Tag: European Space Agency
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Europe Faces Skepticism Over Viability of IRIS² Satellite Constellation Amid Push for Space Autonomy
Despite growing enthusiasm in Europe for achieving autonomy in space infrastructure, significant doubts remain about the feasibility of IRIS², a major government-backed satellite communications constellation project aimed at providing secure connectivity across Europe. The Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite (IRIS²) initiative, backed by a consortium known as SpaceRISE, aims to deploy a…
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ESA to Seek Funding for Satellite Security System, Signaling Shift Toward Defense
The European Space Agency (ESA) plans to request funding from member states in November for a high-frequency Earth observation satellite system aimed at supporting security and resilience, marking a significant departure from the agency’s traditional civil mission. Josef Aschbacher, ESA’s director general, said in an interview aired by Friends of Europe that the request follows…
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The first flight of Isar Aerospace’s Spectrum rocket lasted just 40 seconds
The first flight of Isar Aerospace’s Spectrum rocket didn’t last long on Sunday. The booster’s nine engines switched off as the rocket cartwheeled upside-down and fell a short distance from its Arctic launch pad in Norway, punctuating the abbreviated test flight with a spectacular fiery crash into the sea. If officials at Isar Aerospace were…
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Rocket Report: Stoke is stoked; sovereignty is the buzzword in Europe
Welcome to Edition 7.37 of the Rocket Report! It’s been interesting to watch how quickly European officials have embraced ensuring they have a space launch capability independent of other countries. A few years ago, European government satellites regularly launched on Russian Soyuz rockets, and more recently on SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets from the United States.…
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ESA finally has a commercial launch strategy, but will member states pay?
The European Space Agency is inviting proposals to inject competition into the European launch market, an important step toward fostering a dynamic multiplayer industry officials hope, one day, will mimic that of the United States. The near-term plan for the European Launcher Challenge is for ESA to select companies for service contracts to transport ESA…
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This launcher is about to displace the V-2 as Germany’s largest rocket
Seven years ago, three classmates at the Technical University of Munich believed their student engineering project might hold some promise in the private sector. At the time, Daniel Metzler led a team of 40 students working on rocket engines and launching sounding rockets. Josef Fleischmann was on the team that won the first SpaceX Hyperloop…
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XMM-Newton observes black hole that exhibits strange oscillations
The European Space Agency’s (ESA) XMM-Newton X-ray space telescope recently discovered rapidly fluctuating X-ray signals coming from the edge of supermassive black hole 1ES 1927+654. Located at the center of a nearby galaxy, the black hole’s X-ray signals have given scientists insight into its nature and how matter falls into it. Moreover, XMM-Newton’s observations also…
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BepiColombo’s fifth flyby of Mercury reveals planet’s surface in mid-infrared light
The European Space Agency’s BepiColombo spacecraft recently performed its fifth flyby of Mercury on Dec. 1, becoming the first spacecraft ever to observe the planet in mid-infrared light. BepiColombo’s observations from the flyby have revealed interesting new details on the Mercury’s surface, including temperature and composition variations. BepiColombo is only the third mission to visit…
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Two European satellites launch on mission to blot out the Sun—for science
Two spacecraft developed by the European Space Agency launched on top of an Indian rocket Thursday, kicking off a mission to test novel formation flying technologies and observe a rarely seen slice of the Sun’s ethereal corona. ESA’s Proba-3 mission is purely experimental. The satellites are loaded with sophisticated sensors and ranging instruments to allow…
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Rocket Report: Australia says yes to the launch; Russia delivers for Iran
Welcome to Edition 7.19 of the Rocket Report! Okay, we get it. We received more submissions from our readers on Australia’s approval of a launch permit for Gilmour Space than we’ve received on any other news story in recent memory. Thank you for your submissions as global rocket activity continues apace. We’ll cover Gilmour in…