Space news

Satellites are playing a growing role in identifying methane sources at a time when the international community is focused on curbing emissions.

Private Astronaut Mission (PAM) Axiom 3: The Ax-3 crew completed several live and recorded media outreach events today. Live events included a NASA-sponsored PAO event between Walter Villadei and the Premier of Italy, Giorgia Meloni.  The crew also completed several commercial still imagery activities. Additionally, it was another busy science day for crew, with the crew completing …

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency confirmed today that the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or SLIM, achieved its primary objective of demonstrating pinpoint landing accuracy. By JAXA’s criteria, that alone […]

Firefly Aerospace announced it will compete for launch services contracts from the National Reconnaissance Office under a new program set up by the agency to procure rides for its small satellites.

The European Space Agency has given the green light to a pair of ambitious science missions that will be launched in the 2030s. During the agency’s Science Programme Committee meeting on 25 January, ESA officially adopted the LISA gravitational wave observatory and the EnVision Venus explorer. The successful adoption confirms that work can begin to […] The post ESA Green Light Venus Probe and Gravitational Wave Observatory appeared first on European Spaceflight.

The European Commission is preparing to release by March a draft of the first comprehensive European space law, although no one outside of the Commission is quite sure what it will include.

A bright young star within a colorful nebula.

Japan’s SLIM lander achieved its goal of an accurate moon landing moon with only one of two main thrusters operating, JAXA stated Thursday.

Freedom Space Technologies, a subsidiary of Atlas Space Operations, is partnering with Omni Federal to develop a next-generation ground system for U.S. Space Force missile-warning satellites.

German space agency DLR has awarded an €18 million launch contract to Berlin-based Exolaunch. DLR awarded the contract on behalf of and with funds from the German Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection, and it will see the mission management startup oversee the launch of payloads from winners of the country’s Small Satellite and Small […] The post Exolaunch Wins €18M DLR Launch Contract appeared first on European Spaceflight.

The European Space Agency sees strong interest from industry in a new initiative to support development of commercial cargo vehicles, a step towards a European human spaceflight capability.

Creating some of the most powerful gravitational forces and fields in the universe, black holes are known for their extreme nature, including the ways in which they can devour and destroy whole planets and stars in a matter of seconds. When black holes consume planets, stars, and other cosmic objects, the matter from the collision between the two objects gets violently thrown around space — creating streams of particles traveling near the speed of light from black holes. These streams of particles are known as jets, and while scientists know that these jets can accelerate particles, known as cosmic rays, they know very little about the exact process by which the particles are accelerated.

European space giants are putting the final touches on a proposal for a sovereign broadband constellation they say is inspired by Starlink but will not be a copy of SpaceX’s network from across the Atlantic.

Private Astronaut Mission (PAM) Axiom 3: Outreach and Payload Activities: Today, the Ax-3 crew completed several photo and video activities that will be used for commercial, marketing, media, and outreach activities. The crew also conducted an ESA sponsored ICE Cubes Media Set event between Walter Villadei and Gruppo Villa Maria (GVM) Assistance, a group of medical …

Amidst schedule delays and uncertainties surrounding the return to flight of the Vega launch vehicle, the European Space Agency and European Commission are considering the purchase of an American Falcon 9 rocket to launch their Sentinel-1C climate satellite, with a decision expected in the coming days or weeks.

As space gets more crowded, very low Earth orbit (VLEO) will be a critical domain for military Earth observation.

Blue Origin has secured an $18 million contract with the U.S. Space Force for integration studies related to its New Glenn launch vehicle.

The European Space Agency and European Commission have selected five launch companies to participate in a new program to provide flight opportunities for new technologies, a sign of a greater role the European Union seeks to play in launch.

"The camera is looking roughly south across McMurdo Sound and the Ross Ice Shelf."

Orbit Fab and ClearSpace see opportunities to work together on mission extension, transportation and other mobility and logistics services.

Two years after its initial launch, European venture capital fund Expansion Ventures announced 23 January that it had raised €100 million. The fund was launched to support European New Space and New Air Mobility companies from seed rounds up to Series A and B funding rounds. According to Expansion, this initial tranche of funding garnered […] The post Expansion Raises €100M to Invest in European New Space Startups appeared first on European Spaceflight.

Belgium became the 34th country to sign the Artemis Accords today. The Accords are a set of non-binding principles of responsible behavior on the Moon. Belgium joins ten other members […]

Belgium has signed the Artemis Accords outlining best practices for responsible behavior in space exploration, becoming the latest major European space power to join.

It will become increasingly challenging to protect national interests during treaty-level talks over how radio waves should be allocated for satellite connectivity, according to the ambassador who led U.S. efforts at the 2023 World Radiocommunication Conference.

