Los Angeles CA (SPX) Feb 16, 2025
Sierra Space, a pioneering force in commercial space and defense technology, has completed the test campaign for its fully integrated VR35K-A upper stage engine. Conducted at the Air Force Research Laboratory's (AFRL) Rocket Propulsion Division at Edwards Air Force Base in California, this milestone underscores the company's progress in developing next-generation propulsion systems. The co

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Feb 16, 2025
A cutting-edge carrier-phase-based approach to satellite-ground time synchronization has reached an unprecedented level of precision, achieving picosecond-level accuracy. This breakthrough stands to redefine global navigation, deep space exploration, and high-precision scientific research by effectively mitigating errors such as motion delays, relativistic distortions, and atmospheric disturbanc

Paris (AFP) Feb 14, 2025
The first-ever astronaut with a physical disability has been cleared for a mission onboard the International Space Station, the European Space Agency announced on Friday. John McFall, a 43-year-old British surgeon and former Paralympian who lost a leg in a motorbike accident when he was 19, said he was "hugely proud" of clearing the hurdle. Since announcing McFall as a member of its astr

Washington DC (UPI) Feb 15, 2025
SpaceX early Saturday launched another 21 Starlink satellites aboard a record-setting Falcon 9 first-stage booster from Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Liftoff was at 1:14 a.m. from pad 40 with clouds obscuring the rocket. It was the 27th time this first-stage booster was used. It landed eight later at SpaceX droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas. This was the 98th booster

Washington DC (UPI) Feb 15, 2025
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has declared a 1.6% chance that a large asteroid would strike the Earth on Dec. 22, 2032. Scientists at NASA and the European Space Agency are among those closely watching the asteroid that measures between 130 and 300 feet in diameter and whose trajectory gives it a slight chance of impacting Earth in late 2032, the ESA reported Monday. "An aster

The European Space Agency (ESA) has jointly signed a contract with Thales Alenia Space to develop Element #2 of its High-throughput Digital and Optical Network (HydRON), an advanced laser-based satellite system that will transform the way we communicate in space. This phase will establish a satellite collector in low Earth orbit (LEO), capable of connecting different orbital layers using cutting-edge optical technology.

Launched just two months ago and still in the process of being commissioned for service, the Copernicus Sentinel-1C satellite is, remarkably, already showing how its radar data can be used to map the shape of Earth’s land surface with extreme precision.

These first cross-satellite ‘interferometry’ results assure its ability to monitor subsidence, uplift, glacier flow, and disasters such as landslides and earthquakes.

In a first for space cuisine, ESA project astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski will bring pierogi, the traditional Polish dumplings, to the International Space Station during the upcoming Axiom Mission 4.

Image: For Valentine’s Day, the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission picks out a heart in the landscape north of Mount St Helens in the US state of Washington.

Video: 00:42:11

Watch the latest updates on ESA’s Fly! Feasibility Study with Daniel Neuenschwander, ESA Director of Human and Robotic Exploration, John McFall, Member of the ESA Astronaut Reserve & Fly! Subject Matter Expert, Jerome Reineix, Fly! Study Manager, and Alessandro Alcibiade, Fly! Flight Surgeon.

Announced in November 2022 during the Ministerial Council held in Paris, France, this unique and groundbreaking study is aimed at understanding and challenging the limitations posed by physical disabilities to human spaceflight. Concluded in late 2024, the Fly! Feasibility Study successfully demonstrated it is technically feasible to fly someone with a physical disability, like John’s,