ESA
2019 IAA Planetary Defense Conference
The International Academy of Astronautics will hold its 6th conference from April 29 to May 3rd, 2019 in the USA. The bi-annual conference brings together world experts to discuss the threat to Earth posed by asteroids and comets and actions that…
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.
Vega rocket-builder Avio sees revenue jump, new rockets progressing
Avio, the company that builds Europe’s light-lift Vega rocket and the future Vega C, reported a double-digit jump in revenue for its first full year as a publicly traded company.
Budget proposal, ISS partners provide new momentum for lunar Gateway
NASA’s plans to develop a crewed facility in lunar orbit to support exploration of the moon got boosts both in the White House’s budget request for the agency as well as from the partners in the International Space Station.
UK jump-starts OneWeb-ESA program with $23 million pledge
The multiyear investment begins with 18-month contract worth few million pounds.
IAI to partner with OHB on lunar delivery services
The Israeli company that built a privately funded lunar lander scheduled for launch next month is partnering with a German firm to offer similar landers for future European Space Agency missions.
ArianeGroup and PTScientists to study lunar lander mission for ESA
ESA has awarded a contract to a group that includes Europe’s largest launch services provider and a former Google Lunar X Prize competitor to study a concept for a mission to mine lunar regolith.
Arianespace says full Ariane 6 production held up by missing government contracts
With the maiden flight of the Ariane 6 now 18 months away (in July 2020), Arianespace CEO Stéphane Israël said the company had anticipated signing a manufacturing contract with ArianeGroup in the second part of last year to begin production beyond the first rocket.
European Space Agency leaders expect a challenging year ahead
Amid difficulties for the European launch industry, and with Brexit looming on the horizon, European Space Agency executives face a challenging year ahead.
Thales Alenia Space to build ESA’s FLEX vegetation-monitoring satellite
Thales Alenia Space said Jan. 10 it received a contract from the European Space Agency worth approximately 150 million euros ($172.4 million) to build the Fluorescent Explorer satellite.
European Space Agency overhauls satellite servicer program
A satellite-deorbiting program the European Space Agency that’s been struggling to gain traction with its member states and industry has been redesigned to be more appealing.
Satellite component supplier Sodern seeks to double output by 2020
Spacecraft manufacturers have complained of stress on their supplier base as operators purchase fewer traditional geostationary satellites. One company in France is bucking that trend, however.
PLD Space, after ESA input, doubles lift capacity of smallsat launcher
The changes follow a 10-month European Space Agency review that concluded launching up to 300 kilograms to a 500-kilometer orbit on a single rocket would be better than 150 kilograms as originally envisioned.
Commercial EO innovation challenges snail-pace government timescales
Leaps in capabilities of commercial constellations of small Earth-observation satellites and the decreasing cost of their services were at the center of a debate about the future of publicly funded Earth-observation missions after Spire CEO Peter Platzer introduced the company’s ambition to become “the Amazon” of space.
