Frontiers News

Thales Alenia Space has signed a framework contract divided into different tranches with the European Space Agency (ESA), worth a total of €522m, to continue essential activities for the completion of the ExoMars 2028 mission. The contract includes the development of the Mars Entry, Descent and Landing Module (EDLM) and maintenance activities on vehicles already built for the 2022 mission.

Diamonds on the moon? 'Water' is more valuable - says Anastasia Stepanova during our interview. At the Colorado School of Mines, Torsten Kriening spoke with Anastasia Stepanova PhD candidate at the school in the Space Resources Program. Anastasia spoke about the various labs available and highlighted one of the facilities where they are striving to extract water from asteroids.

NASA has selected Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost, and Venturi Astrolab to advance capabilities for a lunar terrain vehicle (LTV) that Artemis astronauts will use to travel around the lunar surface. The LTV will consequently help Artemis Astronauts conduct scientific research during NASA's Artemis campaign on the Moon and preparations for human missions to Mars.

The Proba-3 mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) is successfully completing its pre-launch tests. Led by Sener, in close collaboration with an industrial team consisting of Redwire, Airbus, GMV and Spacebel, and encompassing a large consortium of over 29 companies from 17 countries, Proba-3 will demonstrate the viability of high-precision formation flying by satellites in space.

The Airbus-built EUTELSAT 36D telecommunications satellite has successfully launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. EUTELSAT selected Airbus in March 2021 to build EUTELSAT 36D, a new-generation multi-mission geostationary telecommunications satellite. The satellite is consequently based on the latest generation Eurostar Neo geostationary telecommunications satellite and will provide TV broadcasting (DTH) and government services over Africa, Europe and eastern countries and has a potential lifetime of more than 15 years.

The Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee of the House Science, Space, and Technology (SS&T) Committee held a hearing on NASA’s science programs, which revolved around the fate of the Mars Sample Return mission (MSR). The JPL had earlier cut back on its activities around the mission in light of a federal budget that could limit spending on the Mars Sample Return mission.

The Airbus-built TEXUS 60 rocket was successfully launched on Sunday, 24 March, from the Esrange Space Center in Kiruna, Sweden. The rocket reached an apogee of 251 km and provided 362 seconds of microgravity time. The payloads on board included two DLR experiments for the German Aerospace Center (DLR), called Simona and GECO, as well as a joint experiment of DLR and the Japanese Space Agency JAXA, called Phoenix 2.

The UK Space Agency (UKSA) is opening new headquarters in Harwell, Oxfordshire and regional offices in Scotland, Wales and the Midlands as it works to support the space sector across the UK. Aligned with the UK Government’s Levelling Up strategy, the expansion will enable the Agency to collaborate more closely with the UK’s thriving space sector while promoting regional skills and job opportunities to deliver increasingly ambitious missions and capabilities.

Qosmosys, a company in the field of lunar economy, has signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) with the Luxembourg Space Agency (LSA) to collaborate on cutting-edge research and development projects in the burgeoning field of the growing lunar economy.