by David Todd | Oct 31, 2013 | China, commercial launch services, NASA, Russia, Seradata News, Technology
A heavy-lift launch vehicle is viewed as one of the core capabilities needed for long range space exploration and both NASA and China’s space programme have committed to building this type of launch vehicle. To stop the Russian space programme falling behind,...
by David Todd | Oct 29, 2013 | Commercial human spaceflight, NASA, Personal spaceflight, Technology
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kovJUvkO55E[/youtube] In a telephone press conference, Mark Sirangelo, corporate vice president for Sierra Nevada’s space systems division confirmed that the Dream Chaser aerodynamic prototype (officially known as the...
by David Todd | Oct 28, 2013 | Commercial human spaceflight, commercial launch services, Personal spaceflight, Space Shuttle, Technology
The Sierra Nevada Dream Chaser, one of the commercial spacecraft hoping to be used to provide regular transportation services to NASA astronauts has had its first glide test after being airdropped from a helicopter – and crashed on landing. The pilotless test...
by David Todd | Oct 18, 2013 | Satellites, Seradata News, Technology
With cubesat kits now generally available for Universities and Companies to build for affordable prices (tens of thousands rather than tens of millions of dollars), 10 cm wide cubesats and their muli-unit sisters now dominate the 1-10kg nanosat class of satellites. ...
by David Todd | Oct 17, 2013 | commercial launch services, Satellites, Technology
Europe is to get its own “all electric” satellite bus. Under a public-private partnership agreement signed on 15 October between the satellite operatior, SES and the European Space Agency (ESA) the ELECTRA programme plans to build a...
by David Todd | Oct 17, 2013 | SpaceX, Technology
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZDkItO-0a4[/youtube] SpaceX has released impressive footage of its latest Grasshopper rocket vertical lift off and landing test with the images taken from hovering “hexacopter” UAV. The test took place on 7 October...
