Targeted launch date for Webb: 18 December 2021
Wednesday, 08 September 2021 12:00ESA, NASA and Arianespace have jointly defined 18 December 2021 as the target launch date for Ariane 5 flight VA256. This third Ariane 5 launch of 2021 will fly the James Webb Space Telescope to space from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana.
Webb flies Ariane animation
Wednesday, 08 September 2021 12:00Artist's animation of the James Webb Space Telescope (Webb), folded in the Ariane 5 rocket during launch from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana.
Webb is the next great space science observatory, designed to answer outstanding questions about the Universe and to make breakthrough discoveries in all fields of astronomy. Webb will see farther into our origins – from the formation of stars and planets, to the birth of the first galaxies in the early Universe.
Working with partners, ESA was responsible for the development and qualification of Ariane 5 adaptations for the Webb mission and for the procurement
NASA Readies James Webb Space Telescope for December Launch
Wednesday, 08 September 2021 11:59Watch live: Matthias Maurer speaks to media in Europe
Wednesday, 08 September 2021 11:34ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer will soon be launched to the International Space Station for his first mission, ‘Cosmic Kiss’. Tune in to ESA Web TV from 9:00 CEST (8:00 BST) to 10:00 CEST (9:00 BST) Thursday 9 September to watch his pre-launch news conference and learn what awaits him in orbit.
South Korea to spend $593 million on public-to-private transfer of rocket technologies
Wednesday, 08 September 2021 11:23Starting next year, South Korea’s government will transfer state-owned space launch vehicle technologies to domestic aerospace companies in a move to help them penetrate an expanding global space launch market.
Commercial rocket permit granted for South Australia launch this Friday
Wednesday, 08 September 2021 08:33The Australian Government has given regulatory approval for a commercial rocket launch to take place from a newly licensed launch facility in South Australia. Taiwanese company tiSPACE will conduct a test flight of its Hapith I - a 10m, two-stage, sub-orbital rocket - from the Whalers Way Orbital Launch Complex, which is operated by Southern Launch. The launch is now scheduled to take plac
Lack of critical technology restricts India's anti-satellite capabilities: IAF Vice Chief
Wednesday, 08 September 2021 08:33In 2019, India successfully carried out an anti-satellite (ASAT) test in which a ballistic missile defense interceptor destroyed a state-owned Microsat-R satellite in a flight that lasted just over half a minute. Two years after the government dubbed the ASAT test a success, Air Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari, Vice Chief of the Indian Air Force (IAF), divulged that the country lacks the indig
Kleos secures A$12.6 million to grow constellation
Wednesday, 08 September 2021 08:33Kleos Space S.A, a space-powered Radio Frequency Reconnaissance data-as-a- service (DaaS) company, has secured A$12.6 million (equivalent to 9.3 million USD) from new and existing institutional and sophisticated investors in Australia and the U.S. via a Placement of approximately 14,823,529 new CHESS Depositary Interests over Kleos ordinary shares (CDIs) at A$0.85 (~0,63 USD) per CDI (Placement)
AFRL's Aerospace Systems Directorate granted patent for innovative control surfaces technology
Wednesday, 08 September 2021 08:33Researchers from the Air Force Research Laboratory's Aerospace Systems Directorate recently secured a patent for their control surface technology after successfully developing and demonstrating additively manufactured, multi-material conformal control surfaces for aircraft wings. "This technology is a method for designing a smooth, morphing aileron for an aircraft wing, where the aileron c
Adding foreign atoms to graphene does wonders to boost its properties
Wednesday, 08 September 2021 08:33Few materials have stolen the limelight like graphene. Since its discovery, graphene has become the go-to for nearly any technology out there, thanks to its exceptional properties such as high surface area, chemical stability, and high mechanical strength and elasticity. However, despite its seemingly limitless applications, graphene's potential remains underutilized due to several factors
Elon Musk's Tesla Bot raises serious concerns - but probably not the ones you think
Wednesday, 08 September 2021 08:33Elon Musk announced a humanoid robot designed to help with those repetitive, boring tasks people hate doing. Musk suggested it could run to the grocery store for you, but presumably it would handle any number of tasks involving manual labor. Predictably, social media filled with references to a string of dystopian sci-fi movies about robots where everything goes horribly wrong. As tr
EC Commissioner Breton visits ESTEC
Wednesday, 08 September 2021 08:33EC Commissioner Breton visits ESA-ESTEC
Wednesday, 08 September 2021 08:33Commercialisation – ESA’s added space ingredient
Wednesday, 08 September 2021 07:00Space is changing fast. ESA wants to open up space to start-ups, new companies, new actors – basically to everyone. Our aim today is to help European businesses to use space technology to innovate and grow services and products that ultimately will change all our lives. And, instead of doing everything ourselves, it means we at ESA can be customers too. Commercialisation marks a fundamental change to the traditional rules of the space game, with the market providing more of what we need, and competition slashing costs and sharpening efficiency. It’s already happening in everything from micro-launchers
Space industry grapples with COVID-19-related oxygen fuel shortage
Wednesday, 08 September 2021 06:36A pandemic-related shortage of a key rocket propellant, liquid oxygen, could force rocket launches to be postponed in coming months, possibly delaying important scientific and national defense missions, industry observers said. In fact, NASA has pushed back the launch of its Landsat 9 climate and land use satellite from California one week to Sept. 23 because of delivery problems for re