All Space news – Page 12
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News
FARNBOROUGH: UK spaceport "by 2018"
Hot on the heels of a triumphant week for home-grown satellite technology, the UK government is set to announce on Tuesday a plan to host the first-ever launches from UK soil – with the establishment of a spaceport by 2018.
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FARNBOROUGH: Forget orders - M&A is the measure of a robust industry
Farnborough watchers love to count orders, which is understandable; the event, after all, is an “air show” – a comparatively glamorous category of trade exhibitions at which aircraft (as opposed to, say, machine tools or agricultural equipment) are placed on display in hope of attracting buyers.
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FARNBOROUGH: Comet's tail is big story of ESA's year
Comets probably aren’t the bad luck omens or even harbingers of doom that many early civilisations assumed – but, just to be sure, a very close eye is being kept on the snappily-named 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko as it hurtles towards the Sun.
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Analysis
ANALYSIS: UKSA's bold vision is to be the most modern of space agencies
With a wider focus than merely launchers and airlocks, the UK Space Agency is keen to cement its position as a progressive force in humanity's exploration of the cosmos
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FARNBOROUGH: Global focus for this year's show
With this year’s major aerospace event fast approaching, companies will be gearing up to demonstrate their capabilities and showcase their products in the flying displays.
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Analysis
ANALYSIS: Airbus, Safran set sights on overhaul of Europe's launchers industry
Arianespace chairman and chief executive Stéphane Israël likes to talk about change. Ironically, he has spent most of his career in the hallways of European industrial policy, including a stint as the first advisor to Louis Gallois, the former head of EADS, and in leadership roles in space unit ...
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News
Transatlantic effort progresses Orion crew vehicle
The development of a key component in any future manned mission to deep space has taken a leap forward with European Space Agency approval of the design for the service module it will supply for NASA’s Orion crew capsule.
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For the long haul to Mars, keep your diet close to the Earth
On the Apollo missions, astronauts ventured about 400,000km from Earth and spent between 8 and 12 days away from home. A trip to Mars would involve 56 million km travelling over eight or nine months – and a stay of about two years, to wait for the two planets to ...
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Analysis
ANALYSIS: Roadmap to Mars is paved with ambition, high hopes and money
A manned mission to Mars is a lofty goal, but with international effort beginning to align behind one cohesive plan, the next stage of human exploration may well become possible
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Analysis
ANALYSIS: India powering ahead with heavy-lift launcher programme
India’s 12th five year plan period (2012-2017) has been generous to the Indian Space Research Organisation: 25 launches, 33 satellites into orbit and an overall budget of $6.4 billion. During 2014-2015, the space agency will spend just over $1 billion on its satellite, launcher and space exploration programmes.
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Airbus spaceplane concept aces 3,000ft drop test
Airbus Defence and Space last week released pictures and video from a drop test of a runway take-off and landing suborbital spaceplane programme which is now moving into an advanced concept stage.
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News
Mars mission is 'only justification for human spaceflight programmes' – report
The cost and danger of human spaceflight programmes can only be justified if they are part of a collaborative, international pathway plan aimed at putting boots on “other worlds” – ultimately Mars. And, according to a report by the US National Research Council, since progress “beyond low Earth orbit will ...
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News
SOFIA telescope declared operational, but funding threat looms
Three months after announcing plans to ground the aircraft, NASA has declared the stratospheric observatory of infrared astronomy (SOFIA) operational after 18 years in development.
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News
ILA: ESA makes great step for Orion
The development of a key component in transatlantic spaceflight co-operation took a leap forward yesterday, with European Space Agency approval of the design for the service module it will supply for NASA’s Orion crew capsule.
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ILA: DLR looks to the future with LamAiR concept
At German aerospace research agency DLR, modern composite technology is finally catching up with a 1970s fast jet vision of the future – to slash airliner fuel burn by up to 13% by using forward-swept wings.
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ILA: DLR working at dawn of new technological era
To describe 2014 as a high-profile year for Germany’s aeronautics and space research agency is to risk understatement. Next week, German astronaut Alexander Gerst will strap himself into a Soyuz rocket and begin a six-month stint aboard the International Space Station. And, as Gerst is preparing to come back home ...
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News
NASA renames Dryden research centre after Neil Armstrong
NASA has renamed its Dryden Flight Research Center (pictured) at Edwards AFB after Neil Armstrong, who served as a test pilot at the centre from 1955 to 1962, amassing more than 2,400 flight hours in 48 types, including the X-15.
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NASA threatens SOFIA with grounding
NASA has threatened to ground a vintage Boeing 747SP equipped with an astronomical observatory unless more funding is raised by partner Germany or new sources.
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Galileo services 'available from year-end' – Brussels
Europe’s much-delayed Galileo satellite navigation system is set to offer its first services around year-end, with 10 spacecraft in orbit to make a functional constellation.