Spain’s Ministry of Defence has signed an agreement with the European Union’s Satellite Centre (SatCen) to provide access to the country’s national Earth observation satellite system. SatCen was founded in 1992 and was incorporated as an EU agency in January 2002. The agency supports the EU’s decision-making in the field of Common Foreign and Security […]
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SpaceX’s Elon Musk told company employees on Friday that the achievements they made last year are leading to his goal of establishing human settlements on Mars. He forecasts the first […]
John Deere has picked SpaceX to provide connectivity its farming machines need to operate autonomously in rural areas via a new, ruggedized user terminal.
Payloads: ECHO: The crew performed maintenance and troubleshooting tasks on the ECHO unit. The purpose of the ECHO investigation is to evaluate a tele-operated ultrasound system, equipped with motorized probes that are controlled by flight controllers on the ground. Additionally, this investigation serves to perform the commissioning of the Echo instrument, which is planned to …
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson has chosen Kurt Vogel to be the new head of the Space Technology Mission Directorate. Vogel is relatively new to NASA, but had a long career […]
The Pentagon on Tuesday announced about $2.5 billion in contracts will go to L3Harris, Lockheed Martin, and Sierra Space to build satellites for an expanding military system.
The Space Development Agency announced Jan. 16 it selected L3Harris, Lockheed Martin and Sierra Space to build and operate 54 satellites equipped with infrared sensors.
SpaceX and Axiom Space are targeting January 17th, 2023 at 5:11 PM for the launch of their third mission to the International Space Station, Ax-3, carrying a historic all-European crew on a 14-day mission. With Axiom enabling missions for the continent without an established human spaceflight capability, this mission represents not only the establishment of a routine cadence for commercial missions to the station, but indicates a shift in the power dynamic of Europe’s ambitions.
Northrop Grumman announced Jan. 16 it conducted a successful static fire test of the second-stage solid rocket motor for a new intercontinental ballistic missile the company is developing for the U.S. Air Force.
Investment in the space sector bounced back last year, rebounding closer to the record high of 2021, according to a report Tuesday by New York-based Space Capital.
The first launch of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur was also a successful demonstration of new solid rocket boosters developed by Northrop Grumman for the vehicle.
A small rover developed by France and Germany is on its way to Japan for integration with the Martian Moon eXploration (MMX) probe. The rover, which is called Idefix after the small white terrier from the Asterix comics, will be the first ever to explore the surface of the Martian moon Phobos. DLR announced on […]
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Voyager Space and Airbus Defence and Space have finalized a partnership to develop the Starlab commercial space station, seeking to win customers for it from both sides of the Atlantic.
While UK-based launch startup Orbex is currently focusing on completing the construction of Sutherland Spaceport and launching the maiden flight of its microlauncher Prime, the company is already looking forward to what comes next. Orbex is currently working on its two-stage microlauncher called Prime, which is powered by what the company calls bio-propane. In December, […]
The post New Orbex CEO Says Larger Vehicle “On The Table” appeared first on European Spaceflight.
The Space Development Agency is gearing up for its next procurement of satellites for a military communications network known as the Transport Layer Tranche 2.
Silently floating through the universe are cosmic objects that are both too large to be planets and too small to be stars. Called brown dwarfs, these substellar objects are among the most captivating objects in the universe, and their low surface temperatures mean that most of the light they emit is infrared and thus can only be observed and characterized using infrared telescopes.
The year 2024 is set to be a crucial one for NASA’s lunar ambitions. Several commercial lunar payloads will attempt a landing this year under the CLPS initiative, while the buildup for Artemis II progresses towards its historic crewed flight. While these missions set their sights on the Moon, NASA is preparing to launch even more forward-looking plans this month: products from the 2023 Architecture Concept Review. Set for release on January 22nd, these highly-anticipated documents will provide key insights into NASA’s overarching Moon to Mars exploration strategy, including new details in its vision for sending humans to Mars.
