All Space news – Page 29
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News
Vega maiden launch goes to plan
The European Space Agency successfully launched its new small launcher, Vega, on 13 February with an apparently perfect flight from its space port in Kourou,...
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NewsNASA commercial spaceflight back for thirds
The third round of competitive grants to commercial spaceflight companies has been unveiled to advance spacecraft capable of sending astronauts and supplies...
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NewsBoeing brings 737-style assembly line to satellites business
Lessons learned from Boeing's 737 pulse-line final assembly system have helped the company speed production at its specialist satellite manufacturing plant in El Segundo, California.
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NewsSpace, time and Vega's heavy burden
To avoid the prospect of losing a high-value commercial payload on a risky maiden flight, Vega's first mission - VV01 - will carry a basket of scientific spacecraft, including nine so-called "cubesats", the 1kg 10cmx10cm boxes that are increasingly popular with low-budget researches thankful for any lift to orbit.
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NewsFingers crossed and re-crossed as Vega moves toward maiden flight
Europe's space industry is embarking on a nervous few weeks of final preparation for the maiden flight of Vega, its all-new light rocket.
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NewsSpaceX delays Dragon launch to ISS
SpaceX has announced a delay to the upcoming launch of their Dragon spacecraft, initially scheduled for 7 February. The launch, from Kennedy Space Center...
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NewsHigh-power plasma thruster could replace chemical rockets for satellite and deep-space propulsion: Snecma
Snecma and French national scientific research agency CNRS have claimed a European first in successfully testing a 20kW electric plasma thruster for spacecraft.
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NewsYear ahead a time of technical, financial challenges for European Space Agency
Europe's next push into space gets off to a slightly anxious start this year with a tight window for the maiden launch of the all-new light rocket, Vega.
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NewsXcor reveals Lynx test schedule
Spacecraft designer Xcor has revealed details of a plan to achieve first flight of the Lynx Mk1 later this year and to expand the suborbital market far beyond...
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NewsVega maiden launch could slip into February
European Space Agency launch operator Arianespace plans a busy 2012, with seven Ariane 5 heavy-lift missions and three medium-lift Soyuz flights from ESA's...
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NewsKey tests set to validate engine technology for single stage to orbit space plane
Tests set to begin this month are hoped to validate an ambitious air cooling technology that Oxfordshire-based Reaction Engines believes will make possible single stage to orbit space planes and in-atmosphere hypersonic transport aircraft.
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NewsMassive air-launch system unveiled
Paul Allen, ex-Microsoft billionaire and major funder of Scaled Composites' SpaceShipOne programme, today announced he would fund a system, called Stratolaunch,...
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NewsVega on track for January maiden flight from ESA's French Guiana launch site
The European Space Agency will finish its so-called "year of launchers" a few weeks short of realising the maiden flight of its third vehicle, but the Vega light rocket remains on course for a January 2012 launch from ESA's Kourou, French Guiana spaceport.
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NewsAir Force awards reusable booster contracts
Andrews Space, Boeing and Lockheed Martin have been awarded contracts to design, fabricate and test systems under the reusable booster system flight and...
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NewsBlow for Roscosmos as Mars probe descends into silence
With what appears to be the imminent demise of Phobos-Grunt, Russian space agency Roscosmos has had a decidedly mixed year. In spite of many notable triumphs,...
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News
Ariane 5 Midlife Evolution gets go-ahead
The European Space Agency has approved the long-mooted Midlife Evolution design to add 20% payload capacity to its 10-tonne Ariane 5 heavy-lift launcher....
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NewsIN FOCUS: New competitors step up in EELV market
New commercial ventures have sprung up to offer the USA evolved expendable launch vehicles in competition with Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture United Launch Alliance
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NewsIN FOCUS: Space industry unites in criticism of ITAR restrictions
Restrictions imposed by arms-trafficking legislation are widely blamed for the US space industry's diminished international standing
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News
IN FOCUS: Cash flow gives Xcor momentum
Plans to develop a rocket-powered spaceplane that can put passengers into microgravity - within half an hour - gained a fillip from funding deal signed in September