Space Missions

Russian actress Yulia Peresild, 37, and film director Klim Shipenko, 38, arrived at the ISS on Tuesday after a smooth take-off from Baikonur Cosmodrome. They are on a 12-day mission filming the first movie in orbit. The crew travelled in a Soyuz MS-19 spaceship and docked behind schedule.

Warpspace has closed Series A round with Japanese leading venture capitals, such as SBI Investment and Mizuho Capital, the company said. This brings the total amount of funding to over USD 9 million since the company was founded in 2016. With Mizuho Capital on board, three large Japanese banks are now listed on the company’s list of investors.

Honda Motor is entering the small satellite launch business and is aiming to launch a test rocket by 2030, the Japanese car company announced. As the car industry shifts to electric vehicles and the demand for satellites grows, they will apply their automotive technologies to space. Honda claims that their satellite launch costs will be small due to reusable rockets.

Star Trek Actor William Shatner and Audrey Powers, Blue Origin’s Vice President of Mission and Flight Operations, will fly on board New Shepard NS-18, Blue Origin announced. A Russian actress, and a film producer will launch towards the ISS today along with a cosmonaut, to film segments for a movie.

World Space Week, a UN-declared celebration of space is held annually, every October from 4th to 10th. The dates commemorate two events. The first is the launch of Sputnik 1, the first human-made satellite on 4th October, 1957. The second is the signing of the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activites of States in the

A glimpse in the cleanroom: Airbus plans to demonstrate the European Service Module for NASA´s Orion missions to the Moon. The company invited media to join a virtual visit to the cleanroom on Wednesday, 6 October, watch the delivery of ESM-2 and look at ESM-3. The modules are key parts of Europe’s contribution to NASA´s Artemis missions to the Moon.

The Shiyan-10 satellite suffered an abnormal function and the spacecraft was lost after a normal flight, Xinhua News Agency reports. The satellite launched from Xichang Satellite Launch Centre on a Long March 3B rocket. The reasons for the anomaly and loss of spacecraft are still unknown, investigation of what happened exactly is still ongoing.

Lucy, NASA’s first spacecraft to study Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids is being prepared for launch on 16th October, NASA said. By studying these asteroids, scientists hope to learn more about how the planets of the Solar System formed. NASA’s Lucy team have been preparing the spacecraft for flight in the past eight weeks.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has cleared Virgin Galactic to resume launches, Virgin Galactic said. The FAA carried out an investigation as the rocket plane deviated from its course while descending during July’s flight. The FAA barred Virgin from flying SpaceShipTwo until the investigation to determine the issues would not affect public safety was over.

SpaceWatch.Global is pleased to present the 37th episode in our podcast series The Space Cafe Podcast: Andrew Jones on China's Space endeavours. Episode 037 features a special guest Andrew Jones. The question of all questions: What are the Chinese up to? Money does not seem to play a role.