...the who's who,
and the what's what 
of the space industry

Space Careers

news Space News

Search News Archive

Title

Article text

Keyword

Write a comment
Video: 00:32:50

Replay of the press conference held in Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana with ESA, ArianeGroup, CNES and Arianespace representatives providing updates on the first mission of Ariane 6. 

Access all the replays from the launch event.  

Access all the launch campaign footage in broadcast quality.  

Ariane 6 first launch

Tuesday, 09 July 2024 20:50
Write a comment
Video: 03:33:02

Europe’s new rocket Ariane 6 powered Europe into space taking with it a varied selection of experiments, satellites, payload deployers and reentry demonstrations that represent thousands across Europe, from students to industry and experienced space actors. 

This inaugural flight, designated VA262, is a demonstration flight to show the capabilities and prowess of Ariane 6 in escaping Earth's gravity and operating in space. Nevertheless, it had several passengers on board. 

Ariane 6 was built by prime contractor and design authority ArianeGroup. In addition to the rocket, the liftoff demonstrated the functioning of the launch pad and operations on ground at

Write a comment
The first Ariane 6 rocket soars to the sky Image: The first Ariane 6 rocket soars to the sky
Write a comment
Europe's Ariane 6 rocket ahead of blastoff in French Guiana
Europe's Ariane 6 rocket ahead of blastoff in French Guiana.

Europe's new Ariane 6 rocket blasted off for the first time smoothly on Tuesday, carrying with it the continent's hopes of regaining independent access to space.

The much-delayed inaugural flight of the European Space Agency's most yet launched from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana at 4pm local time (1900 GMT).

Crews on the ground at the launch site, which is surrounded by jungle on the South American coast, applauded as the rocket soared into clear skies.

Ariane 6's first launch, which was originally planned for 2020, is hoped to bring an end to a difficult time for European space efforts.

Since the last flight of its workhorse predecessor, Ariane 5, a year ago, Europe has been unable to launch satellites or other missions into space without relying on rivals such as Elon Musk's US firm SpaceX.

ESA chief Josef Aschbacher said it was a "very important moment for Europe".

Ariane 6 first liftoff

Tuesday, 09 July 2024 18:30
Write a comment
Video: 03:04:20

Europe’s new rocket Ariane 6 powered Europe into space taking with it a varied selection of experiments, satellites, payload deployers and reentry demonstrations that represent thousands across Europe, from students to industry and experienced space actors. 

This inaugural flight, designated VA262, is a demonstration flight to show the capabilities and prowess of Ariane 6 in escaping Earth's gravity and operating in space. Nevertheless, it had several passengers on board. 

Ariane 6 was built by prime contractor and design authority ArianeGroup. In addition to the rocket, the liftoff demonstrated the functioning of the launch pad and operations on ground at

Write a comment
Boston MA (SPX) Jul 08, 2024
Microbes that are used for health, agricultural, or other applications need to be able to withstand extreme conditions, and ideally the manufacturing processes used to make tablets for long-term storage. MIT researchers have now developed a new way to make microbes hardy enough to withstand these extreme conditions. Their method involves mixing bacteria with food and drug additives from a
Write a comment
Sydney, Australia (SPX) Jul 08, 2024
Chinese researchers have successfully cultivated new varieties of rosa roxburghii, derived from 528 plantlets grown from 28.2 grams of seeds that spent 186 days aboard the Shenzhou XV manned spaceship. Rosa roxburghii, also known as Cili or "thorn pear" in Chinese, is a yellowish, spiny fruit noted for its high vitamin C content and numerous nutritional benefits. For the first time,
Write a comment
Berlin, Germany (SPX) Jul 08, 2024
The German Bundeswehr has selected Airbus for the SATCOMBw 3 prime contract, a next-generation secure military satellite system project, worth euro 2.1 billion. This contract encompasses geostationary satellites, ground segment, launch, and operation for a 15-year period, with deployments expected by the decade's end. Michael Schoellhorn, CEO of Airbus Defence and Space, remarked, "After t
Write a comment
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jul 08, 2024
The U.S. Space Force's Small Launch and Targets Division at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico, a segment of Space Systems Command's (SSC) Assured Access to Space (AATS) program, announced the addition of Blue Origin and Stoke Space Technologies Inc. to the Orbital Services Program (OSP)-4 Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract. OSP-4, part of the Rocket Sy
Write a comment
NASA moon rocket stage for Artemis II moved, prepped for shipment
Credit: NASA/Michael DeMocker

NASA is preparing the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket core stage that will help power the first crewed mission of NASA's Artemis campaign for shipment. On July 6, NASA and Boeing, the core stage lead contractor, moved the Artemis II rocket stage to another part of the agency's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The move comes as teams prepare to roll the massive rocket stage to the agency's Pegasus barge for delivery to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida in mid-July.

Prior to the move, technicians began removing external access stands, or scaffolding, surrounding the rocket stage in early June. NASA and Boeing teams used the scaffolding surrounding the core stage to assess the interior elements, including its complex avionics and propulsion systems. The 212-foot core stage has two huge propellant tanks, avionics and flight computer systems, and four RS-25 engines, which together enable the stage to operate during launch and flight.

Credit: NASA

The stage is fully manufactured and assembled at Michoud. Building, assembling, and transporting is a joint process for NASA, Boeing, and lead RS-25 engines contractor Aerojet Rocketdyne, an L3Harris Technologies company.

Page 282 of 1947