Satellite News
Soyuz launches Falcon Eye 2 satellite for UAE
An Arianespace Soyuz rocket successfully launched a reconnaissance satellite for the United Arab Emirates Dec. 1 after months of delays caused by technical problems and the pandemic.
Exploration News
JAXA’s Hayabusa2 asteroid sample return capsule lands in Australia.
Hayabusa2’s sample return capsule has landed in Woomera, Australia, saturday 5 December 17hGMT— or 6 December local time at Woomera. The craft returned not just asteroid surface material, but subsurface material (at first) as well, and will be met by Japanese scientists after completing its six-year mission to the asteroid 162173 Ryugu.
Chinese lunar probe on way back to Earth
A Chinese space probe left the surface of the Moon Thursday to return to Earth, an ambitious effort to bring back the world’s first lunar samples in four decades. China has poured billions into its military-run space programme, with hopes of having a crewed space station by 2022 and eventually sending humans to the Moon.
NASA selects four companies for lunar sample purchases
NASA has made awards to four companies worth exactly $25,001 to obtain lunar samples, part of an effort by the agency to establish a precedent for ownership and use of space resources.
Launcher News
NewSpace News
ITU Gives Satelliot The OK To Launch Their Smallsat Constellation
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has given Sateliot the green light to start coordinating the frequencies of its smallsat constellation with telecoms operators. Sateliot is thereby taking a further step toward their goal of democratizing the Internet of Things (IOT) with 5G coverage through a constellation of as many as 100 nanosatellites
Momentus + Gilmour Space Sign Launch + Orbital Transport Services Agreement
Momentus Inc. (“Momentus” or the “Company”) and Gilmour Space Technologies have signed a new agreement for launch and orbital transport services. Under the agreement, Momentus will gain access to low inclination and equatorial orbits using Gilmour Space’s Eris launch services. With Momentus’ Vigoride transportation service, Gilmour Space will have the capability to expand the flight […]
CFIUS Gives Their OK To The AAC Clyde Space Acquisition Of SpaceQuest Ltd.
The Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS) has determined that there are no unresolved national securities concerns with AAC Clyde Space acquiring SpaceQuest Ltd. AAC Clyde Space will now initiate the closing process which is expected to be finalized during December of 2020. AAC Clyde Space announced on October 15 that they […]
Stratospheric ballooning company Space Perspective raises $7 million
Space Perspective, a startup planning to offer tourists trips to the edge of space in a high-altitude balloon, has raised $7 million in a seed round that will allow the company to test its technologies.
Aevum unveils smallsat-launching drone aircraft
Air-launch startup Aevum on Dec. 3 unveiled Ravn X, the drone aircraft that will serve as the first stage of its smallsat launch system.
Space Safety News
ESA Purchases World-first Debris Removal Mission from Start-up
As a result, in 2025, ClearSpace will launch the first active debris removal mission, ClearSpace-1, which will rendezvous, capture and take down for reentry the upper part of a Vespa (Vega Secondary Payload Adapter) used with Europe’s Vega launcher. This object was left in a ‘gradual disposal’ orbit (approximately altitude 801 km by 664 km), complying with space debris mitigation regulations, following the second flight of Vega in 2013
Science & Technology News
SOHO’s pioneering 25 years in orbit
Two and a half decades of scientific discovery is a major milestone for any space mission. But when the spacecraft at the heart of the celebration was only designed to last for two years, and operates from an area outside the Earth’s protective magnetosphere, it’s an unalloyed triumph in the history of space exploration. SOHO launched on 2 December 1995.
ESA Purchases World-first Debris Removal Mission from Start-up
As a result, in 2025, ClearSpace will launch the first active debris removal mission, ClearSpace-1, which will rendezvous, capture and take down for reentry the upper part of a Vespa (Vega Secondary Payload Adapter) used with Europe’s Vega launcher. This object was left in a ‘gradual disposal’ orbit (approximately altitude 801 km by 664 km), complying with space debris mitigation regulations, following the second flight of Vega in 2013
