Space Exploration

It’s been nearly half a century since humans left footprints on the moon and during that time human space exploration has largely centered on manned low-Earth orbit missions and unmanned scientific exploration. But now, high levels of private funding, advances in technology, and growing public-sector interest is renewing the call to look toward the stars.

The United States National Space Council was re-established by President Donald J. Trump in 2017 after ceasing operations in 1993. The Council works to develop a strategy for national space activities and also to foster co-operation with other countries and space agencies in order to advance the U.S. space agenda and to share information.

Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) announced on 26 November 2018 that it is designing a low cost 35 kilogram lunar communications satellite mission called DoT-4, targeted for a 2021 launch.

ISRO recently announced its plans to undertake a mission to Venus in the early 2020s and has also invited international proposals for scientific payloads.

On Wednesday, 21 November 2018, at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, CNES President Jean-Yves Le Gall spoke at the opening of the first International VENµS End-Users Conference organized as part of the France-Israel Season 2018. On this occasion, in the presence of Avi Blasberger, Director General of the Israeli Space Agency (ISA), he underlined the innovative nature of CNES and ISA’s joint VENµS mission (Vegetation and Environment monitoring on a New Micro Satellite) and its contribution to the Space Climate Observatory (SCO), a CNES initiative supporting efforts to tackle climate change.

During his recent visit to China, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and his Chinese counterparts signed a number of agreements that commit both countries to space, science, and technology cooperation.

The United Arab Emirates Space Agency (UAESA) has signed a Declaration of Principles with Bahrain's National Space Science Agency (NSSA), and the UAE’s Khalifa University (KU), for the training of the Bahrain Space Team.

The French national space agency, the Centre national d’études spatiales (CNES), in partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA) and CapDecisif Management, has created a venture fund called CosmiCapital to help create a European New Space ecosystem. The CosmiCapital fund, launched by the CNES in May 2018 and managed by …

What do astronauts, Pokemon, wildlife park rangers, and surgeons all have in common? The answer is virtual and augmented reality, or VR and AR. Usually associated with video games, this ultra-immersive technology is quickly being recognised for its real-world potential. VR is a computer-generated environment that simulates physical presence and …

The UAE Space Agency will continue selecting astronaut candidates in order to create a national astronaut cadre with the aim of sending Emiratis in to orbit annually, Dr. Mohammed Al Ahbabi, the Director General of the agency, said in an interview with Russian news outlet Sputnik.