Space Exploration

In this Space Café Radio -  SpaceWatch.Global Senior Editor and Space Café Italy Host Dr. Emma Gatti spoke with Jeremy Parsons, Deputy Manager for the Exploration Ground System Program at NASA Kennedy Space Center. In this first episode of the Artemis 1 series, Jeremy Parsons discusses his role in the NASA Artemis program that will take humanity back to the moon and eventually to Mars.

Hyundai Motor and Kia signed joint research agreements with six Korean research institutes and formed a consultative body to develop mobility solutions to explore the surface of the Moon, the companies said. The firms are planning to expand the scope of human movement beyond Earth as part of their vision for robotics and metamobility. 

Dr David Parker, ESA’s Director for Human and Robotic Exploration, has named the “specially trained woolly astronaut”, Shaun the Sheep, Aardman’s family favourite TV series, as the first astronaut on the Artemis I mission to the Moon. “This is an exciting time for Shaun and for us at ESA.

Space infrastructure company, Masten Space Systems, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection due to increasing debts following its 2020 contract from NASA for a robotic lunar lander. Masten was founded in 2004 and had won a number of NASA contracts.

Congress has passed a NASA authorization bill, the first in five years, extending the operational life of the International Space Station (ISS) up until 2030 while also backing the agency’s Artemis program. The passing of the bill signals that Congress pioritizes the advancement of NASA’s technology, infrastructure, and workforce.

Volume I of McGill Manual on International Law Applicable to Military Uses of Outer Space (MILAMOS): Volume I – Rules containing the 52 rules agreed by consensus among subject-matter experts and institutions over a six-year process, has been published. The project was initiated by the Faculty of Law’s Centre for Research in Air and Space Law involving over 80 international participants

In this Space Café Radio – SpaceWatch.Global Senior Editor and Space Café Italy Host Dr. Emma Gatti spoke with Farzana Baduel the CEO of Curzon PR, a London-based PR firm focused on public relations and marketing communications consultancy, at the 4th Secure World Foundation Summit in London on June 22-23. Farzana also served as Vice-Chair of Business Relations for the UK Conservative Party.

Yuri Borisov, head of the Russian federal space agency, Roscosmos, said the country will withdraw from the International Space Station (ISS) program after 2024 to focus on building its own orbiting station. The announcement was made less than two weeks after Roscosmos and NASA signed a seat exchange agreement on spacecraft traveling to and from the station.

Lunar resource development company, ispace’s subsidiary, ispace technologies U.S. will join a team, led by Draper, that has been awarded US $73 million to deliver payloads, including two communication relay satellites, to lunar orbit as well as a suite of scientific experiments to the lunar surface, ispace said.

China has successfully docked Wentian, the second module of its Tiangong space station to the first, Tianhe section, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) said. The rendezvous and docking process with the forward port of Tianhe went smoothly, taking approximately 13 hours. Wentian will be moved to a side port with the help of the module's 10-meter-long robotic arm.