Opportunity, MER-B (Mars Exploration Rover – B), is a robotic rover active on the planet Mars since 2004.

Launched on July 7, 2003, Opportunity landed on Mars' Meridiani Planum on January 25, 2004, three weeks after its twin Spirit (MER-A), also part of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Mission, touched down on the other side of the planet. While Spirit became immobile in 2009 and ceased communications in 2010, Opportunity remains active as of 2013, having already exceeded its planned 90 sol (Martian days) duration of activity by 9 years, 215 days (in Earth time). Opportunity has continued to move, gather scientific observations, and report back to Earth for over 38 times its designed lifespan.

Mission highlights include the initial 90 sol mission, finding extramartian meteorites such as Meridiani Planum, and over two years studying Victoria crater. It survived dust-storms and reached Endeavour crater in 2011, which has been described as a "second landing site".

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Exploration Rover project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington, D.C..

The Venus Spectral Rocket (VeSpR) is a two-stage system, combining a Terrier missile - originally built as a surface-to-air missile and later re-purposed to support science missions - and a Black Brant model Mk1 sounding rocket with a telescope inside. Integration took place at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

The VeSpR missions is  to probe the atmosphere of Venus. It will study Venus atmospheric loss. VeSpR will peek at Venus from above Earth's absorbing atmosphere.

The experiments will look at ultraviolet (UV) light that is being emitted from Venus' atmosphere, which can provide information about the history of the planet's water. Measurements like these cannot be done using Earth-based telescopes because our atmosphere absorbs most UV light before it reaches the ground.

Teal Group is a team of experienced analysts and service professionals founded in 1988 to research and publish timely, accurate information on the aerospace and defense industry.

Teal Group gathers, classifies, and analyzes information from a wide range of sources. To the data Teal Group adds insightful analysis, as well as 10-year production and funding forecasts. Further, our analysts are always available to answer your questions and help you find the information you need to help you perform your job. Our analysis and forecasting is available on a weekly, monthly, or customized basis, and can be delivered in print, CD or online.

Our products and services are designed to fulfill the requirements of executives, strategic planners, market researchers, government officials, and anyone else that needs to be kept abreast of the latest trends in the defense and aerospace business.

Our team of analysts covers a diverse range of markets, including aircraft, engines (including industrial and marine gas turbines), military electronics, missiles and smart munitions, UAVs, and space systems. We also cover these markets from a more general perspective, looking at countries, companies, and US government agencies. Our analysts are sought out by the business community and by the media for their independent insights and forecasts. And our clients trust that they will always receive personalized service.

European Launch Vehicle (ELV) is an Italian company established by Avio and ASI (Italian Space Agency) in December 2000.

It was selected by ESA, the European Space Agency, to serve as prime contractor in the activities geared to the development of the European launcher, called Vega, and other small launchers with all associated technologies. The company is responsible for every aspect of system development, from the drafting of the specifications, through production, to its integration in the launch pad. Elv's primary tasks include managing and planning launcher design, development, qualification and production processes, by coordinating the activities of the subcontracts participating in the programme. Moreover, ELV coordinates and ensures the integration of the launcher in the lift-off facilities and participates with a team in the final stage of the launch.

At present (Nov. 2013) ELV is owned 70% by Avio SpA and 30% by ASI. Headquartered in Rome, it has an operational facility in Colleferro (Rome, Italy), where Avio has its main aerospace operations: one of the most dynamically innovative production centres, at the forefront of science and technology.

The NEE-02 KRYSAOR is a PEGASUS class satelliite, of the Ecuadorian Civilian Space Agency (EXA),  which means that is a twin of the original NEE-01 PEGASUS.

The NEE-02 will be launched in to a 98.7 degree inclination, helio synchronous orbit, 720km perigee and 890km apogee on November 21, 2013

Its mission is the same as PEGASUS, serving education and also acting as orbital sentinels watching for possible threats from small NEOs in last phase of atmospheric entry and helping to catalog orbital debris. Also it has the latest advances in active deployment of its solar arrays, high speed digital transmission and a higher resolution video camera.

