by David Todd | Jun 6, 2015 | ESA, Seradata News, SpaceX, Technology
While the European Space Agency’s (ESA) planned Ariane 6 launch vehicle will still be expendable, Airbus Defence and Space (Airbus DS) has realised that Ariane 6 may need elements of reusability if it is to compete with the Falcon 9R of its US arch-rival, SpaceX, in...
by David Todd | May 19, 2015 | commercial launch services, ESA
Arianespace reported 2014 revenue of €1.399 billion, a 41% increase over 2013 revenue of €989 million. The primary reason for the increased revenues was that the overall flight rate was up, with 11 launches being conducted: six launches of Ariane 5, four launches of...
by David Todd | May 19, 2015 | ESA, Launches, Seradata News, Technology
The former head of the European Space Agency (ESA) rocket programme, Antonio Fabrizi, has died after a long illness at the early age of 67. Under Fabrizi’s tenure as ESA Director of launchers, ESA built the Vega small launch vehicle, allowed Soyuz to operate at...
by David Todd | Apr 15, 2015 | ESA, NASA
The UK General Election promises a change of government – or at least partly – if opinion polls are to be believed. Science and space have, as usual, been side-lined as a sideshow of a sideshow – albeit with most of the party manifestos making the...
by David Todd | Apr 10, 2015 | ESA, exploration, Satellites, Science, Seradata News
During a 14km flyby of the nucleus of Comet 67P/Churyumov Gerasimenko on 28 March 2015, the valiant ROSETTA spacecraft of the European Space Agency had a major pointing error. As the comet gets closer to the Sun, it is outgassing water vapour and dust, and this was...
by David Todd | Mar 30, 2015 | ESA, International Space Station, Soyuz
A pair of Soyuz rockets were launched into orbit on the same day. At 1943 GMT on 27 March 2015, a Soyuz FG launched the TMA-016M spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, near Tyuratam in Kazakhstan. The flight carried Russian cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Mikhail...
