The 4th edition of the Paris Peace Forum announced the release of the Net Zero Space Initiative on which occasion Astroscale signed on as an official supporter. The Initiative involves private sector, civil society, academia, public authorities and regulators. The goal is to support “the sustainable use of outer space for the benefit of all humankind by 2030.”
Read More »Glen de Vries dies in plane crash
One of Blue Origin's astronauts, 49-year-old Glen de Vries, who flew to space last month alongside actor William Shatner, died in a small plane crash in New Jersey. De Vries, was the vice chairman of life sciences and healthcare at Dassault Systèmes and co-founder of the Medidata team.
Read More »Human settlement footprint mapped from space
ESA announced the development of the World Settlement Footprint in collaboration with the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the Google Earth Engine team, aimed to improve the understanding of trends in global urbanisation. This will be the world’s most comprehensive dataset on human settlement, ESA said.
Read More »Crew-3 docks to the ISS ahead of schedule
NASA SpaceX Crew-3 astronauts docked to the ISS more than 30 minutes ahead of schedule, less than 24 hours after launching from the Kennedy Space Center. NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn, Kayla Barron, and ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer arrived aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft Endurance. The Crew-3 mission had a smooth launch on 10th November on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
Read More »UK Space Agency funds laser-based satellite communications research
The UK Space Agency has awarded almost £650,000 to Northumbria University to continue developing the first commercially available laser-based inter-satellite communications system, the University reports. Northumbria is one of eleven leading UK organisations to have been awarded a share of the UK Space Agency’s £7M funding under the National Space Innovation Programme.
Read More »Virgin Galactic so far sold 700 suborbital flight tickets
Virgin Galactic reported a strong interest in suborbital flights from customers as the company sold approximately 100 tickets for US $450,000 each after reopening ticket sales in August. This makes the total number of bookings about 700. Virgin Galactic said the new customers had previously paid a deposit of US $1,000 to be the first in line when ticket sales resumed.
Read More »Crew-2 astronauts safely return to Earth
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 astronauts safely splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico on Monday aboard the Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft, NASA reported. The agency’s second long-duration commercial crew mission set the record for the longest spaceflight by a U.S. crewed spacecraft.
Read More »NASA Artemis Moon landing postponed to 2025
NASA announced that due to the challenges and progress of their lunar exploration plans, the first human landing under Artemis will be delayed by a year. A safe and quick return of astronauts to the Moon in more than 50 years is still a priority for the agency.
Read More »Female taikonaut becomes the first to complete spacewalk
Taikonauts Zhai Zhigang and Wang Yaping have successfully completed their extravehicular activities (EVA) and returned to the Tiangong space station’s core module Tianhe, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) reported. Shenzhou-13 launched on 16th October with three taikonauts on board for a six-month mission to construct the space station.
Read More »Polish Space Technologies Cluster to advance space sector
Twenty Polish companies advancing the Polish space industry united to create the Space Technologies Cluster. The initiative was announced during the Kongres590 economical summit in Jasionka, Poland. The Cluster will be an organisational framework and support new initiatives in the space sector.
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