by David Todd | Oct 17, 2016 | ESA, exploration, Russia, Satellites
The European-Russian ExoMars mission has undergone a key moment on its way to the Red Planet. On 16 October 2016, at 1442 GMT, and at a distance of over 850,000 km from the planet Mars, the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) released the Schiaparelli Entry, Descent and Landing...
by David Todd | Oct 10, 2016 | ESA, Satellites, Technology, test
At the IAC 2016 Guadalajara, Airbus Defence and Space (Airbus DS) showed its continued interest in the problem of space debris removal by revealing the following. Firstly, the firm is planning a ESA-sponsored deorbit mission of the defunct Earth observation and...
by Matt Wilson | Oct 6, 2016 | commercial launch services, ESA, India, Launches, Satellites
At 2030 GMT, on 5 October, the heavy-lift Ariane 5 rocket lifted off from the European Spaceport at Kourou, French Guiana, carrying two telecommunications satellites, Sky Muster II, for NBN Co and GSAT-18, for ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation). This marks the...
by David Todd | Oct 5, 2016 | ESA, History, India, JAXA, NASA, Russia, Technology
IAC 2016 Guadalaraja: Mars missions and new rockets feature… and so does the rain The annual meeting of the World’s space agencies, engineers and scientists at the 67th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) took place in Guadalajara, Mexico, during late September...
by Matt Wilson | Sep 30, 2016 | ESA, exploration, Satellites, Science, Technology
On 30 September 2016, at 1119 GMT the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC), Darmstadt, announced that the Rosseta probe had completed its de-orbit manoeuvre to land/crash on to the surface of the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, sending its last telemetry packet at...
by David Todd | Sep 9, 2016 | ESA, Launches, Science
ESA and Arianespace have signed a contract to secure the launch of the Aeolus satellite on a Vega launch vehicle. The 1,500 kg spacecraft is designed to measure winds using ultraviolet laser/lidar technology. The launch of the spacecraft will take place in 2017. The...
