Despite a feeling that Europe has been “left behind” in the race between China and the US – especially by firms such as SpaceX – it was nonetheless surprising in these difficult economic times that European nations managed to raise ESA’s budget by 17 per cent,...
After a series of delays, including one caused by Hurricane Nicole, Artemis I’s Orion spacecraft finally lifted off from Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, USA. The SLS (Space Launch System) rocket was launched at 0647 GMT on 16 November with its...
NASA’s CAPSTONE (Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment) mission achieved its main objective when the 12U CubeSat spacecraft made a braking burn to enter a near-rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO) around the Moon. It completed...
After being in a slow spin for nearly a month, NASA’s CAPSTONE (Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment) mission to the Moon was confirmed as being recovered to full three axis control on 7 October. Advanced Space,...
India’s Mars probe, the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), has ceased to function over eight years after its launch on 5 November 2013, according to recent reports. It is also over seven years since its post-launch design life, of 1.5 years, expired. Communications...
The month of September 2022 saw a spate of small satellite orders (plus some shared rides) made. These included: US Start-up Rogue Space Systems is planning a pair of satellites dubbed a cubesat-class spacecraft dubbed Space Robot to service and repair small...
