Lecture

Space Capabilities Worldwide

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Description

This lecture provides an overview of the space capabilities of various nations, space agencies, and private companies as of 2015. It covers the capabilities of countries like the U.S., Russia, China, Canada, European Space Agency, and India, as well as major space agencies like NASA, ESA, Roscosmos, JAXA, and CSA. The lecture also discusses the increasing involvement of private companies in space access, including SpaceX, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Sierra Nevada Corporation, Scaled Composites, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic.

In MOOC

Space Mission Design and Operations

Space exploration is a very exciting subject. Consider the achievements of Sputnik 1, Yuri Gagarin's first flight in space, the Apollo missions to the Moon, followed by the Shuttle program, the Hubble Space Telescope launch and maintenance on orbit, and finally the assembly and exploitation of the International Space Station. These were challenging undertakings involving space agencies and industrial teams of several nations, and private companies as well. Space telescopes are in service, and several compon

Official source

Ontological neighbourhood

Mechanical engineering

Aerospace engineering: Spacecrafts

Related concepts (26)

Low Earth orbit

A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an orbit around Earth with a period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial objects in outer space are in LEO, with an altitude never more than about one-third of the radius of Earth. The term LEO region is also used for the area of space below an altitude of (about one-third of Earth's radius). Objects in orbits that pass through this zone, even if they have an apogee further out or are sub-orbital, are carefully tracked since they present a collision risk to the many LEO satellites.

Medium Earth orbit

A medium Earth orbit (MEO) is an Earth-centered orbit with an altitude above a low Earth orbit (LEO) and below a high Earth orbit (HEO) – between above sea level. The boundary between MEO and LEO is an arbitrary altitude chosen by accepted convention, whereas the boundary between MEO and HEO is the particular altitude of a geosynchronous orbit, in which a satellite takes 24 hours to circle the Earth, the same period as the Earth’s own rotation.

High Earth orbit

High Earth orbit (HEO) is a region of space around the Earth where satellites and other spacecraft are placed in orbits that are very high above the planet's atmosphere. This area is defined as an altitude higher than 35,786 km (22,236 mi) above sea level, which is the radius of a circular geosynchronous orbit. HEO extends to end of the Earth's sphere of influence. Satellites in HEO are primarily used for communication, navigation, scientific research, and military applications.

International Space Station

The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station in low Earth orbit. The project involves five space agencies: the United States' NASA, Russia's Roscosmos, Japan's JAXA, Europe's ESA, and Canada's CSA. The ownership and use of the space station is established by intergovernmental treaties and agreements. The station serves as a microgravity and space environment research laboratory in which scientific research is conducted in astrobiology, astronomy, meteorology, physics, and other fields.

Satellite

A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit around a celestial body. Satellites have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation (GPS), broadcasting, scientific research, and Earth observation. Additional military uses are reconnaissance, early warning, signals intelligence and, potentially, weapon delivery. Other satellites include the final rocket stages that place satellites in orbit and formerly useful satellites that later become defunct.

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