Tag: European Space Agency
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Trans-Atlantic joint venture aims to build new “international” space station
Voyager Space, one of several US companies formulating concepts for new commercial space stations, has established a joint venture with Airbus to co-develop an Earth-orbiting research outpost called Starlab. The companies announced the joint venture Wednesday, saying they plan to field a successor to the International Space Station. “The US-led joint venture will bring together…
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ESA still seems shy about sharing news on Ariane 6 rocket testing
Last month, a full-scale test model of Europe’s Ariane 6 was put to the test on its launch pad in the jungles of French Guiana. For the first time, the launch team at the tropical spaceport loaded cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen into the Ariane 6 over the course of a marathon 26-hour test…
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Europe turns its new $1.5 billion space telescope on, and happily it works
Nearly one month after launching into space, a European telescope has begun taking its first images and data of the Universe. And to the delight of scientists at the European Space Agency, everything seems to be working rather well. As part of the months-long commissioning phase, both the telescope’s visual and infrared-light cameras have started…
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European satellite plunges back to Earth in first-of-its-kind assisted re-entry
The European Space Agency deftly guided one of its satellites toward a fiery re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere Friday, demonstrating a new method of post-mission disposal to ensure the spacecraft would not fall into any populated areas. The Aeolus satellite was relatively modest in size and mass—about 1.1 metric tons with its fuel tank empty—but ESA…
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Themis, Prometheus complete first hot-fire tests in France
Europe has just completed the first successful hot-fire test of its reusable Prometheus engine integrated with the Themis first-stage demonstrator at the ArianeGroup site in Vernon, France. The hot-fire test consisted of Prometheus performing a 12-second burn on the Themis demonstrator on June 22, 2023. The two components are part of a broader European launch…
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Gravimeter for ESA’s Hera mission is ready to launch to Dimorphos asteroid
A tiny instrument that can measure the gravity levels of an asteroid has completed its ground tests, pushing the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Hera mission closer to launch. Hera will complete the first post-impact survey of the asteroid that NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) collided with in September 2022, and the gravimeter for small…
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Swiss company selects Arianespace to launch first space debris removal mission
Artist’s concept of ClearSpace’s spacecraft approaching a piece of space debris from a previous Vega rocket launch in 2013. Credit: ClearSpace Swiss-based in-orbit servicing startup ClearSpace has contracted Arianespace to launch its first debris removal mission to capture and deorbit a 100-kilogram (220-pound) piece of space debris. Europe’s Vega C will launch the ClearSpace-1 servicer…
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Jammed radar boom on Jupiter-bound JUICE probe finally freed
Artist’s concept of the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer with all its antenna deployed. Credit: European Space Agency After three weeks of intense analysis and troubleshooting, European Space Agency flight controllers have finally succeeded in freeing a jammed 52-foot (16-meter) boom critical to the Jupiter-bound JUICE probe’s ice-penetrating radar instrument. The Jupiter Icy Moons mission –…
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Viasat seeks replacement for Ariane 6 for launch of third ViaSat 3 satellite
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated May 1 with schedule for launch of ViaSat 3 APAC. A full-scale test model of an Ariane 6 rocket stands on its launch pad in French Guiana last year. Credit:ESA-Manuel Pedoussaut On the eve of launching its first ViaSat 3 internet satellite on a SpaceX rocket, Viasat says it has moved the launch…
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Europe launches spacecraft on eight-year journey to explore Jupiter’s moons
A European Ariane 5 rocket lifts off from the Guiana Space Center with the Juicy Icy Moons Explorer mission. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace/JM Guillon An Ariane 5 rocket took off from French Guiana Friday with the heaviest interplanetary science probe ever launched, kicking off a $1.7 billion European Space Agency mission on a decade-long quest to Jupiter’s…