All Space news – Page 11
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NewsZephyr 7 undergoes testing to receive UK military registration
A recent long endurance test of Airbus Defence and Space’s Zephyr 7 high altitude pseudo satellite (HAPS) has resulted in the system being the first of its type to receive UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) military registration.
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AnalysisANALYSIS: ATV era opens final chapter with 'flawless' space station docking
The International Space Station marked the end of an era on Tuesday, 12 August 2014 with a “flawless” arrival by the fifth and final resupply flight in ESA’s Automated Transfer Vehicle programme
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News
Steering a rover from orbit? No problem now, says ESA
When astronauts finally one day arrive at an alien world, they might want to send a robot advance party down to check out the surface before committing themselves to landing – but controlling a rover from space is far from straightforward, as the orbiting driver would only have intermittent line ...
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News
Rosetta arrival marks "new chapter" in solar system exploration
The European Space Agency this week declared open a “new chapter in Solar System exploration” when its Rosetta spacecraft achieved the first-ever rendezvous with a comet.
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News
Eight sites shortlisted for UK spaceport
In shortlisting possible locations for a spaceport, the UK Space Agency looked for “remote” places where the “uninvolved general public” would be at minimal risk from accidents, where operations within segregated airspace would be feasible, where a 3,000m (10,000ft)-plus runway could be accommodated and which were on the coast, where ...
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NewsFARNBOROUGH: UK-FAA axis looks to nail space tourism regulation
The UK is laying the groundwork for a commercial space transportation industry by opening a consultation on a site for a possible spaceport and looking across the Atlantic for guidance on how to regulate the nascent business of ferrying passengers to space.
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News
FARNBOROUGH: Surrey nanotech specialist claims world record for blackest coating
How black is black? Blacker than it used to be and very nearly as black as it can get, according to the UK materials scientists behind a carbon nanotube coating they claim absorbs a world record 99.96% of incident radiation.
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NewsFARNBOROUGH: 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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NewsFARNBOROUGH: 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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NewsFARNBOROUGH: 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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NewsFARNBOROUGH: 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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AnalysisANALYSIS: 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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NewsTransatlantic 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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NewsFor 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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AnalysisANALYSIS: 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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AnalysisANALYSIS: 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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News
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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NewsSOFIA 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.