Satellite operators mostly held off attempts from terrestrial telcos to encroach on their radio waves at the 2023 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-23) in Dubai, but a battle between orbits continues after one of the space industry’s most contentious clashes for spectrum yet.

Booz Allen’s venture capital arm chose remote-sensing startup Albedo as its first investment in a space company because of its potential to transform intelligence gathering.

French Space situational awareness startup Share My Space has closed a €10 million Series A funding round. With the 23 January announcement, the company also revealed that it would be renamed Aldoria. The company’s Series A funding round was led by Starquest Capital and included participation from Bpifrance, Expansion Ventures, Space Founders France, and Wind […] The post Share My Space Raises €10M and Takes on a New Name appeared first on European Spaceflight.

Private Astronaut Mission (PAM) Axiom 3: Outreach and Payload Activities: Three ESA sponsored Ice Cube events were completed today, including a joint event for Marcus Wandt and ISS Commander Andy Mogensen with the European Space Conference.  Additional outreach events included a live event with a Swedish Newspaper, Aftonbladet, and an event between Michael López-Alegría and …

The U.S. military is pursuing novel ways to harness commercial satellite connectivity

"It was taken using my mobile phone, a Google Pixel 7 Pro."

The DEUCSI program awarded $250 million in contracts in 2023

Latitude, a French company developing a small launch vehicle, has raised $30 million to produce its first rockets as it seeks to increase their capabilities.

Earth observation startup Albedo raised $35 million to build and launch its first high-resolution satellite into very low Earth orbit.

A French startup developing a space situational awareness (SSA) system has raised $10.9 million to build out its tracking network.

The UK Space Agency, in partnership with its Canadian counterpart, has launched the £1.2 million, which aims to support the development of technology that would enable the extraction of purified water from ice buried beneath the lunar surface. “The UK is playing an important role in the NASA-led Artemis Missions, which aim to establish a […] The post UK Space Agency Launches Challenge to Purify Lunar Water appeared first on European Spaceflight.

Companies in the Earth observation satellite industry are looking for climate-focused customers that could leverage data from space to generate value for their businesses and for the planet.

Recent challenges with weather concerns and the movement of key flights such as USSF-52 and Axiom-3 have impacted Falcon 9 launch dates, not least Starlink Group 7-11 which scrubbed three times and finally launched on Tuesday, albeit with problems on the launch livestream.

Coming out of the United Nations climate change conference, methane is in the spotlight. International experts see cutting methane emissions as a key to slowing climate change. A growing fleet […]

Rick Tumlinson argues that the Commercial Space Act put forth by Congress offers better NewSpace regulations than the White House.

The U.S. Space Force enters its fifth year amid heightened threats to the nation’s space assets, rising geopolitical tensions and technological challenges.

Ingenuity has been flying above Mars, off and on, for nearly three years.

Private Astronaut Mission (PAM) Axiom 3: ISS Familiarization, Emergency Overview, On-Orbit Adaptation, and Payloads: Yesterday, the Ax-3 crew successfully completed their first full day onboard ISS. The crew completed additional handover with ISS Crew, Emergency Equipment Transfer, Emergency Roles & Responsibilities Review, and ISS Emergency On-Board Training (OBT). The Ax-3 crew also had adaptation time …

Japan’s SLIM lander has been forced to power down on the moon with its solar cells unable to catch sunlight, but hope remains that the spacecraft can be reactivated.

French space agency CNES announced 16 January that it had kicked off Phase A of its CARIOQA initiative, which aims to develop an atomic accelerometer. An accelerometer is simply a tool that measures the acceleration of a body or object. When flown aboard a spacecraft, these sensors can help us measure Earth’s gravity field. These […] The post CNES-Led Consortium Begins Development of Atomic Accelerometers appeared first on European Spaceflight.

Sierra Space has successfully tested a full-scale version of an inflatable module it is developing for commercial space stations.

Redwire will provide solar panels and other components for Blue Ring, an orbital transfer vehicle under development by Blue Origin.

"If you guys don't give me a chance to repair my instrument, I'm not going back."

Latitude announced on 22 January that it had closed a $30 million (€27.5 million) Series B funding round to support the development of its Zephyr launch vehicle. Zephyr is a two-stage rocket that is designed to deploy payloads of up to 100 kilograms into low Earth orbit. The company has, however, recently announced that it […] The post French Launch Startup Latitude Closes $30M Series B appeared first on European Spaceflight.

The two companies with NASA contracts to develop crewed lunar landers are also beginning work on cargo versions of their spacecraft.

Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of January 21-27, 2024 and any insight we can offer about them. The Senate is in session this week. […]