It’s hard to believe that ESA’s Aeolus wind mission has now been orbiting Earth for three years and, remarkably, exceeded its design life milestone. Aeolus has gone way further than its original goal of demonstrating that ground-breaking laser technology can deliver global profiles of the wind; its data are being distributed to weather forecasting services across the world in less than three hours of measurements being made in space. Moreover, Aeolus has laid the foundation for future Doppler wind lidar satellite missions.

For a mission yet to have entered its main science phase, Solar Orbiter has already generated a lot of great science. Today sees the publication of a wealth of results from the mission’s cruise phase.

On Saturday 11 December, the James Webb Space Telescope was placed on top of the Ariane 5 rocket that will launch it to space from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.

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The world’s next generation cosmic observatory, the James Webb Space Telescope, is due for launch on an Ariane 5 from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.

Webb is a joint project between NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency and is a remarkable feat of engineering and technology. The telescope is fitted with the largest astronomical mirror ever flown in space, sophisticated new scientific instruments, and a sunshield the size of a tennis court.

Ariane 5 is one of the most reliable launch vehicles in the world and special modifications have been made for the preparation and

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The latest type of telecommunication satellite that can respond from space to changing demands on Earth is about to start assembly of its electronic components.

Forres UK (SPX) Dec 10, 2021
Orbex, Europe's leading private small satellite launch services provider, has announced it has started construction of its first state-of-the-art Launch Platform, the first orbital space launchpad to be built in the UK for more than half a century. Orbex has commissioned Motive Offshore Group, a leading Scottish company specialising in the design and manufacture of marine and lifting equip

Moscow (Sputnik) Dec 10, 2021
A team of scientists has built and successfully tested a prototype based on a novel idea created more than two decades ago by an American space agency expert of Chinese descent. A Chinese research team has built and tested a prototype hypersonic flight engine, capable of operating in Mach 4 to Mach 8 (4,900-9,800 kph) speed conditions, based on a design cooked up in NASA but later rejected

Young researchers from ESA’s Spaceship EAC initiative are keeping a good eye on ocular health by using images of astronauts’ optical discs in space to train an artificially intelligent (AI) model. All going well, this model will be used to automatically detect changes in the optic nerve of astronauts, known as Space-Associated Neuro-ocular Syndrome (SANS).