New Hyde Park NY (SPX) Aug 03, 2023
Innovative Rocket Technologies Inc. (iRocket) has signed a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) with The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) West to develop engines and stage technology for their next-generation fully reusable Shockwave launch vehicle. Members from AFRL's Rocket Propulsion Division at Edwards AFB, California, and iRocket, a privately-owned corporation, agreed

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Image: Andreas Mogensen during a centrifuge training session

Image: Right on track: Aeolus reentry map

Week in images: 31 July - 04 August 2023

Discover our week through the lens

A solar eruption detected simultaneously at Earth, the Moon and Mars emphasises the need to prepare human exploration missions for the dangers of space radiation. 

Image: Recycling parts for life on the Moon

Video: 00:01:35

Aeolus’s mission is over, but weather forecasting is improved forever, and a new precedent has been set for safe satellite reentries. The trailblazing Earth Explorer returned through our atmosphere on 28 July, following the path it was guided on by ESA’s mission control over Earth’s most uninhabited regions, finally disintegrating over the Antarctic. 

A week-long series of manoeuvres led to this point. They had never been performed before and pushed the satellite to its limits. Aeolus was never designed to fly at such low altitudes – its thrusters and fuel reserves were

In recent weeks, devastating wildfires have spread in Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Algeria, Tunisia and Canada, causing human casualties as well as massive environmental and economic damage.

While wildfires are a natural part of many ecosystems, scientists have warned that they are becoming more frequent and more widespread. In response, an upgraded version of ESA’s World Fire Atlas is now available providing a detailed analysis of wildfires across the globe.

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Aug 01, 2023
A comprehensive research endeavor led by Heidelberg University and the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences Potsdam has shed new light on the causes of abrupt climate changes in ice ages. The study suggests that variations in summer insolation, or the amount of sunlight received, played a vital role in steering the shift between warm and cold phases during past ice ages. The collabor