Paris, France (SPX) Sep 03, 2024
The European Space Agency's (ESA) Prospect package, which includes a drill and a miniaturized laboratory, will be heading to the Moon's South Pole as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative. This mission aims to uncover volatile substances, including water ice, beneath the lunar surface. NASA has chosen Intuitive Machines for a 2027 mission that will explore the Moon in

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Aug 30, 2024
Outpost Technologies Corporation (Outpost), a leader in multi-ton Earth return systems aimed at advancing the space economy, has been awarded a $33.2 million, four-year Strategic Funding Increase (STRATFI) contract by the Air Force Ventures program (AFWERX). This funding will support the development and testing of a scalable heat shield, payload bus, and paragliding system as part of the Joint P

Laurel MD (SPX) Sep 03, 2024
Twenty years ago the MESSENGER mission revolutionized our understanding of Mercury. We sat down with project head and former Carnegie Science director Sean Solomon to talk about how the mission came together and the groundbreaking work it enabled. Q: As the Principal Investigator of the MESSENGER mission, what were your personal highlights or proudest moments throughout the mission's durat

ESA mission controllers have completed the final phase of their simulation training for the critical launch and early orbit phase, confirming that everything is ready for the launch of Sentinel-2C.

Image: Mission control GO for Sentinel-2C launch

Green Bank, United States (AFP) Sept 2, 2024
Nestled between mountains in a secluded corner of West Virginia, a giant awakens: the Green Bank Telescope begins its nightly vigil, scanning the cosmos for secrets. If intelligent life exists beyond Earth, there's a good chance the teams analyzing the data from the world's largest, fully steerable radio astronomy facility will be the first to know. "People have been asking themselves t

The Copernicus Sentinel-2C satellite is ready for liftoff! Tune in to ESA WebTV on 4 September from 03:30 CEST to watch the satellite soar into space on the last Vega rocket to be launched from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Sentinel-2C is scheduled to liftoff at 03:50 CEST.

Teams from across ESA and industry have worked continuously over the past four months to overcome a glitch that prevented BepiColombo’s thrusters from operating at full power. The ESA/JAXA mission is still on track, with a new trajectory that will take it just 165 km from Mercury’s surface on Wednesday.

Taking BepiColombo closer to Mercury than it’s ever been before, this flyby will reduce the spacecraft’s speed and change its direction. It also gives us the opportunity to snap images and fine-tune science instrument operations at Mercury before the main mission begins. Closest approach is scheduled for 23:48 CEST

Sydney, Australia (SPX) Aug 30, 2024
Researchers at the Beijing Institute of Technology have developed a sophisticated control strategy for spacecraft formations, enabling them to surround noncooperative targets effectively within a finite time. This development could play a key role in future space missions where precise formation flying and target interaction are crucial. The research team introduced a comprehensive model o