After taking delivery of the CCU4 satellite transporter in November 2023, the French space agency CNES is moving ahead with testing the newest addition to the Guiana Space Centre’s infrastructure. The Conteneur de Charges Utiles No. 4 (CCU4) is essentially a large container that is utilized to protect satellites from the elements while they’re being […]
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UK-based deployable antenna manufacturer Oxford Space Systems has raised £3 million in funding that will be used to support the company’s growth. While Oxford Space Systems was founded in 2013, the company’s growth has accelerated over the last two years. In that period, the company has grown from 50 to 87 employees, supported five successful […]
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Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of January 14-20, 2024 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in session […]
Astrobotic says its Peregrine spacecraft, unable to land on the moon because of a propellant leak, will instead reenter the Earth’s atmosphere in the coming days.
SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk says a propellant dump caused the destruction of the Starship upper stage on a November test flight, giving him confidence that the vehicle can reach orbit on its next launch.
Blue Abyss has announced that it has completed the purchase of 12 acres of land in Brook Park, Ohio, that will be used to build an extreme environment research, development, and training centre. The Blue Abyss Centre, which will also feature a hotel, will be built adjacent to the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, a stone’s […]
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EchoStar’s giant Jupiter-3 broadband satellite is performing as expected with early customers getting download speeds of up to 100 megabits per second, according to an executive for the U.S. operator.
Despite agreement among the four key congressional leaders on top level funding for FY2024, the threat of a partial government shutdown a week from now is as real as ever. […]
In-space transportation company Momentus has postponed the next flight of its space tug and laid off a fifth of its staff to conserve its dwindling cash reserves.
85 Progress (85P) ISS Reboost: The ISS performed a reboost using the SM Aft Progress 85P rendezvous and docking (R&D) thrusters. This was the first of two reboosts to set up conditions for Progress 87P launch in February. The burn duration was approximately 17 minutes with a delta-V of 1.67 m/s. Payloads: Boeing Environment Responding …
Twelve years ago, Space Shuttle Atlantis came to a final stop at the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center, ending NASA’s three decade long shuttle program. Despite the immense achievements of the iconic Space Shuttle, there was a profound emptiness to the United States’ space program. Without the Shuttle, there was no longer domestic crew access to space.
Space company Momentus warned shareholders in a securities filing on Friday that the company is running out of money and does not have a financial lifeline.
Following a successful 2023 that saw it launch six missions, Italian space logistics company D-Orbit has announced that it has closed a €100 million Series C funding round. D-Orbit offers in-space transportation and hosting services aboard its ION space tugs. The flights are generally launched aboard Falcon 9 Transporter missions and include a mix of […]
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Sateliot is seeking 30 million euros ($33 million) from investors to add 64 nanosatellites to a constellation for connecting devices outside of terrestrial networks, the Spanish startup’s founder said as SpaceX prepares to launch its first four commercial satellites this year.
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) on Jan. 10 issued a solicitation for commercial satellite Earth observation data under a new program called Luno.
Using data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, an international team of astronomers has detected atmospheric variability on an exoplanet called WASP-121 b. The team analyzed observations taken with Hubble over several years and used computer simulations to demonstrate that the observed variations in the atmosphere could be explained by weather patterns.
SpaceWERX, the technology arm of the U.S. Space Force, is looking to award a new round of Small Business Innovation Research contracts worth up to $1.9 million each for IT infrastructure upgrades at the Eastern and Western launch ranges.
Over the past few years, the space industry has gone through a phase of hyper growth followed by belt-tightening. There are exceptions, depending on which company or subsector you’re talking about, but that’s been the overall trend, with the last two years really defined by companies trying to keep moving and survive the culling.
Astrobotic, which is working to squeeze as much life as possible out of its crippled Peregrine lunar lander, says it has obtained data from many of the payloads on the spacecraft.
Payloads: Complement of Integrated Protocols for Human Exploration Research on Varying Mission Durations (CIPHER): CIPHER Sample Collections and tests were completed. CIPHER consists of 14 studies designed to improve our understanding of physiological and psychological changes in humans on missions that range from weeks to one year in duration. Conducting the same research over missions …
The European Space Agency has announced that it is targeting 15 November for the return to flight of the grounded Avio-built Vega C launch vehicle. Vega C was grounded following a failed flight in late 2022. The cause of the failure was initially identified as the material utilized for the throat insert of the vehicle’s […]
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D-Orbit, an Italian company that provides space transportation services, has raised 100 million euros ($110 million) in a Series C round to expand into satellite servicing and other applications.
A young Chinese launch startup has reached orbit with its Gravity-1 all-solid launch vehicle, smashing the record for payload capacity for Chinese commercial rockets.
