incorporation into an existing physical model of processes and parameters that are of major importance to radiation belt dynamics. In order to set up a prototype of a new space weather service dedicated to Earth-orbiting satellites, end users’ requirements related to ionizing particles in space will be defined by TAS – in consultation with other end users.
SafeSpace is naturally related to ESA’s Space Situational Awareness (SSA) programme. The objective of the SSA programme is to support Europe’s independent utilisation of, and access to, space through the provision of timely and accurate information and data regarding the space environment, and particularly regarding hazards to infrastructure in orbit and on the ground. As part of Period II and shortly period III of ESA’s SSA Programme, the Space Weather (SWE) Segment is focusing on the development of applications and coordination aimed at enabling services for owners/operators of satellites in space and infrastructure on the ground.
Space environment includes severe radiation and plasma storms – driven by solar activity and its effect on the Earth’s magnetosphere – affecting satellite systems. For the real-time and the post analysis of the space environment effects on satellite components, a series of actions is required each time by satellite operators and analysts in order to access and couple the required but heterogeneous resources, identify critical particle flux enhancements using reliable measurements and couple them with state of the art radiation environment and effect tools.
SREN de-risking activity aimed to the development of a flexible and user-friendly software system that integrates historical and near real time data from European space born radiation monitors with an arsenal of data-analysis and effects engineering models. The goal is to provide a near real time assessment and historical analysis event platform related to damages caused to spacecraft by space weather events via a simple on-line Graphical User Interface.
SREN’s modules are classified into three groups:
• The data pre-analysis module (PAM): for the data pre-processing, cleaning, flagging and flux calculations.
• The environment analysis module (EAM): for real time analysis of energetic particle fluxes and the analysis of critical events.
• The radiation effects module (REM): for the calculation of radiation effects products.
The current version integrates a series of historical and near-real-time radiation environment measurements, with data processing tools that provide radiation environment products and a radiation effect tool for the calculation of the solar cell degradation. The fully developed SREN will incorporate additional functionalities on the monitoring, detection, and characterization of extreme energetic particle events and will provide quantitative outputs on a large number of critical radiation effects