Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 06, 2024
Since deploying its sail last week, NASA's Advanced Composite Solar Sail System spacecraft has been transmitting data and images, helping the mission team assess the performance of the boom technology demonstration. The main objective of the mission is to carry out the deployment operation and gather insights that will inform the future use of large-scale solar sails in space exploration. The te

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 05, 2024
Benchmark Space Systems, a prominent developer and integrator of in-space mobility solutions, has been awarded a significant two-year, $4.9 million contract by the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL). The contract aims to advance the company's non-catalytic propulsion systems, ranging from 22 Newton to 100 Newton, to support government missions using the high-performance ASCENT monopropellant. A

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 05, 2024
Sierra Space, a prominent player in the commercial space sector and defense technology, has announced the successful completion of acoustic testing for its Shooting Star cargo module at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. This achievement marks an important milestone as the spacecraft nears launch readiness. The testing, conducted within the Space Systems Processing Facility (SSPF) for the first time,

Paris (AFP) Sept 5, 2024
A spacecraft carrying European and Japanese probes passed closer to Mercury than originally planned overnight after thruster problems delayed the mission to study the little-known, Sun-scorched planet. The BepiColombo mission launched in 2018 on a winding path that had been intended to enter the orbit of the planet closest to the Sun in December 2025. But in April, a glitch with the sp

Kourou (AFP) Sept 5, 2024
Europe's Vega rocket launched Wednesday from French Guiana, an AFP journalist said, carrying a satellite which will help combat natural disasters. Delayed by a day due to "electrical issues on the ground links", according to French firm Arianespace, the launch in Kourou finally took place at 10:50 pm (0150 GMT Thursday). "Successful lift-off for the last Vega mission from Europe's spacep

Boston MA (SPX) Sep 05, 2024
The members of the MIT First Nations Launch team had never built a drone before when they faced the 2024 NASA First Nations Launch High-Power Rocket Competition. This year's challenge invited teams to design, build, and launch a high-power rocket carrying a scientific payload that deploys mid-air and safely returns to the ground, integrating Indigenous methodologies. The eight-student team

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 05, 2024
Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) has announced the launch window for its 53rd Electron mission. This mission will be the second of five dedicated launches for the French company Kineis. The mission, named 'Kineis Killed the RadIOT Star,' is set to launch from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand, within a 14-day window starting on September 17, 2024, NZST. Following just th

Washington (AFP) Sept 6, 2024
Boeing's problem-plagued Starliner is set to finally depart the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday, returning to Earth without astronauts after NASA deemed the risk too great. The century-old aerospace giant's reputation has taken a hammering over thruster malfunctions and helium leaks its spaceship encountered on its way up to the orbital outpost in June, and the US space agency's

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ESA’s Metal 3D Printer has produced the first metal part ever created in space. 

The technology demonstrator, built by Airbus and its partners, was launched to the International Space Station at the start of this year, where ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen installed the payload in the European Drawer Rack of ESA’s Columbus module. In August, the printer successfully printed the first 3D metal shape in space.  

This product, along with three others planned during the rest of the experiment, will return to Earth for quality analysis: two of the samples will go to ESA’s technical heart in the Netherlands

The ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission has successfully completed its fourth of six gravity assist flybys at Mercury, capturing images of two special impact craters as it uses the little planet’s gravity to steer itself on course to enter orbit around Mercury in November 2026.

The closest approach took place at 23:48 CEST (21:48 UTC) on 4 September 2024, with BepiColombo coming down to around 165 km above the planet’s surface. For the first time, the spacecraft had a clear view of Mercury’s south pole.