Commercialisation is universally recognised as essential for the future prosperity of all aspects of the European space sector, and Earth observation is no exception. The ESA InCubed programme, a co-funding initiative that helps entrepreneurs bring their innovative ideas to market, has enjoyed enormous success since the launch of its first activity in 2018 and continues to make a prodigious contribution to commercial Earth observation. The InCubed portfolio includes around 60 activities, with an impressive €63 million invested so far.

At the upcoming ESA Council at Ministerial Level, Member States will have the possibility to further empower InCubed in its far-reaching efforts to

In October 2022, an updated ESA astronaut patch celebrated the joining of ESA’s newest Associate Member, Slovakia. The new patch adds the Slovakian flag to a design that has evolved over the decades to represent ESA’s growing space family.

An advanced X-ray monitoring instrument tested for space aboard an ESA CubeSat will serve as an operational space weather payload on the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Next Lagrange 1 Series satellite, currently planned for launch in 2028, which will operate 1.5 million km from Earth, keeping watch for eruptions from our Sun.

ESA’s Investor Network continues to grow, with Einstein Industries Ventures as its latest member via the signature of a collaboration agreement.

Over the next ten years, Einstein Industries Ventures’ management team targets a fund worth €300 million to invest in Europe's leading growth-stage New Space downstream technologies, Earth observation and sensor technology.

Flagstaff AZ (SPX) Nov 17, 2022
Is there life in Martian caves? It's a good question, but it's not the right question-yet. An international collaboration of scientists led by NAU researcher Jut Wynne has dozens of questions we need asked and answered. Once we figure out how to study caves on the Moon, Mars and other planetary bodies, then we can return to that question. Wynne, an assistant research professor of cave ecol

Pasadena CA (JPL) Nov 16, 2022
Yesterday we weren't able to use the arm and thus weren't able to do contact science, but a short drive got us into a better position. Unfortunately, the dust removal tool still wasn't safe to use at our location, so the team decided to make another drive to try again for contact science on the weekend. Even though the plan wasn't what we expected coming in to today, we were still able to make t

Bremen, Germany (SPX) Nov 17, 2022
Space start-ups with micro-launcher projects will be important players in European space transport in the future. So-called micro-launchers are smaller rockets that can carry payloads of up to one tonne into low Earth orbit. They complement the capabilities of the established Ariane European launcher and will accelerate the development of new business areas and technologies in the launcher marke

Boca Raton FL (SPX) Nov 16, 2022
Terran Orbital Corporation (NYSE: LLAP), a global leader in satellite-based solutions primarily serving the aerospace and defense industries, has announced the successful launch of LunIR. The Moon-mapping satellite is the second Terran Orbital-developed lunar satellite to launch this year - the first being CAPSTONE. Launched on June 28, CAPSTONE became the first satellite to enter a Near-Rectili

Jiuquan (XNA) Nov 17, 2022
Galactic Energy, a private carrier rocket maker in Beijing, carried out the fourth flight mission of its CERES 1 rocket on Wednesday afternoon to deploy five Earth-observation satellites into orbit. The CERES 1 Y4 rocket blasted off at 2:20 pm at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China's Gobi Desert and soon placed the Gaofen 03D08, 03D51, 03D52, 03D53 and 03D54, five optical

Houston TX (SPX) Nov 17, 2022
During Artemis I, NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket will send the agency's Orion spacecraft on a trek 40,000 miles beyond the Moon before returning to Earth. To capture the journey, the rocket and spacecraft are equipped with cameras that will collect valuable engineering data and share a unique perspective of humanity's return to the Moon. There are 24 cameras on the rocket and spac