Tag Archives: The Moon

Firefly Aerospace, Inc., a provider of economical and dependable launch vehicles, spacecraft and in-space services, announced today the execution of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Airbus Defence and Space to develop new space launch solutions for Airbus customers.

By Dr. Bleddyn Bowen SpaceWatch.Global is delighted to welcome Bleddyn Bowen as its latest columnist. Bleddyn will be contributing his column every quarter.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) announced their agreement on 12 March 2019 to consider the possibility of collaborating on international space exploration.

NGK SPARK PLUG CO., LTD., a manufacturer with over 80 years of experience in spark plugs and ceramics, headquartered in Nagoya, Japan, and lunar exploration company, iSpace Inc., have announced that NGK SPARK PLUG has agreed to participate as a Corporate Partner of the world’s first commercial lunar exploration program “HAKUTO – R”.

Space IL has successfully launched the first private spacecraft to the Moon. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida on Thursday, 21 February 2019, carrying the Beresheet spacecraft. Beresheet, meaning beginning or genesis in Hebrew, will land on the lunar surface in approximately sixty days and will make Israel the fourth country to land a spacecraft on the Moon.

Russia is preparing a national concept for Moon exploration by March 2019, according to the head of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin. This news comes after the U.S. national space agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), put forward its Lunar Gateway project which will see the agency construct a gateway to act as a "single stepping off point in architecture for human cislunar operations, lunar surface operations and missions to Mars."

Didier Reynders, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence of the Kingdom of Belgium, and Etienne Schneider, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, signed a joint declaration at the Palais d'Egmont in Brussels on 23 January 2019 in which the two countries commit to collaborate on the development of an international framework for the exploration and utilisation of space resources.

Thailand's mu Space is heading for the Final Frontier as it announced plans to participate in projects with the U.S. space agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and space exploration initiatives. The announcement, that came during the Pacific Telecommunications Council’s (PTC) conference earlier this week, saw mu Space CEO and Founder James Yenbamroong set out his stall in terms of his future vision for the company.

The head of the Russian Roscosmos state space corporation, Dmitry Rogozin, has approved the timetable and budget for the development of Russia's super-heavy launch vehicle called Yenisei. It is expected that Yenisei will be developed and operational by 2028 at an overall cost of U.S.$15 billion (approximately 1 trillion rubles).

India's second lunar mission, Chandrayaan-2, will be attempted in mid-April 2019, a senior Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) official said on 11 January 2019. Chandrayaan-2 will comprise a lander and a lunar rover.