Tag Archives: European Space Agency

ESA announced the latest focused product release from the Gaia mission. Gaia was launched in 2013 and is mapping our galaxy and beyond in great detail, completing the most accurate stellar census. 

Germany became the 29th country to sign the Artemis Accords on the 14th of September, reports Reuters. The Artemis Accords are a US-led multilateral agreement to establish norms of behaviour in space and on the lunar surface. Germany became the latest signatory at the German ambassador’s residence in Washington. The event was attended by NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and Walther Pelzer, head of the Germany Space Agency. 

LuxIMPULSE has awarded NorthStar Earth & Space a contract to accelerate Space Situational Awareness (SSA) services launching later in 2023. LuxIMPULSE is the national space program in Luxembourg for the promotion of research, development, and innovation. It is managed by the Luxembourg Space Agency (LSA) with the European Space Agency (ESA) to support companies established in Luxembourg. The contract has been funded by the Government of Luxembourg through an ESA contract.   

ESA’s new Ariane 6 launch vehicle, consisting of its upper and core stage, has been fuelled up and its core stage engine fired. The Vulcain 2.1 engine was ignited on the launch page, and fired for four seconds before switching off and its liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen fuels were drained to their separate underground tanks. These tests are the continuation of an earlier test on the 18th of July.

The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Space Rider program has begun its validation and testing phase, as it prepares for its first flight in the third quarter of 2025. Space Rider is a reusable uncrewed robotic laboratory that will provide an end-to-end integrated space transportation system for commercial customers. When Space Rider has been launched into space it will spend two months in orbit whilst experiments and technology demonstrations take place before returning to Earth. 

Axiom Space, a Houston-based space infrastructure developer, and Poland, with support from ESA have signed an agreement to send an ESA astronaut to space on a future Axiom space mission. The mission and name of the Polish astronaut will be officially announced at a later date, following approval by NASA and its international partners. In April 2023, Axiom Space and the Swedish National Space Agency signed a letter of intent to send an ESA astronaut to the ISS. Through this agreement, the upcoming Axiom Space mission, Ax-3 expected to launch in January 2024, will be the first commercial mission to the ISS to include an ESA project astronaut. 

ReOrbit, a Helsinki-based provider of software-enabled satellites, announced on the 1st of August that it is joining ESA’s high throughput optical network (HydRON) programme as a space segment partner. The two existing consortia, led by Airbus Defence and Space (ADS) and Thales Alenia Space, have both contracted ReOrbit

AIRMO, an American start-up providing close to real-time data on CH4 and CO2 emissions, announced its pre-seed round of €5.2 million. The round consists of money from investors as well as a €3.7 million contract by the European Space Agency through its InCubed co-funding program run by the ESA Φ-lab. This pre-seed round will enable AIRMO to launch its first of twelve satellites into orbit. 

Our Space Café “33 minutes with Kevin O’Connell – from zombie statistics to the trillion-dollar space economy” took place on Tuesday, 27th June. Kevin O’Connell has had a diverse career in many sectors in commerce and intelligence. He has spent over three decades working on space commercialisation, including in his role as the Director of the Office of Space commerce with the US Department of Commerce. 

The European Space Agency, Airbus Defence and Space, OHB SE, and Thales Alenia Space have announced they are committed to promoting the safety and long-term sustainability of space operations.