Space Missions

The second ExoMars mission, scheduled for launch to the Red Planet in 2022, is taking advantage of the extra time to upgrade some of the rover’s instruments and get ready for the next parachute high-altitude drop tests. The new launch date on the horizon is allowing more margin for replacements and repairs …

By John B. Sheldon Following the announcement on 5 May 2020 by NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine of the proposed Artemis Accords, NASA revealed further details on 14 May 2020 that provide some granularity of what is likely being discussed in private channels with like-minded countries. The new details about the …

Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), a global aerospace and national security leader owned by Eren and Fatih Ozmen, received its Shooting Star transport vehicle at the company’s Colorado production facility, marking the beginning of a key integration phase. This phase includes installation of the SNC-built Passive Common Berthing Mechanism that will …

Astroscale Holdings Inc., a market-leader in developing technology and services to remove space debris and secure long-term orbital sustainability, announced on 18 May 2020 that it has opened a Series E funding round and has secured I-NET CORP., a leading Japanese data center provider, as its first investor for an …

RUAG Space, a leading supplier to the space industry, is offering new electronics suited to the needs of satellite constellations. For constellations of hundreds or thousands of small satellites, products in high volumes, lower cost, on-time and on-quality delivery are needed. RUAG Space, a leading supplier to the space industry, …

China.org.cn released a news report about China’s new planetary exploration mission on 9 May 2020, revealing “Tianwen” as the name of the mission: Fifty years ago, China successfully launched its first satellite into space. In 2003, the country’s first manned spacecraft blasted off. Four years later in 2007, its first moon orbiter …

Using the most advanced Earth-observing laser instrument NASA has ever flown in space, scientists have made precise, detailed measurements of how the elevation of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have changed over 16 years. The results provide insights into how the polar ice sheets are changing, demonstrating definitively that …

The TsNIIMash rocket and spacecraft scientific center has confirmed the destruction in the earth’s orbit of tanks of the Russian Fregat-SB upper stage, the press service of Roscosmos space agency told TASS on Sunday, 10 May 2020. It said the upper stage was used to place into orbit Spektr-P scientific …

By John B. Sheldon More than fifty years after the first Apollo Moon landings, we are witnessing the rise of Lunapolitics, where the Moon’s topography – or ‘Lunography’ – from below its surface through to Cislunar space intersects with Earthly political and economic interests. If we manage Lunapolitics sensibly then …

MDA announced on 4 May 2020 that it has received a contract worth CA$190 million (US$135.3 million) to support robotic operations on the International Space Station (ISS) from 2020 to 2024. MDA has provided Logistics and Sustaining Engineering (L&SE) services to the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and its international partners …