Science & Technology

Iran satellite Payam fails to reach orbit

15 Jan 2019; DW: Iran announced on Tuesday that one of its satellites had failed to reach the "necessary speed" to achieve orbit.

Telecommunications Minister Mohammed Javad Jahromi told Iranian state television that the rocket carrying the satellite had passed the first and second launch stage, but that it had developed problems in the third phase.

Cosmic radiation possible cause of Russian teliscope Spektr-R failure

MOSCOW, January 14. /TASS/. The Spektr-R space radio telescope’s transmission device failure may have been caused by cosmic radiation accumulated in the spacecraft’s electronics during the past eight years, a source in the Russian space industry informed TASS on Monday.

"The specialists cite the influence of the radiation dosage accumulated during the flight period in the satellite’s electronic component base as a possible cause for the failure of the Spektr-R receiving and transmitting device," the agency’s source informed.

China ready to cooperate with Russia in operating its future orbital station

BEIJING, January 14. /TASS/. China is ready to cooperate with Russia in operating its yet-to-be created orbital station and to let some other countries participate in similar projects, the secretary-general of the China National Space Administration, Li Guoping, told a news conference on Monday.

Onboard systems of Russian telescope Spektr-R operate in normal mode

MOSCOW, January 14. /TASS/. The onboard systems of Russia’s radio telescope Spektr-R operate normally according to the United States’ research data reception station, Russia’s space agency Roscosmos said on Monday.

"A research data reception station in the United States has managed to identify the carrier frequency of the separate research data transmitter of the space apparatus Spektr-R, which is indirect evidence the onboard systems operate in accordance with the built-in algorithm," Roscosmos said.

China unveils follow-up lunar exploration missions

BEIJING, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- China will launch the Chang'e-5 probe by the end of this year to bring moon samples back to Earth, a senior official of the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced Monday.

The Chang'e-4 mission realized the first-ever soft-landing on the far side of the moon, and its success has inaugurated the fourth phase of China's lunar exploration program.

Russian attempt to control orbiting radio telescope fails

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s space agency says another attempt by its specialists to establish contact with an orbiting radio telescope has failed.

The Spektr-R satellite is continuing to transmit signals, but scientists have been unable to control the satellite since Friday.

Alexander Bloshenko, an adviser to the Roscosmos space agency, was quoted by the state news agency Tass as saying that Sunday’s attempt to restore contact had failed. Another attempt is expected on Monday.

SpaceX to lay off 10 percent of employees

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- U.S. space technology firm SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, will lay off about 10 percent of its more than 6,000 employees, according to media reports.

The cuts were cited in an email sent to employees.

In a statement, a company spokesman confirmed the layoff without specifying how many employees will be released.

"To continue delivering for our customers and to succeed in developing interplanetary spacecraft and a global space-based Internet, SpaceX must become a leaner company," said the statement of the company.

Calls for Huawei boycott get mixed response in Europe

13 Jan 2019; AFP: Europe is giving US-led calls for a boycott of Huawei 5G telecoms equipment a mixed reception, with some governments untroubled by spy suspicions against the Chinese giant, but others backing a ban.

In the latest setback for Huawei, Poland said Friday it had arrested a Chinese telecoms executive suspected of spying for China, with local media identifying him as a Huawei director.

India: Andhra Gov signs MoU on world's first 100% renewable energy data centers

13 Jan 2019; PTI: World's first 100% renewable powered data center parks to be created in Visakhapatnam positions Andhra Pradesh as the East Coast Data Center hub for India & SE Asia

Adani Group to invest Rs. 70,000 crores, potentially creating over 100,000 jobs over 20 years

Russian Navy to put over 30 Poseidon strategic underwater drones on combat duty

MOSCOW, January 12. /TASS/. The Russian Navy plans to place more than 30 Poseidon strategic nuclear-capable underwater drones on combat duty, a source in the domestic defense industry told TASS on Saturday.

"Two Poseidon-carrying submarines are expected to enter service with the Northern Fleet and the other two will join the Pacific Fleet. Each of the submarines will carry a maximum of eight drones and, therefore, the total number of Poseidons on combat duty may reach 32 vehicles," the source said.

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