Space Missions

Launch service provider Isar Aerospace announced it has won the European Commission’s EIC Horizon Prize “Low-Cost Space Launch” award, receiving €10M in prize money. The prize was awarded to Isar for its launch service solution using the two-stage launch vehicle, Spectrum. The rocket offers flexible and cost-efficient access to space for small and medium-sized satellites and constellations.

Europe has to accelerate the development of its space assets and architectures to “weigh in on the global stage”, the European commissioner for internal market, Thierry Breton, said. The commission will therefore launch the European Space Launcher Alliance, the "first ever" Space Partnership and a European Space & Defence Strategy, he said.

ArianeGroup develops the concept of a new European launcher family with a reusable first stage and a new mini launcher called Maia, the company said. The family consists of a mini launch vehicle with a reusable first stage, a medium-heavy launch vehicle, a heavy launch vehicle and a super-heavy launch vehicle that uses the first stage of the mini launch vehicle as a booster, ArianeGroup said.

Former fighter jet pilot, Eytan Stibbe, is scheduled to become the second Israeli astronaut and the first to go to the International Space Station (ISS) in March this year. The Rakia mission will bring 35 scientific and technological experiments into space, based on their potential and possible economic impact.

ESA announced a space summit to be held on 16th February in Toulouse, France, to help tackle the “unprecedented societal, economic and security challenges faced by Europe”. The summit aims to identify the necessary steps in rectifying these issues. The summit will consist of two parts chaired by the French Presidency of the EU, also chairing the ESA Council at ministerial level.

Iceye signed a contract in the U.S. with the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) to participate in the evaluation of commercial remote sensing companies operating synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites, the company said. It will focus on modeling and simulation and also support NRO’s detailed assessment of imaging modes, image quality, geolocation accuracy and coverage.

NASA will launch a mini asteroid scout mission called NEA Scout with the uncrewed first Artemis testflight in spring, the agency said. The target is 2020 GE, a near-Earth asteroid that is less 18 meters in size; asteroids smaller than 100 meters have never been explored up close before, NASA said. NEA stands for near Earth asteroid.

Space Entertainment Enterprise (SEE), co-founded by Elena and Dmitry Lesnevsky, producers of Tom Cruise’s coming space movie, announced plans to attach an Axiom-built film studio and sports arena to the ISS, CNBC reports. SEE-1, the new module, will be attached to Axiom Station, the first commercial module of the ISS, in December 2024.

Plus Ultra Space Outposts, a European company developing a lunar satellite constellation, and ispace Europe have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for working together on joint lunar missions, ispace announced. The MoU comprises the deployment of communication and navigation satellites into lunar orbit as early as 2024.

During this week’s Space Café, SpaceWatch.Global Publisher Torsten Kriening sat down with Peter Hulsroj, a legal consultant for intergovernmental organisations, attorney, specialist in nuclear disarmament, space and international law, and now, author and blogger.