Satellite News
Telesat wins DARPA contract to manufacture satellite buses for Blackjack program
Telesat won a $18.3 million DARPA contract to produce two satellite buses for the Blackjack low-Earth orbit constellation.
Exploration News
Eight countries sign Artemis Accords
Seven countries (Japan, Canada, Australia, UAE,UK ,Italia ,Luxembourg) have joined the United States in signing the Artemis Accords,
Thales Alenia Space on its Way to Reach the Moon
Thales Alenia Space, will develop two key modules of the European contribution for this Gateway. for the upcoming Lunar Orbital Platform–Gateway (LOP-G): I-HAB (International Habitat) and the ESPRIT communications and refueling module. These two modules are The first tranche of I-HAB contract, (worth 36 million euros, the global amount being 327 million euros), has been signed with the European Space Agency (ESA), while ESPRIT development has already started under Authorization To Proceed (ATP) with a contract signature expected by the end of the year.
Thales Alenia Space Selected by Airbus As Partner to the Mars Sample Return Mission
Thales Alenia Space, has signed an Authorization To Proceed (ATP) with Airbus Defence and Space, prime contractor of the program, to contribute to the Earth Return Orbiter (ERO), the key element of the Mars Sample Return (MSR) Mission, which will be carried out through an international cooperation led by NASA. A first tranche, worth around €11 million, will be related to the B2 phase for a global contract value of around €130M
Leonardo at Work on Robotic Arms for the NASA and ESA Mars Sample Return Mission
Mars robotic exploration is at the heart of the latest international space missions. Leonardo is involved in the study of cutting edge robotic systems which can contribute to the discovery of the Red Planet’s secrets. For the NASA “Mars Sample Return” campaign, in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA), Leonardo has been awarded a contract with Airbus for the advanced study phase (Advanced B2) of the ESA Sample Fetch Rover’s (SFR) robotic arm and has received financing from ESA to
Airbus to Bring 1st Mars Samples to Earth: ESA Contract Award
Airbus has been selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) as prime contractor for the Mars Sample Return’s Earth Return Orbiter (ERO) – the first ever spacecraft to bring samples back to Earth from Mars. Mars Sample Return (MSR) is a joint ESA-NASA campaign and the next step in the exploration of Mars. ERO and the Sample Fetch Rover (SFR) are the two main European elements of MSR, both designed and built by Airbus.
Airbus Selected for ESA’s Moon Lander Study
Airbus has been selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) as one of the two primes for the definition phase of the European Large Logistic Lander (EL3). In this study (phase A/B1), Airbus will develop the concept of a large multi-role logistic lander able to transport up to 1.7 tons of cargo to any location on the lunar surface.
Launcher News
Elon Musk Shares a View of Starship With Three Raptor Engines Installed
The SN8 Starship prototype just got its three Raptor engines, and is now preparing to test fire them. After that, it’s smooth sailing towards the 15 km (50,000 ft) hop test! The post Elon Musk Shares a View of Starship With Three Raptor Engines Installed appeared first on Universe Today.
ULA’s Tory Bruno argues for U.S. investments in the production of fuel in space
Bruno has pitched the idea of a “strategic propellant reserve” to the National Space Council
Swedish Space Corporation to launch satellites from Esrange Space Center
The Swedish government will establish capability to launch small satellites from Esrange (Kiruna)S pace Center in northern Sweden. The announcement is the third step in an extensive modernization of the infrastructure to meet the growing demand of testing and launching capability in the space sector
NewSpace News
Planet unveils rapid revisit and change detection products
Planet announced a series of products including frequently updated SkySat imagery and automated change detection during Explore 2020, the San Francisco company’s second user conference.
ICEYE shares nearly 18,000 satellite image archive under Creative Commons License
Finnish New Space leader ICEYE has announced access to ICEYE’s Public Archive, containing nearly 18,000 images from ICEYE satellites.
Space IoT Extended By France’s ANGELS Smallsat
ANGELS, France’s first industrial smallsat, extends the scope of space IoT and is five times more powerful and 10 times smaller than its predecessors — ANGELS has been designed to address the current challenges of New Space: miniaturization, scaled-up performance and very low consumption. ANGELS is opening up its services to current users .
Space Safety News
Upper stages top list of most dangerous space debris
While launch providers are doing a better job at disposing of upper stages left behind in orbit, rocket bodies still constitute the most dangerous pieces of orbital debris.
Air leak rate at Russia’s ISS Zvezda module halves after crack sealed with tape
The air leak rate in the Russian Zvezda module of the International Space Station has halved after the crack in the intermediate compartment was sealed with tape.
Science & Technology News
InSight’s ‘Mole’ is Now Completely buried!
It’s been a long road for InSight’s Mole. InSight landed on Mars almost two years ago, in November 2018. After much hard work and a lot of patience, the Mole has finally succeeded in burying itself all the way into the Marian regolith.
Twenty years of human presence on Space Station
Join us for the most out-of-this-world work out as NASA celebrates 20 years of continuous human presence on the International Space Station.
Ten things to know about Asteroid Bennu
NASA’s first mission to return a sample from an ancient asteroid arrived at its target, the asteroid Bennu, on Dec. 3, 2018.
