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ESA’s future launcher preparatory programme is crafting a space transportation ecosystem, guiding the companies and engineers of today to develop and test the technologies required to meet future needs.

Space transportation will be moving towards frequent reusable launchers supporting a complete industrial ecosystem around Earth. In the coming decades, the European Space Agency (ESA) foresees transportation hubs in orbit around our planet providing logistic services much like airports or train stations on Earth. These hubs will offer refilling and maintenance services for spacecraft and provide platforms for manufacturing and assembly and in space transportation to other destinations.

To create

Image: Mars’s atmospheric mille-feuille

Pasadena CA (JPL) Sep 17, 2025
Sea surface height data from the Sentinel-6B satellite, led by NASA and ESA, will help with the development of marine weather forecasts, alerting ships to possible dangers. Because most global trade travels by ship, accurate, timely ocean forecasts are essential. These forecasts provide crucial information about storms, high winds, and rough water, and they depend on measurements provided

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 17, 2025
Planet Labs PBC (NYSE: PL) has released the first light image from its Pelican-3 satellite, capturing Turin, Italy on September 5 from an altitude of 458 km. The spacecraft, launched on August 26 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 NAOS mission with Pelican-4, is currently undergoing instrument calibration before entering full operations. CEO Will Marshall said the rapid imaging highlights the Pelica

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 22, 2025
NASA and partner organizations have completed a new series of flight tests supporting the safe integration of remotely piloted aircraft, including future eVTOL systems, into national airspace. The research effort focused on ensuring air traffic controllers can manage additional flights without compromising safety. On Aug. 21, NASA's ATM-X project supported Wisk Aero during a Bell 206 helic

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 17, 2025
York Space Systems has confirmed first contact and the healthy status of all 21 satellites launched September 10 from Vandenberg Space Force Base for the Space Development Agency's (SDA) Tranche 1 Transport Layer mission, part of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. The satellites were deployed and checked within hours, a milestone that underscores York's high-rate production an

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 22, 2025
HawkEye 360 Inc. has announced that its latest trio of satellites, known as Cluster 12, has reached Full Operational Capability (FOC). The satellites, launched June 26 aboard a Rocket Lab Electron rocket, are now calibrated, commissioned, and integrated into the company's growing constellation, delivering signals intelligence to global customers. The mission also carried Kestrel-0A, an exp

Budapest, Hungary (SPX) Sep 17, 2025
On 9 September 2025, a Smart Dragon-3 rocket roared to life off the coast of Rizhao City, in eastern China's Shandong Province, carrying 11 Geely-05 satellites into orbit. Conducted from a maritime platform by the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre, the mission marked the seventh successful flight of the Smart Dragon-3 and another step forward in China's quest to fuse commercial innovation with nat

Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Sep 17, 2025
China successfully carried out two separate rocket launches on Tuesday, deploying a total of 12 satellites into orbit. At 3:48 am, a Smart Dragon 3 rocket lifted off from a sea-based platform near Rizhao in Shandong province, placing 11 multifunction satellites into low-Earth orbit about 600 km above Earth. The launch marked the seventh maritime flight for this solid-fueled rocket, develop