Lithuania to become ESA Associate Member state
Lithuania signed an Association Agreement with ESA on 28 April 2021. This Association Agreement between ESA and the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, builds on the successful results achieved
Satellite News
Eutelsat invests in OneWeb, future SpaceX rival
A year after collapsing into bankruptcy, satellite operator OneWeb has revived its goal of providing broadband satellite internet service after European operator Eutelsat said Tuesday it would invest $550 million in the project.
OneWeb To Open Service Demonstration Center Managed By Satellite Applications Catapult In The UK
OneWeb is opening a state-of-the-art Service Demonstration experience at the new Innovation Center at Westcott Venture Park, which is run and managed by the Satellite Applications Catapult and was funded by Buckinghamshire LEP through the Local Growth Fund. Situated in Buckinghamshire, UK, OneWeb’s unique facility will welcome customers from May 1st to demonstrate the performance […]
Exploration News
NASA extends Mars helicopter mission to assist rover
Washington DC (UPI) Apr 30, 2021
NASA’s Mars helicopter Ingenuity has been so successful, the space agency on Friday said it would extend the mission so the mini-aircraft can act as a scout for the rover Perseverance.
ISS astronauts splash down off Florida on SpaceX craft
A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying four astronauts back to Earth splashed down off Panama City early Sunday, a NASA livestream showed. Boats were retrieving the spacecraft and crew after their six-month mission aboard the International Space Station. The crew reported they were feeling well, NASA said. The capsule splashed down at 2:56 am (0656 GMT) in the dark in the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida coast after a six-and-a-half hour flight from the ISS,
Launcher News
1st Vega Mission Of The Year Launches Pléiades Neo 3 + Five Additional Smallsat Payloads
On Wednesday, April 28, 2021, at 10:50 pm local time (01:50 UTC on Thursday, April 29), a Vega launch vehicle operated by Arianespace lifted off successfully from the Guiana Space Center, Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana (South America) –this mission marked Vega’s return to flight and was also the second successful launch by Arianespace’s teams […]
FAA Authorizes SpaceX Starship SN15, SN16 and SN17
The FAA has authorized the next three launches of the SpaceX Starship prototype. The agency approved multiple launches because SpaceX is making few changes to the launch vehicle and relied on the FA Rocket Factory Augsburg Secures European Launch Site Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) has signed a contract with Norway’s Andøya Space, securing one of the most coveted launch sites in Europe. RFA is engaged in launch vehicle development for NewSpace with its state-of-the-art staged combustion engine technology. This high-performance engine design, coupled with the most cost-effective production techniques possible, is essentially new to Europe.
Core capsule launched into orbit
Sixty years after Yuri Gagarin undertook mankind’s first space journey, China launched the core capsule of its space station on Thursday morning, formally embarking on the construction of one of the
China plans four Tiangong Space Station launches in 2021
China plans to launch two cargo spaceships and two manned spacecraft for building its own orbit station within this year, Hao Chun, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA)
Virgin Orbit Selected By Brazilian Space Agency + Air Force For Orbital Launches
The Brazilian Space Agency (Agência Espacial Brasileira; AEB) and Brazilian Air Force (Força Aérea Brasileira, FAB) announced today that Virgin Orbit has been selected to bring orbital launch capability to Brazil, a country which has never successfully completed a domestic launch to orbit. Thanks to the unique mobility and small footprint of Virgin Orbit’s air-launched […]
Stratolaunch aircraft returns to the skies after two-year hiatus
Stratolaunch flew its giant aircraft for the first time in more than two years April 29, marking the start of a new test flight campaign to prepare the plane to serve as a platform for hypersonic vehicles.
NewSpace News
York Space Systems Engaged In Larger Smallsat Bus Production
York Space Systems is now producing a larger satellite platform with double the payload volume of the company’s current spacecraft bus in response to market demand. The new LX-CLASS is designed to have a total mass of more than 350 kilograms, up from 180 kilograms for its flight-proven S-CLASS satellite platform.
Kleos Space develops tool for in-space manufacturing of large structures
Kleos Space is conducting a six-month test of technology for in-space manufacturing of large 3D carbon fiber structures.
Germany’s launch startups race to grow their launch manifests
Rocket Factory Augsburg has added two more customers to its launch manifest a week after rival German startup Isar Aerospace secured its first.
Space Safety News
Lessons learnt from simulated strike
In an alternate reality playing out at this year’s international Planetary Defense Conference, a fictional asteroid crashes over Europe, ‘destroying’ a region about 100 km wide near the Czech Republic
Huge rocket looks set for uncontrolled reentry following Chinese space station launch
The Long March 5B rocket which launched China’s first space station module Thursday is likely to undergo an uncontrolled reentry into the Earth’s atmosphere in the coming says.