NEE-01 Pegasus was an Ecuadorian technology demonstration satellite, and Ecuador's first satellite to be launched to space. Built by the Ecuadorian Civilian Space Agency (EXA), it was a nanosatellite of the single-unit CubeSat class. The spacecraft's instruments included a dual visible and infrared camera which allowed the spacecraft to take pictures and transmit live video from space. The satellite operated normally until 23 May 2013 at approximately 05:38 UTC, Pegaso passed very close to the spent upper stage of a 1985 Tsyklon-3 rocket over the Indian Ocean. While there was no direct collision between the satellite and upper stage, Pegaso is believed to have suffered a "glancing blow" after passing through a debris cloud around the Tsyklon stage and striking one of the small pieces. After the incident, the satellite was found to be "spinning wildly over two of its axes" and unable to communicate with its ground station. While efforts were made to reestablish control of Pegaso, on 28 August 2013 the decision was made by EXA and the Ecuadorian government to declare the satellite as lost.

Planet Labs Inc. is an American company with the aim to provide universal access to information about the changing planet. 

We will operate the world's largest fleet of Earth imaging satellites to frequently image the entire planet and provide open access to that information. 

We build space platforms using state-of-the-art technology. We design and build the satellites in San Francisco; we test the capabilities in the lab, on mountaintops, from airplanes and in space:

• the Dove Series of Satellites.
• FLOCK 1: In early 2014, Planet Labs will launch the world's largest constellation of Earth observing satellites.

Tampa Microwave is an American company providing satellite terminals, test equipment, and RF components.

It was created as an engineering consulting firm in 1983. As the business grew, the company began designing and manufacturing Radio Frequency components for the communications market. This effort resulted in the introduction of a line of phased locked oscillators in 1988. Since that time, Tampa Microwave has exhibited steady growth driven by sales of a long list of new products. The business is currently located in a modern facility in the Tri County Business Park west of Tampa, Florida, USA. We offer our customers a broad range of hardware in four product categories: manportable and VSAT satellite terminals, specialized communications test equipment, microwave modules / components and custom communication system design services.

The Firefly Cubesat mission is a nano satellite mission, called 'Firefly,' sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and led by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

It will explore the relationship between lightning and these sudden bursts, called Terrestrial Gamma Ray Flashes (TGFs).

TGFs are likely produced by beams of very energetic electrons, which are accelerated in the intense electric fields generated by large thunderstorm systems. Before CGRO, many scientists thought these very energetic types of radiation could be generated only near the Sun, or in black holes, large galaxies, or neutron stars.

"These electron beams are more powerful than any produced in near-Earth space, and understanding their acceleration mechanisms will shed light on a physical process that may occur on other planets, or in astrophysical environments, as well as in the sun's corona," said Doug Rowland, principal investigator for the Firefly mission at NASA Goddard's Space Weather Laboratory.

The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) is an independent intergovernmental organisation supported by 34 states.

ECMWF is both a research institute and a 24/7 operational service, producing and disseminating numerical weather predictions to its Member States. This data is fully available to the national meteorological services in the Member States. The Centre also offers a catalogue of forecast data that can be purchased by businesses worldwide and other commercial customers. The supercomputer facility (and associated data archive) at ECMWF is one of the largest of its type in Europe and Member States can use 25% of its capacity for their own purposes.

ERA-CLIM is a collaborative research project involving 9 partners, funded by the European Union for a three-year period beginning January 2011. It is coordinated by ECMWF. 

ERA-CLIM stands for European Reanalysis of Global Climate Observations. The goal is to prepare input data and assimilation systems for a new global atmospheric reanalysis of the 20th century. This involves recovery and digitisation of early meteorological observations, reprocessing and recalibration of radiance measurements from satellites, and preparation of climate-quality atmospheric forcing data and boundary conditions. These input data sets will be used in several pilot reanalyses, including an exploratory climate reanalysis of the 20th century based on surface observations only; a corresponding high-resolution reanalysis of land-surface parameters, and a new atmospheric reanalysis of the satellite era from 1979 to present. Access to the ERA-CLIM pilot reanalyses, and to all observations used to produce them, will be provided via the internet.

Key objectives for ERA-CLIM are to:

• Improve the available observational record for the early 20th century
• Prepare data sets and assimilation tools needed for global reanalysis
• Provide information about data quality by means of pilot reanalyses
• Develop an Observation Feedback Archive facility for users
• Assess and reduce uncertainties in reanalysis data

ERA-CLIM is part of a larger effort to:

• Improve climate data access, data quality, and transparency
• Develop a sustainable capability for data recovery and reanalysis
• Develop core resources for future GMES climate services

This project is extended (ERA-CLIM2) for the period 2014-2016.