ISRO to Launch Satellite For Strategic Applications

India will launch an advanced communications satellite (GSAT-6) in July or August for strategic applications, its space agency chief said. "We will launch GSAT-6 for strategic applications in July-end or August beginning, with a special antenna that will have a capability to use a handheld device to communicate from anywhere," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman AS Kiran Kumar told reporters in Bengaluru.
ISRO will use a heavy rocket - geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLVA Mark II) to launch the 2-tonne GSAT-6 with 10 special transponders from its spaceport at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
"The six-metre diameter antenna will be one of the scientific instruments onboard the satellite. We are making optical instruments for measurements using optimal techniques," Mr Kiran Kumar said on the margins of a function.
The instruments are also used in telescopes of 1.2 metre and 0.7 metre mirrors, which are measured to nanometer accuracy.
Though the space agency was to launch the satellite earlier for the city-based Devas Multimedia Services Ltd under a pact with its commercial arm Antrix Corporation, the government cancelled the $300 million deal in February 2011 invoking sovereignty and decided to use it for strategic needs.
Under the annulled deal, Antrix was to lease transponders of GSAT-6 and GSAT-6A to Devas for allowing it to offer digital multimedia services using S-band wavelength (spectrum), reserved for strategic use of the country.
Earlier, the ISRO chief flagged off a three-day seminar, symposium and expo on metrology at the Central Manufacturing Technology Institute (CMTI), organised by the Metrology Society of India, southern region on the occasion of 'World Metrology Day', celebrated on May 20

China ranked 4th among world space powers

China's space capabilities are ranked the fourth in the world, and the gap between the leading powers is narrowing, according to a report issued recently by a Chinese research organization.
China is at a crucial period developing from a major power to a great power in space, says an evaluation by the Beijing Institute of Space Science and Technology Information, affiliated to the China Academy of Space Technology.
Last year saw a record 92 launches around the world, with 262 spacecraft put into orbit. The institute for the first time evaluated the space capabilities of 20 countries and regions across six aspects: strategy, product systems, infrastructure, industrial scale, innovation and international influence.
It rated the United States, Europe, Russia, China, Japan and India as the leading powers in space.
The United States' status as the only super power in space is unshakable, but the gap between the United States and its followers is narrowing, says the report.
Europe and Russia are ranked as the next two great powers. With its technological advantages and alliances with the United States, Europe has made a giant leap in its space capability. Russia has curbed its decline, showing signs of recovery thanks to its medium and long-term plans and reform of its space industry, the report says.
China, Japan and India are major powers in space. Pursuing an independent development path, China has made remarkable accomplishments in space technology, showing strong momentum and potential. Driven by technological innovation, active international cooperation and an alliance with the United States, Japan has made rapid developments.
India became the first Asian country to successfully send a probe to Mars in 2014, marking a breakthrough in its space capability, says the report.
The report also mentions emerging countries in space represented by Canada and the Republic of Korea, which closely follow China, Japan and India.
Space has become a "high frontier" as nations jostle for political, economic, military and science and technological advantages. Driven by the needs of national security and economic interests, more countries are vying to flex their muscles in space, says the report.

Japan to land first unmanned spacecraft on moon in 2018

Japan is planning to deliver its first lander on the surface of the moon in three years, local media reported on Sunday, citing sources with close knowledge of the project.
Japan's Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is expected to unveil its plan to a governmental space policy committee on Monday, according to the Sankei Shimbun daily. A more detailed project to land the unmanned SLIM space vehicle is expected in the summer.
The publication added SLIM will be launched with the help of JAXA's Epsilon-5 carrier rocket and will be key in accumulating technology for future explorations on Mars.
The project is estimated to cost from $8 billion to $12.5 billion and JAXA is slated to start drawing from the state budget next fiscal year.
Previously, Japan launched the Selenological and Engineering Explorer (SELENE, better known in Japan as Kaguya) into the Lunar orbit in 2007, allowing to study the Moon's surface in close detail.
SLIM's landing spot will be identified based on data sent by Kaguya over its two-year service.
The publication goes on to say the new SLIM probe will demonstrate an ability to rapidly assess surface topography and identify possible obstacles to landing.
The former Soviet Union, the United States and China are currently the only countries to have landed a mission on the moon.

