DLR
NASA defends decision to shut down SOFIA
NASA officials say they believe the latest effort to shut down an airborne observatory is more likely to be successful because of the endorsement of doing so by last year’s decadal survey.
NASA and DLR to end SOFIA operations
NASA and German space agency DLR announced April 28 they will end operations of an airborne astrophysics observatory in September.
SpaceX launches fourth dedicated rideshare mission
SpaceX launched the fourth in its series of dedicated rideshare missions April 1, placing one relatively large satellite and dozens of smallsats into low Earth orbit.
DLR opens applications for free launch services aboard Isar Aerospace demo missions
German space agency DLR began accepting applications this week for institutional payloads to fly aboard a pair of Isar Aerospace Spectrum launches free of charge.
Space agencies support ISS extension as NASA warns of space race with China
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said he remains confident that Russia will remain a part of the International Space Station through the end of the decade but warned of an emerging space race with China.
Isar Aerospace wins three-way DLR microlauncher competition
German launch startup Isar Aerospace beat out Rocket Factory Augsburg and HyImpulse Technologies to win a DLR endorsement that clears the way for it to secure 11 million euros from the European Space Agency’s Boost! program.
German startup Isar Aerospace signs first launch contract
Isar Aerospace, one of three German startups vying for ESA funding for smallsat launchers they each aim to debut next year, has won its first launch contract.
Germany joins JAXA’s low-cost deep space test mission
The German Aerospace Center, DLR, has partnered with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) on a planned low-cost asteroid mission called Destiny+, expected to launch toward the asteroid 3200 Phaethon in 2024.
ESA awards €1.5 million to three German launch startups
The European Space Agency awarded German launch startups HyImpulse Technologies, Rocket Factory Augsburg, and Isar Aerospace a combined 1.5 million euros ($1.7 million) to support development of competing smallsat launchers.
HyImpulse hybrid rocket motor roars to life for the first time
HyImpulse completed the first hot-fire test of the company’s 16,800-pounds-force hybrid rocket motor on Sept. 15. Credit: HyImpulse
DLR spinoff HyImpulse plans small launcher debut in 2022
A startup formed by rocket engineers from the German space agency DLR is targeting late 2022 for the first flight of a small launch vehicle designed around hybrid engines.
German launch startups win DLR funds • Comtech wants out of Gilat merger • ClearSpace forming debris removal team
To receive FIRST UP Satcom, a weekly SpaceNews newsletter for satellite and telecom professionals, sign up here.
TOP STORIES
ESA selects prime contractors for six new Copernicus missions
The European Space Agency on July 1 awarded 2.5 billion euros in development contracts for six new Earth-observation missions under the Copernicus remote-sensing satellite program.
Advanced technology, investment clearing way for spaceliners
Development of spaceplanes for suborbital tourism, satellite launches and point-to-point terrestrial transportation are benefiting from advanced technology, panelists said at the Space Tech Expo Europe.
Space agency leaders discuss ever-expanding roles for AI
At the Space Tech Expo, space agency leaders said artificial intelligence will play key roles in many space programs of the future.
DLR, Teledyne begin hyperspectral imaging from ISS
The German Space Agency DLR and Teledyne Brown Engineering of Huntsville, Alabama, have started operation of a jointly funded hyperspectral imager attached to the exterior of the International Space Station.
Satellites for Intelsat, European lasercomm launch on Arianespace rocket
The Ariane 5 took off at 3:30 p.m. Eastern from Europe’s Guiana Space Center in South America, carrying the Intelsat-39 communications satellite and the EDRS-C laser relay satellite to geostationary transfer orbits.
Troubleshooting of Mars InSight instrument continues
Engineers are continuing to work to free an instrument on NASA’s InSight Mars lander that remains stuck just below the surface.
Germany begins reusability study to capture rockets in midair and land them with a plane
The Germany space agency DLR is beginning a study this month on a reusable launcher concept that would use a winged first-stage booster captured on descent by an aircraft and towed back to land.
GRACE mission comes to an end
An Earth science mission launched more than 15 years ago has finally come to an end, slightly earlier than previously expected, NASA announced Oct. 27.
