Space Missions

Innovative Rocket Technologies Inc. (iRocket) has signed a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) with The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) West. As a result, It will develop engines and stage technology for the laboratory's next-generation fully reusable Shockwave launch vehicle. Members from AFRL’s Rocket Propulsion Division at Edwards AFB, California, and iRocket, a privately-owned corporation, agreed on the collaborative effort in June 2023.

Redwire Corporation has won a $12.9 million NASA Tipping Point award to prototype a manufacturing technology intended to build critical infrastructure on the surface of the Moon, including landing pads, roads, and foundations for habitats. This technology could enable robust construction on the lunar surface to advance human and robotic operations, paving the way for a sustainable human presence and a dynamic lunar economy.

The Space Data Association (SDA) has appointed Erika Rossetto of Embratel StarOne and Lorenzo Arona of Avanti Communications as Standard Member Directors. This is the second consecutive term for Rossetto, while Arona is returning after holding the position from 2019 to 2021.

Neuraspace, a European-born space traffic management (STM), has joined NVIDIA Inception, a program that nurtures startups revolutionizing industries with artificial intelligence (AI). NVIDIA Inception will allow Neuraspace to get faster access to cutting-edge AI-related technology and best-in-class tools while enhancing its existing AI system. Furthermore, it will optimize Neuraspace’s research and development efforts to apply AI to its operational STM system.

Euclid's two instruments have captured their first test images. The mesmerizing results indicate that the space telescope will achieve the scientific goals that it has been designed for - and possibly much more. Although there are months to go before Euclid delivers its true new view of the cosmos, reaching this milestone means the scientists and engineers behind the mission are confident that the telescope and instruments are working well.

Hisdesat, the Spanish Government satellite operator, has announced that the first satellite in the SPAINSAT NG program, SpainSat NG-I, will be ready for launch in the summer of 2024 after confirming that the program is making good progress. Space X will be responsible for launching the Spanish satellite into orbit with a Falcon 9 launcher from its base at Cape Canaveral or from NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

Aeolus, the European Space Agency (ESA)’s wind mission, reentered Earth’s atmosphere on 28 July at around 21:00 CEST above Antarctica, with the US Space Command confirming the reentry. The reentry came after a series of complex maneuvers that lowered Aeolus’ orbit from an altitude of 320 km to just 120 km to reenter the atmosphere and burn up. Crucially, these maneuvers, the first assisted reentry of its kind, positioned Aeolus so that any pieces that may have failed to burn up in the atmosphere would fall within the satellite’s planned Atlantic ground tracks.

The European Space Agency's Galileo Project has launched its new Telemetry, Tracking, and Control (TT&C) facility, featuring a 13.5-meter diameter parabola dish on top of a 10-meter-high building structure of steel and concrete. Known as the acronym TTCF-7, the facility is within the premises of Europe’s launch site in Kourou, French Guiana, beside its older sibling TTCF-2.

Back in the 70’s, the Japanese space agency JAXA run an experiment called the Japanese Cat's Whisker Experiment. It took place aboard Skylab between May 1973 and February 1974, the same year Pink Floyd released “The Dark Side of the Moon”. Contrary to what you might think, it did not involve cats.

Pixxel has won a multi-crore grant from iDEX (Innovations for Defence Excellence under the Ministry of Defence) for the Mission DefSpace Challenge under iDEX Prime (Space) to manufacture miniaturized multi-payload satellites for the Indian Air Force. Oixxel received this grant as part of the SPARK grants by iDEX. As a result, this grant will equip Pixxel to develop small satellites of up to 150 kgs for Electro-Optical, Infrared, Synthetic Aperture Radar, and Hyper Spectral purposes.