Frontiers News

The JAXA SLIM (Smart Lander for Investigating Moon) mission soft-landed on the Moon on the night of Friday 18 to Saturday 19 January 2024 Japan Standard Time. JAXA would eventually confirm a successful precision landing for SLIM a few hours later. SLIM landed, but had an “attitude problem,” its position preventing its solar cells from receiving proper illumination.

ThrustMe has announced a transformative off-the-shelf contract with the French Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES). This purchase agreement is a testimony to the rapidly changing aerospace sector, where the lines between the legacy and new space are blurring. Long-standing actors such as CNES can benefit from complete and reliable industrial and standardized products for their space missions to accelerate development times and reduce costs.

LeoLabs has announced its selection to participate in the U.S. Space Systems Command's Space Domain Awareness (SDA) Tools Applications and Processing (TAP) Lab Apollo Accelerator. This program enables LeoLabs to demonstrate its AI-powered solutions for Combat ID and Space Battle Management.

Arianegroup's special ship "Canopée" has picked up the upper stage for the next generation of the European launch system, Ariane-6, from Bremen this week and is bringing it to Kourou in French Guiana. Ariane-6's launch is planned for the summer of 2024.  

ispace, inc. (ispace) has signed two memorandums of understanding related to payload services and strategic cooperation with mu Space and Advance Technology Co., Ltd., (mu Space) a satellite manufacturer and satellite communication service provider. The collaboration marks the first step towards future lunar missions between the two companies.

The NorSat-TD demonstration microsatellite has successfully transferred data to a ground station using optical communications technology. Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) developed the demonstration satellite for the Norwegian Space Agency (NOSA). The accomplishment is a first for a Dutch-built laser communication device and among the first achieved by a microsatellite. 

The Egyptian Space Agency (EgSA) has launched its NexSat-1 satellite into orbit aboard Jielong-3 (Smart Dragon-3), China’s small orbital launch vehicle and has subsequently established communications with the satellite. The microsatellite weighs 67 kilograms, and it features a panchromatic imaging payload with 5.7 meters of ground resolution

The first Franco-German Space meeting took place at the French Embassy in Berlin on 2 February 2024 to discuss the launcher situation in Europe. The meeting was hosted by the French Ambassador to Germany. Our Publisher, Torsten Kriening, could attend the meeting and share his thoughts and his expected analysis here and walk you through the highlights.

Redwire Corporation has announced the strategic expansion of its in-space manufacturing technology portfolio with the first pathfinder mission for its autonomous semiconductor manufacturing platform, MSTIC. MSTIC will launch to the International Space Station (ISS) onboard Northrop Grumman’s 20th cargo resupply services mission (NG-20).

The European Space Agency's (ESA) EarthCARE satellite has undergone its final testing and analysis as its engineers have packed it up for its journey to the launch site in the US. With liftoff slated for May on a SpaceX Falcon 9 from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California has been going through the last round of tests and meticulous checks in Germany.