All articles by David Todd
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News
Indian Mars mission still on track despite rocket glitch
India’s bid to join the elite group of nations that have successfully bridged the gap to Mars has overcome an early glitch that could have left its Mangalyaan spacecraft orbiting Earth.
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India's Mars mission clears launch hurdle
India’s first interplanetary mission began its 299-day journey to Mars at 09:08 GMT this morning with the 25th successful launch of the country’s PSLV rocket, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota on the east coast.
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NewsAir launch systems begin to come of age
An ageing Airbus A300, currently used to train astronauts in zero- g flight, is about to find another use as the first stage of a new air-launched...
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News
Space insurance premiums may rise with risk
Satellite insurance has been cheap - so prices may rise to keep underwriters in the black
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NewsUS-Europe alliance confirmed for Orion manned craft
NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) have put more detail on their agreement for ESA to build the service module for NASA's Orion crew exploration vehicle.
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Yamal 402 satellite reaches geostationary orbit after Proton M undershoot
The Russian Yamal 402 communications satellite has recovered itself to its planned operational position in geostationary Earth orbit, after using its own fuel and propulsion system in a series of burns following its Proton M launch undershoot on 8 December.
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NewsNorth Korea 'successfully launches satellite' using Taepodong-3 rocket
North Korea has entered the space age, orbiting its first satellite, from a Taepodong-3 (Unha-3) rocket launch at 00:49 GMT on 12 December from the Sohae launch base at Tongchang-ri, on North Korea's west coast.
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SpaceX’s Mars rocket to be methane-fuelled
SpaceX intends to build a methane/liquid oxygen (Lox) engine, said founder Elon Musk, in a shift away from the highly refined kerosene rocket propellant (RP-1) that has powered the company’s previous engines.
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NASA's SLS risk reduction programme keeps companies salivating
In its quest to propel manned space missions to the Moon, asteroids and onwards to Mars, NASA began its Space Launch System (SLS) programme in 2010. While...
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NewsAerojet details new SLS rocket booster bid
US manufacturer Aerojet informally unveiled a "brand new" rocket engine programme at the International Astronautical Congress in Naples, Italy in early October....
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NewsChina's next manned mission Shenzhou 10 to perform complex manuevers
China's next manned spaceflight is likely to make a "fly around" of the Tiangong 1 space station, says Ming Li of the China Academy of Space Technology....
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Proton set to return after cause of August failure found
Commercial launch services company International Launch Services (ILS) has blamed a production fault in the Proton M rocket's upper stage for the 6 August failure of a flight that stranded two satellites - Telkom 3 and Express MD 2 - in an incorrect orbit.
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NewsUS EX-IM gives loans and guarantees for satellite construction
The US Export-Credit agency and loans organisation, the US Ex-Im bank, has agreed to provide a loan guarantee to $922 million of loans for the construction...
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NewsSatellite imagery firm DigitalGlobe buys competitor GeoEye
The commercial satellite Earth imagery firms DigitalGlobe and GeoEye have finally agreed to merge. The merger, which was in effect an acquisition of GeoEye...
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News
FARNBOROUGH: Reaction Engines reveals successful test results on SABRE engine pre-cooler
Reaction Engines (H4/C2) has announced successful stage one and two tests of a revolutionary pre-cooler of a new type of engine called SABRE, which could...
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News
FARNBOROUGH: 60 years since air show's worst accident
This year's Farnborough will mark 60 years since the air show's worst accident involving a de Havilland 110, which killed its pilot John Derry, observer...
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NewsSLS Pad may be made reconfigurable for other launch vehicles
As NASA plots the future of the Space Launch System (SLS) programme and fends off accusations that it is starving the funding of the commercial crew development...
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NewsIN FOCUS: Researchers pursue multiple routes to reusable rockets
Rocket scientists and engineers are working on reusable concepts that will change the way mankind accesses space within the next 20 years
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NewsPlanetary Resources firm plans to survey and mine asteroids
At the Museum of Flight in Seattle, on 24 April, a US-based firm called Planetary Resources, Inc. announced a plan to use unmanned robotic spacecraft to...
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NewsLightSquared files for Chapter 11 protection
Mobile satellite communications firm LightSquared has applied to a New York court for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, after failing to reach an agreement with its creditors over outstanding payments.