on 20/08/2018 at 15h15
Aeolus, the European Space Agency’s wind sensing satellite, is is set for liftoff on Arianespace's Vega light-lift launcher on 21st August. It will be the first mission of the year for Vega and its 12th flight overall. It will be the fifth launch this year from the Guiana Space...
on 15/08/2018 at 09h00
New research using a decade of data from ESA’s Mars Express has found clear signs of the complex martian atmosphere acting as a single, interconnected system, with processes occurring at low and mid levels significantly affecting those seen higher up. A new study based on 10 years of data from...
on 08/08/2018 at 09h00
Following months of tests and evaluation, the first data on air pollutants from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite have been released. These first maps show a range of trace gases that affect air quality such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and ozone. Launched on 13 October 2017, Sentinel-5P...
on 07/08/2018 at 09h00
Lockheed Martin has produced a 3D-printed titanium dome for satellite fuel tanks that sets a new record for the size of 3D-printed space parts. The 1.16m-diameter vessel completed quality testing this month, ending a multi-year development program to create giant, high-pressure tanks that carry fuel...
on 31/07/2018 at 09h00
Blue Origin's New Shepard flew for the ninth time on 18th July 2018. During this mission, known as Mission 9 (M9), the escape motor was fired shortly after booster separation. New Shepard's “full envelope” escape system is built around a solid rocket motor that provides 70,000lbs of thrust in a...
on 23/07/2018 at 09h00
DARPA’s Experimental Spaceplane (XSP) has takan a further step toward its goal for rapid turnaround and on-demand launch with the completion of a series of tests on the spaceplane’s AR-22 Experimental Spaceplane Main Engine. The engineering team successfully fired the engine 10 times in just...
on 17/07/2018 at 12h39
The next batch of four Galileo satellites (nos. 23 – 26) has been put in place on top of the Ariane 5 launcher due to lift the satellites into orbit from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana on 25th July. The launcher was moved from the BIL Launcher Integration Building, where it...
on 16/07/2018 at 12h09
ArianeGroup has officially inaugurated its new B-Line (B as in Bordeaux) production unit in Haillan, near Bordeaux, for P120C booster nozzles for Vega-C and Ariane 6. P120C will replace P80 as the first stage motor of Vega-C. Two or four P120Cs will be strapped onto Ariane 6 as boosters for...
on 12/07/2018 at 17h39
This week, the largest solid rocket motor ever built in one piece will be test fired at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana for the first time. The test will validate the booster for use on Vega-C next year and on Ariane 6 from 2020. Fully loaded with solid fuel, the P120C rocket motor will be...
on 27/06/2018 at 12h37
The Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency of Thailand (GISTDA) has selected Airbus as partner for its next-generation national geo-information system. The end-to-end system will make Thailand one of the few nations able to fully exploit geo-information for societal benefits. Fully...
on 22/06/2018 at 12h10
Paris and Berlin have agreed to launch a future addition to the Composante Spatiale Optique (CSO) high-resolution military reconnaissance satellite network on Ariane 6. The satellite, CSO 3, is scheduled to enter service in 2021 to improve revisit times offered by the first two platforms. The...
on 21/06/2018 at 16h26
A space debris removal technology mission called RemoveDEBRIS, led by the Surrey Space Centre (SSC) at the University of Surrey, has been launched into orbit from the International Space Station (ISS). RemoveDEBRIS is intended to demonstrate a range of innovative technologies to clean up space...
on 19/06/2018 at 11h40
ArianeGroup has successfully tested a full-scale demonstrator of the thrust chamber for an upper-stage rocket engine incorporating the newest propulsion technologies. Initial hot firing tests were performed at the DLR German Aerospace Center P3.2 test facility in Lampoldshausen. The Expander-cycle...
on 19/06/2018 at 09h40
Canada has awarded Thales Canada Phase II of the MEOSAR (Medium Earth Orbit Search and Rescue) Ground Segment contract. It will support the country’s ability to respond to distress signals under the International COSPAS-SARSAT Programme Agreement — the satellite-based system best known for...
on 18/06/2018 at 14h45
The European Space Agency (ESA) has formally given the go-ahead for completion of the Ariane 6 development programme up to full operational capability and agreed to fund industrial incentives associated with the development of Ariane 6 and the P120C solid rocket motor. The decisions were made at an...
