Space Exploration

SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, Resilience, touched down in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida on Saturday. The spacecraft carried the four members of the Inspiration4 mission safely back to Earth after spending three days in LEO. SpaceX loaded the capsule onto its recovery ship in less than an hour so that the crew could exit.

Becoming an anchor customer: The European Space Agency (ESA) has signed up with Surrey Satellite Technology (SSTL) for communications services from Lunar Pathfinder, SSTL said. ESA will be the anchor customer for services from Lunar Pathfinder which will be "the first dedicated lunar communications relay spacecraft"

NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has collected the first sample of Martian rock, a core from Jezero Crater slightly thicker than a pencil, NASA reported. The core is currently awaiting retrieval in an airtight titanium sample tube with serial number 266. The rover had failed to collect samples on its first try just last month.

During this week’s Space Café, SpaceWatch.Global publisher Torsten Kriening got to chat with Lukasz Wilczynski – the brain, organiser, hidden champion and president of the European Space Foundation and the CEO of Polish tech publicity firm, Planet Partners. A self-confessed “space evangelist”, Lukasz Wilczynski, is also the founder of the European Rover Challenge,

NASA announced it will grant US $146 million to five US companies to conduct studies for future lunar lander concepts. This will enable a “steady pace of crewed trips to the lunar surface under the Artemis program,” NASA said. The five companies and their awards are Blue Origin: US $25.6M, Dynetics: US $40.8M, Lockheed Martin: US $35.2M, Northrop Grumman: US $34.8M and SpaceX: US $9.4M.

The Hungarian government announced that it accepted a document identifying the cornerstones that set out the country’s opportunities and future development directions in the field of space. The aim is to make Hungary an active player in space exploration and space activities. The government’s vision is for the country to play a regional leading role in certain development areas.

As part of the partnership between SpaceWatch.Global and Orbital Gateway Consulting we have been granted permission to publish selected articles and texts. We are pleased to present “Dongfang Hour China Aerospace News Roundup 6-12 September 2021”. A special shout-out to our friends at SpaceWatch.Global,

This Space Café Canada will feature Dr. Samantha Lawler, an orbital modeler and observational astronomer at the University of Regina, in conversation with Dr. Jessica West, Senior Researcher at Project Ploughshares and a friend of SpaceWatch.Global. Blinded by the light. The night sky as we know it could be lost forever. What should Canada do to prevent this?

The European and the U.S. space agencies, ESA and NASA, have scheduled the launch of the giant James Webb Space Telescope on an Ariane 5 rocket for 18 December 2021, Arianespace said. Flight VA256 is scheduled for 18 December from the Guiana Space Center, Arianespace said. The launcher and launch services are part of ESA´s contribution to the Webb project.

The Chang’e-5 orbiter module is currently on its way back to the Moon following deep space tests according to reports. Last year, the orbiter delivered a return module containing 1.731 kg of lunar samples to Earth before setting off to deep space. Chang’e-5 orbiter was in orbit around Lagrange point 1 (L1) where it carried out orbit control tests and observations.