Space Exploration

By John B. Sheldon The heads of the space agencies from the United States, Russia, Japan, Canada, and the European Space Agency (ESA) are scheduled to meet on 9 June 2020 via video conference in order to discuss cooperation on lunar exploration and the International Space Station (ISS). The meeting …

In this week’s Space Cafe Web Talk Dr. Raji Rajagopalan discussed how India’s approach to outer space has changed over the last decade and how it is now driven increasingly by national security concerns. Dr. Rajagopalan also addressed a range of other significant topics, including India’s controversial ASAT test, her …

NASA has selected Astrobotic for a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II award to continue its development of UltraNav, a low-cost, autonomous, visual navigation system for spacecraft. The system has wide-ranging applications, from the servicing of Earth satellites to journeys to challenging space destinations such as the lunar poles …

Chinese officials have unveiled details of, and launch timeline for, its Tiangong space station now that the Long March 5B launch vehicle has been successfully launched and China’s crewed capsule has been tested. According to Chinese news media, the Tiangong space station will be completed by the end of 2022 …

By Jason Steffen, University of Nevada, Las Vegas While the planet has been on lockdown the last two months, a new space telescope called CHEOPS opened its eyes, took its first pictures of the heavens and is now open for business. The CHEOPS mission adds a unique twist in the …

Dmitry Rogozin, the head of the Russian state space corporation Roscosmos, has said that Russia is designing a new “orbital” station where crews will build deep space probes to explore the Solar System. One concept for Russia’s orbital station seems to centre on a crewed space station in low-Earth orbit …

By John B Sheldon Russia and China are currently in talks to pool their resources for joint lunar operations, according to several Russian and international news media sources. The two countries are believed to have created a bilateral working group to draw up plans for a shared base on the …

By Dr. Deganit Paikowsky Last week, NASA released “The Artemis Accords: Principles for a Safe, Peaceful and Prosperous Future.” The aim of the Artemis program, according to NASA, is to “[L]and the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024, heralding in a new era for space …

The European Space Agency (ESA) is asking “What would you do with a large European lander on the Moon?” In a video message ESA Director General Jan Wörner issued a Call for Ideas: the ESA is looking for your ideas for missions to the Moon that could be delivered using …

By Christopher Johnson (Part 1 of this article was published on 27 May. You can read it here). Developing and Expanding International Space Law As mentioned in Part One of this article, international space law is a modest, open regime, subject to expansion and clarification. At the international multilateral level, …