Russia Invites China to Join in Creating Lunar International Space Station

Russia and China are currently in talks on inviting the latter to become one of the main partners in creating a lunar station, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said Tuesday.
"The question is being discussed with Roscosmos on bringing China in as the main partner in creating a lunar scientific station. We have told China of our plans on the possibility of creating a Russian national orbital station," Rogozin told journalists after a meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang in Eastern China.
Rogozin added that both parties share "deep mutual understanding and mutual interests" in this area.
In February, China's Vice Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping said that Beijing is planning to boost its cooperation with Russia in a number of spheres, including space.
Exploration of the Moon and Mars is a priority for the Russian space program. In mid-April, President Vladimir Putin said that Russia plans to launch its national orbital station by 2023. The station is to serve as a base for Russia's lunar program. Spacecraft will be delivered first to the station, then proceeding to the Moon.
On April 22, Russia's space agency Roscosmos head Igor Komarov said that Russia is expected to carry out a manned mission orbiting the Moon in 2025 and conduct a manned landing on the surface of the Moon in 2029

UAE eyes "first Arab unmanned probe" to Mars by 2021

The United Arab Emirates on Monday kicked off a strategic framework for its newly founded space agency that aims to launch satellite missions and the "first Arab unmanned probe" to Mars by 2021.
The launch of the strategy comes ahead of a two-day Gulf Space and Satellite Forum, which starts here on Monday.
The UAE agency has scheduled total direct investments of 20 billion dirham (5.45 billion U.S. dollars).
Setting up the Gulf Arab state's official body to explore the orbit was in line with the government's policy to invest in talent and science, to diversify the economy and to boost research and innovation in the UAE, a major oil supplier, the agency's officials said.
Having already sent two satellites into space, the UAE plans to send the third home-made satellite, Khalifa Sat, named after President Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, by 2017.
The UAE's first observation satellite was brought into space in July 2009.
The UAE space agency, based in Abu Dhabim works closely with the Mohammed Bin Rashid Center in Dubai, which was launched in April this year.
A strategic objective of the agency is to establish a space facility in the UAE desert from where vehicles carrying satellites and probes could be launched into orbit.

European Space Agency Director Wants to Set Up a Moon Base

The successor to the International Space Station (ISS) should be a permanent moon base, says incoming European Agency Space leader Johann-Dietrich Worner.
The Space Foundation's National Space Symposium, held in Colorado, is a gathering for global civil, military, and "new space" leaders to discuss and plan the future of space. One of those plans, according to the next European Agency Space director general, should be establishing a moon colony as the next-step outpost beyond the International Space Station (ISS).
"It seems to be appropriate to propose a permanent moon station as the successor of ISS," Worner said. Following a similar model to the ISS, he added that "different actors can contribute with their respective competencies and interests," to the lunar base.
A key advantage to having the international base would be the opportunities it would offer in the exploration of deep space. The base would additionally equip astronauts to use on-site resources instead of having them transported over.
"In any case, the space community should rapidly discuss post-ISS proposal inside and with the general public, to be prepared." He added.
Worner proposed a base on the lunar far-side, arguing it would provide a number of "drivers" for the space community, including cosmological research. The far-side is additionally shielded from Earth's radiation-chatter broadcasts, allowing radio telescopes to survey the universe without background noise interruptions.
Speaking to Space.com, Worner said that the idea for a lunar far-side base is not new, but stressed that "now we have to do it as opposed to study it."
"We have to look into the future about what are the next destinations, what to do after the International Space Station...and we better know what to do afterwards."

Rover Restored to Normal Operations After a Reset

Opportunity is on the west rim of Endeavour Crater at the 'Spirit of St. Louis' crater near the entrance of 'Marathon Valley.' The rover had been exploring the outcrops inside the Spirit of St. Louis crater.
On Sol 4018 (May 14, 2015), the project attempted to restore the rover to master sequence control after an unexplained reset on Sol 4017 (May 13, 2015).
However, an operational error prevented the use of the high-gain antenna (HGA), and the rover did not receive subsequent recovery commands.
The rover was successfully restored to normal operations on Sol 4020 (May 16, 2015).
On that sol, Opportunity executed a very small turn-in-place of only 4.6 degrees to position a surface target within reach of the robotic arm instruments. That evening, an overnight atmospheric argon measurement using the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) was made.
Another amnesia event occurred on the evening of Sol 4021 (May 17, 2015), but it was benign with no loss of data. On Sol 4023 (May 19, 2015), the Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT) was used to brush a surface target for in-situ (contact) investigation.
After the brushing, a Microscopic Imager (MI) mosaic was collected, followed by the placement of the APXS for a multi-hour integration.
As of Sol 4023 (May 19, 2015), the solar array energy production was 536 watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 1.105 and a solar array dust factor of 0.727.
Total odometry is 26.28 miles (42.30 kilometers), more than a marathon