The rapid expansion of satellite constellations in near-Earth orbits presents significant challenges in satellite network management, requiring innovative approaches for efficient, scalable, and resilient operations. This paper explores the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in optimizing the operation of satellite mega-constellations, drawing from the ConstellAI project funded by the European Space Agency (ESA). A consortium comprising GMV GmbH, Saarland University, and Thales Alenia Space collaborates to develop AI-driven algorithms and demonstrates their effectiveness over traditional methods for two crucial operational challenges: data routing and resource allocation. In the routing use case, Reinforcement Learning (RL) is used to improve the end-to-end latency by learning from historical queuing latency, outperforming classical shortest path algorithms. For resource allocation, RL optimizes the scheduling of tasks across constellations, focussing on efficiently using limited resources such as battery and memory. Both use cases were tested for multiple satellite constellation configurations and operational scenarios, resembling the real-life spacecraft operations of communications and Earth observation satellites. This research demonstrates that RL not only competes with classical approaches but also offers enhanced flexibility, scalability, and generalizability in decision-making processes, which is crucial for the autonomous and intelligent management of satellite fleets. The findings of this activity suggest that AI can fundamentally alter the landscape of satellite constellation management by providing more adaptive, robust, and cost-effective solutions.

The most accurate clock in space launches within days and will begin building a highly synchronised network out of the best clocks on Earth. But the project, decades in preparation, will only operate for a few years before it burns up as the International Space Station deorbits at the end of the decade. NASA's most accurate atomic clock will be tested on a mission to Venus The Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space (ACES) is a European Space Agency (ESA) mission that will generate a time signal with unprecedented accuracy and then transmit it via laser to nine ground stations as it passes overhead at 27,000 kilometres per hour. This network of clocks will be in extremely close synchronisation and provide highly accurate timekeeping around the world. The result is that ACES will be able to test Einstein's theory of general relativity, which says that the passing of time is affected by the strength of gravity, with great accuracy.

Veteran NASA astronaut Tom Jones recaps the historic Artemis I mission after the Orion capsule made a successful return to earth and outlines what this means for the lunar return program. The Artemis II astronauts were named in a historic announcement on Monday. The astronauts include NASA's Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman and Christina Hammock Koch, and the Canadian Space Agency's Jeremy Hansen. All four will venture around the moon no sooner than late 2024. They'll be the first to fly NASA's Orion space capsule and will lift off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center on a Space Launch System rocket.

The world is in a climate crisis. With average global temperatures increasing every year, the threat of seasonal forest fires is becoming increasingly worse. In places like the Pacific Northwest, wildfire season causes extensive damage to woodlands, rural communities, and townships, destroying farmlands and infrastructure and forcing hundreds of thousands of residents to flee their homes. These fires also lead to terrible air quality in cities located hundreds (or even thousands) of miles away. For instance, in September of 2022, the city of Vancouver (British Columbia) was ranked as having the worst air quality in the world - per the Air Quality Index (AQI).

A Russian cargo ship on its way to the International Space Station (ISS) will come perilously close to colliding with one of SpaceX's satellites, according to the country's space agency Roscosmos. The Progress 78 spacecraft, which blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Tuesday, will also narrowly miss a Falcon 9 rocket fragment left in orbit from 2020. Preliminary calculations suggest the Starlink 1691 satellite will come within 0.9 miles (1.5km) of hitting Progress at 17:32 ET (22:32 BST) tonight, while the booster is expected to miss by 0.3 miles (500m) three minutes later. Near-miss: Russian cargo ship Progress 78 (similar to the one pictured) will come very close to colliding with one of SpaceX's satellites, according to the country's space agency Roscosmos Starlink 1691 was launched in September last year but is understood to have been lowered out of operational orbit at 340 miles in April. This artist's impression shows a Starlink satellite The close approach will take place just three-and-a-half hours before the spacecraft is set to dock with the ISS at 21:02 ET (02:02 BST) on July 2. Roscosmos said: 'Preliminary data show the Starlink 1691 satellite approach the Progress MS-17 spacecraft at 21:32 UTC at a distance of about 1.5 km.

The International Space Station has been hit with a piece of orbital debris, leaving a sizeable hole in its 17 metre-long robotic arm. Experts from the Canadian Space Agency and Nasa found the puncture during a routine inspection of Canadarm2. The arm performs station maintenance, moves supplies – and even astronauts – and performs "cosmic catches" by grappling visiting crafts and bringing them to the ISS. The inspection, which took place on 12 May, found that the puncture came from a piece of space debris that was too small to be tracked – which accounts for rock or dust particles to flecks of paint from satellites, the CSA says. Any object the size of a football or larger can be tracked.

A robotic arm attached to the outside of the International Space Station has been hit with space junk and visibly damaged, according to the Canadian Space Agency. In a blog post, the CSA notes that'a small section of the arm boom and thermal blanket' of Canadarm2 was hit. The space agency first noticed the incident'during a routine inspection' on May 12. 'Despite the impact, results of the ongoing analysis indicate that the arm's performance remains unaffected,' CSA wrote in the post, adding that the robotic arm is'continuing to conduct its planned operations.' A robotic arm attached to the outside of the International Space Station has been hit with space junk and visibly damaged, according to the Canadian Space Agency. According to the US space agency, more than 27,000 pieces of space junk are tracked.

An advanced artificial intelligence flight computer will help the UAE's lunar rover explore the surface of the Moon. The navigation computer is being developed by Canadian space firm Mission Control Space Services. It will recognise geological features as the Emirati rover, Rashid, drives around the unstable terrain of the lunar surface. The computer will be installed on a Japanese lander that will take Rashid to the Moon next year, from where it will receive data from the rover. It will also send information back to Earth to be studied by scientists at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre.

The Lunar Gateway, NASA's outpost that will orbit the moon as part of its upcoming Artemis program, will be equipped with external robotics from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), NASA announced today. The culmination of an earlier partnership around Artemis, NASA's first major program to bring astronauts to the moon in half a century, CSA plans to build a "next-generation" robotic arm, the aptly named Canadarm3. That device will be able to reach many parts of the Gateway's exterior, giving astronauts an easy way to make repairs. Additionally, NASA says CSA will create robotic interfaces for Gateway modules, which will help with the installation of the outpost's first two scientific instruments. CSA aims to deliver the Candarm3 to the Gateway in 2026 via a commercial logistics supply flight.

HALIFAX, NS, Aug. 4, 2020 /CNW/ - Global Spatial Technology Solutions ("GSTS" or "the Company") an Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Maritime Analytics company today announced that it has been selected by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) to develop space-based AI capability to support enhanced decision-making for a range of space applications focused on tasks using computer vision (such as would be used by exploration landers, rovers, robotics or Earth observation systems). This project is funded under the Space Technology Development Program. "This contribution will enable GSTS to expand our growing AI capabilities into the space sector to support decision making based on the same techniques we utilize in the maritime domain, enabling detection, recognition and prediction," said Richard Kolacz, GSTS CEO. "It is equivalent to placing the brain next to the eyes of any space asset or sensor in order to support decision-making locally, rather than having to relay all the data to Earth for analysis before a decision can be made. It is the first step in the development of truly autonomous space capability." Computer vision involves the automatic extraction, analysis and understanding of information gleaned from digital images. By applying machine learning, which is a type of AI, it can enhance and optimize the production of actionable insights much faster and more accurately than a human can.