The Chinese rocket company CAS Space started to develop what it expects will be "the world's most powerful solid-propellant carrier rocket", the company's chairman told China Daily. Yang Yiqiang, a senior rocket scientist and founder of CAS Space, told China Daily that the rocket - ZK 2 - will be ready for its debut flight before the end of 2022.
Read More »IIAS sends researcher Kellie Gerardi on Virgin into space
The International Institute for Astronautical Sciences (IIAS) will send its bioastronautics researcher Kellie Gerardi to space on a dedicated research mission with Virgin Galactic, the institute said. “The contract marks the world’s first industry-sponsored, human-tended research spaceflight on a commercial vehicle”.
Read More »NASA sends two missions to Venus: Davinci+ and Veritas
As part of its Discovery program, NASA has selected two new missions to Venus, Earth’s nearest planetary neighbor, the agency said. NASA is awarding approximately $500 million per mission; they are expected to launch in the 2028-2030 timeframe, NASA said.
Read More »Axiom signs up for three more private ISS missions with SpaceX
Axiom Space signed up for three additional private crew missions to the International Space Station (ISS) with SpaceX, the company said. The missions – Ax-2, 3, and 4 – will take place on a SpaceX Dragon until 2023, Axiom said. The landmark agreement between the two companies
Read More »#SpaceWatchGL Column: E2MC Update On Space-Financing Rounds in May 2021
May 2021 saw over US$600 million raised in private fundraising for space-related companies. More than two-thirds of this amount comes from the announcement of another SPAC merger, this time with quantum key distribution company ArQit (as before, this amount assumes cash in trust, PIPE, no redemptions/repayments, and is before fees).
Read More »Space Café WebTalk Recap: Prof. Thomas Schildknecht about sustainability beyond (our) planet
In this week’s Space Café WebTalk Prof. Thomas Schildknecht, Director of Swiss Optical Ground Station and Geodynamics Observatory Zimmerwald and Vice-Director of Astronomical Institute of the University of Bern, Switzerland, talked about Sustainability beyond (our) planet protection from the perspective of an astronomer.
Read More »#SpaceWatchGL Opinion: Precious Real Estate: The APT Mobile Satcom Tower
China and real estate go together like satellites and rockets. As the country’s economy has grown by leaps and bounds over the past several decades, so too has its real estate market, as literally hundreds of millions of young Chinese families have bought (or more accurately, 99-year leased) flats in China’s booming megacities.
Read More »James Webb telescope on Ariane 5 in October/ November
The giant James Webb Space Telescope is on Arianespace’s launch manifest for the fourth quarter of this year, officials from the European launcher and the U.S. space agency said. The telescope could be shipped from the U.S. to French Guiana late August, Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA’s science mission director, said at a virtual press briefing and mission update.
Read More »OroraTech to advance its climate change nanosat platform
The Munich-based New Space startup OroraTech has closed a €5.8 million Series A funding to finance its wildfire and climate crisis observation nanosatellite platform, the company said. OroraTech is “the first NewSpace start-up to provide global wildfire detection and monitoring services”, the company said.
Read More »New Zealand joins Artemis Accords
New Zealand is the 11th nation to sign NASA’s Artemis Accords, the country announced. New Zealand’s foreign minister Nanaia Mahuta and the economic development minister Stuart Nash announced the government has agreed to join the Artemis Accords, launched by NASA, and now signed by eleven nations, the government said on its website.
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