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Rocket Lab will build two Photon spacecraft for NASA´s Escapade science mission to Mars, the launch company that will start trading on Nasdaq today said. Escapade stands for Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers; the mission will orbit two Rocket Lab-built Photon spacecraft around Mars

Virgin Orbit is to become publicly traded on Nasdaq through a merger with SPAC NextGen Acquisition Corp. II valuing the company at US $3.2 billion. The SPAC trades on the Nasdaq under ticker “NGCA” until the end of the year. The shares will then convert to “VORB”, as the combined company will keep the Virgin Orbit name. The agreement is to raise US $483 million for the combined company.

Scientists discovered a contingent of young stars and star-forming gas clouds sticking out of one of the Milky Way's spiral arms. The splinter-like feature stretches some 3,000 light-years, and is the first major structure identified with such a different orientation to that of the arm’s.

SpaceWatch.Global is pleased to present the 33rd episode in our podcast series The Space Cafe Podcast: John Mankins - Energy from orbit, new ways of propulsion and Star Trek type spaceships. Episode 034 features a special guest John Mankins. John Mankins has been with NASA and JPL for most of his professional life

The upper stage of the Ariane 5 which will launch the James Webb Space Telescope into space later this year is on its way from Bremen in Germany to the European Spaceport in French Guiana, ArianeGroup said. James Webb will be the largest and most powerful telescope ever launched.

Rocket Lab announced it has signed a rideshare agreement with Scottish PocketQube satellite manufacturer, Alba Orbital. Rocket Lab’s Electron will deploy four pico-satellites designed for innovative radio and night-time Earth observation. The cluster includes Alba Orbital’s Unicorn-2 PocketQube satellites, as well as the TRSI-2, TRSI-3, and MyRadar-1 satellites for the company’s customers.

The first full-size prototype of Starship should be ready for orbital test flight "in a few weeks," Elon Musk said. SpaceX has yet to run the 120-metre-tall rocket through its pre-flight tests. Meanwhile the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is conducting an environmental assessment of SpaceX's South Texas launch site, which poses a logistical hurdle.

Blue Origin filed suit on 13th August against NASA in federal court, disputing the agency’s selection of SpaceX to build a Human Landing System (HLS). The law suit comes after both Blue Origin and Dynetics filed protests with the GAO (Government Accountability Office) in April, which were soundly rejected.

In this session of Space Cafè “Moriba’s Vox Populi 06” Dr. Moriba Jah talked about Environmental Protection, Climate Change, and their Correlation Pleiades with Orbital Space with Prof. Joellen Russell, Dr. Danielle Wood, Dr. Imogen Napper, Dr. Michael Webber.

Rocket Lab announced the launch of AuroraSat-1 on board of their Electron rocket to test space junk removal technologies for Aurora Propulsion Technologies. The satellite will be deployed to LEO to demonstrate the company’s propulsion devices and plasma brakes. The Finnish CubeSat will validate the water-based propellant, and mobility control of its Resistojets.