Space Exploration

Engineers designing ESA’s Hera planetary defence mission to the Didymos asteroid pair are developing advanced technology to let the spacecraft steer itself through space, taking a similar approach to self-driving cars.

The Beresheet lunar lander built and operated by Israeli not-for-profit company SpaceIL and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), and launched by SpaceX from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on 22 February 2019, has successfully arrived in Lunar orbit.

The European Space Agency (ESA) has set up a dedicated unit to work on the standardised nanosatellites called 'CubeSats', teaming up with European companies to develop low-cost technology-testing missions.

ESA Director of Human and Robotic Exploration, David Parker, and Associate Administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Thomas Zurbuchen, signed a Statement of Intent to coordinate joint science research about the Moon and identify opportunities for lunar mission cooperation.

On the occasion of the state visit to France of the President of the People’s Republic of China, the French national space agency, the Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES), and the China National Space Administration (CNSA) have stepped up their cooperation in the fields of planetary exploration and climate action. Space was already central to discussions between the two nations in January last year during the state visit to China of President Emmanuel Macron, a few months before the launch of the French-Chinese CFOSat oceanography satellite, the cornerstone of this partnership.

Pakistan’s space agency, the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), is believed to be in talks with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on developing an agenda for possible space cooperation, according to a senior SUPARCO official quoted in the UAE newspaper Khaleej Times.

UK Science Minister, Chris Skidmore, has announced that new national space funding worth £7 million will ensure UK scientists play a leading role in a new space weather mission.

The UAE Cabinet, chaired by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, has adopted the National Space Strategy 2030 during its meeting at the Presidential Palace in Abu Dhabi.

The 358th session of the Centre national d'études spatiales' (CNES) Board of Directors was held at the agency’s Head Office in Paris Les Halles on 12 March 2019. On this occasion, the Board gave the go-ahead for the CO3D project and reviewed the agency’s programmatic activities.

By Dr. Bleddyn Bowen SpaceWatch.Global is delighted to welcome Bleddyn Bowen as its latest columnist. Bleddyn will be contributing his column every quarter.