All Space news – Page 9
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NewsVirgin Galactic wins first satellite launch contract
Virgin Galactic's bid to enter the rocket launching business got a boost today with its first contract for 39 flights of its LauncherOne system, starting as early as 2017.
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NewsRosetta mission boost as comet lander wakes up
The European Space Agency's Rosetta comet-chasing mission has taken another dramatic turn with the awakening after seven months of hibernation of the lander it sent down to the surface of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko – which had operated for just 60hr before running out of power.
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NewsItaly's Cristoforetti sets space endurance records
A month later than planned, Samantha Cristoforetti (of Italy), Anton Shkaplerov (Russia) and Terry Virts (USA; pictured right to left) returned safely to Kazakhstan on 11 June, following a 3h ride from the International Space Station in their Soyuz capsule (pictured prior to undocking).
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NewsSpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket approved to launch US military satellites
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has been certified by the US military to put its most important satellites on orbit, injecting long-awaited competition into the multibillion-dollar American national security space launch market that has been dominated for almost a decade by United Launch Alliance.
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NewsSatellite experiment proves case for space-based ADS-B
An experimental European satellite has demonstrated the feasibility of tracking aircraft from orbit.
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NewsAll-new Zero-G set to restart science flights
One of the world’s most demanding flight programmes is set to resume on Tuesday, 5 May, when Bordeaux Mérignac-based Novespace resumes microgravity flying in its new “Zero-G” Airbus A310.
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NewsNo Progress for Space Station as resupply mission fizzles
An ill-fated Russian mission to resupply the International Space Station is set to end in a high atmosphere streak of fire, with an uncontrolled re-entry expected between 5 and 7 May.
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NewsFlightglobal reshapes Flight International leadership team
After an amazing 14 years leading Flight International, Murdo Morrison is moving to a new role within Flightglobal to fully exploit his skills and enormous market knowledge across the aerospace sector.
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NewsThe Right Stuff: Top ten firsts in human spaceflight
Got any plans for 12 April? Don't forget International Human Spaceflight Day
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NewsNASA details concrete steps on 'Journey to Mars'
NASA this month has taken two more steps to fleshing out its vision for space exploration through the mid-2030s, outlining its mid-term plan for asteroid study and selecting commercial partners to devise key technologies to enable astronauts to survive for extended periods in deep space – ultimately as far as ...
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NewsZero-G flying means high stress for an old A310
Repeatedly pulling 1.8g in fiercely steep climbs and dives is no way for an airline to treat its customers, but for one of the world’s most specialised operators, that’s exactly what they’re paying for.
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AnalysisANALYSIS: Solar Orbiter mission heats up for the European Space Agency
To get a sense of the challenge in designing the European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter mission, consider that the surface temperature on the planet Mercury gets up to 427°C – nearly twice the melting point of tin.
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AnalysisANALYSIS: On Asteroid Day, take a minute to look skyward
Anybody inclined to look at deep-space exploration mission proposals and their associated budgets and ask “why?” could do worse than consider the problem of so-called Near Earth Objects; that’s jargon for big chunks of rock that orbit the Sun – until they actually hit us. As long as they are ...
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NewsUK spacecraft project completes major review
Reaction Engines has completed the first development milestone of a hybrid rocket engine to power the single-stage-to-orbit Skylon spacecraft.
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AnalysisANALYSIS: In Russia's space programme, the state strikes back
While a number of recent events in spaceflight have underscored the rising significance of private sector competition, 2014 concluded with a maiden flight that serves to remind us all of the enduring presence of big, state-driven programmes.
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NewsVirgin Galactic announces first new pilot since fatal spaceship crash
Virgin Galactic has hired a new test pilot for the SpaceShipTwo commercial spacecraft from the company that designed the suborbital ship.
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Analysis
ANALYSIS: Lynx 'set to roar' in 2015
While Virgin Galactic waits for the results of an NTSB investigation into the 31 October 2014 fatal crash of SpaceShipTwo, another Mojave-based suborbital hopeful is making steady progress towards first flight of a very different concept.
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AnalysisANALYSIS: Where next, Virgin Galactic?
A 2014 that opened with great expectations that the era of privately funded personal spaceflight would finally begin ended with a crash, nowhere near space
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AnalysisANALYSIS: Space Station maintaining orbit – for now
The International Space Station has been the focal point of human spaceflight activity for so long now that the outpost can seem like a permanent, if remote, feature of our planet.
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NewsVirgin Galactic takes pragmatic approach to fatal spacecraft crash
Virgin Galactic is focusing its efforts on the development of its next sub-orbital tourist spacecraft following the fatal crash of the previous model in October 2014.