Category: Space news

SpaceX Crew Dragon

SpaceX Crew Dragon: first successful launch

– News of June 2, 2020 – SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule sends two astronauts into space After a long wait, the Americans are once again able to conduct independent manned space flights. On Saturday, May 30, during a high-profile event, astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley took off aboard SpaceX Crew Dragon space capsule. On…
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SpaceX suit

SpaceX space suit latest news

SpaceX space suit design and main features – News of May 27, 2020 – SpaceX space suit, also called “Starman suit”, was jointly designed by Elon Musk, SpaceX CEO, and Jose Fernandez, a costume designer known for his works for science fiction (Tron: Legacy). The suit design was reverse engineered by SpaceX engineers. Features: provides…
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callisto galilean moon

All about Callisto (Jupiter’s moon)

The essentials about Callisto (Jupiter’s moon) Diameter: 4,820 km The fourth of the Galilean moons of Jupiter is Callisto. Since it is located further from Jupiter than the other Galilean moons, it does not has to deal with tidal forces. However, it is possible that Callisto has a liquid water subsurface, but this remains to…
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ganymede moon

All about Ganymede (Jupiter’s moon)

The essentials about Ganymede (Jupiter’s moon) Diameter: 5,262 km Ganymede orbits Jupiter in about 7 days. It is the largest moon in the solar system. It is the third of Jupiter’s main moons and, given its distance from the planet, it has an orbital resonance ratio of 1:2:4 with two of the other satellites of…
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OneWeb

OneWeb goes bankrupt

OneWeb loses the support of its main investor – News of March 31, 2020 – OneWeb has already raised $3.4 billion and launched 74 satellites. However, the company has just announced its bankruptcy. The OneWeb’s satellite constellation still needed several billion additional dollars to be operational, but its main investor SoftBank decided to stop financing…
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SpaceX Dragon XL

Dragon XL, the SpaceX spacecraft that will deliver the LOP-G

– News of March 31, 2020 – We know that the LOP-G, the space station in lunar orbit designed by NASA, will not be part of the program for the return of humanity to the Moon in 2024, named Artemis. The space station is not canceled, it is simply deemed non-essential for the first manned…
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starlink

Starlink will operate from 2020 in the U.S.A.

Starlink will soon supply its first customers – News from March 31, 2020 – SpaceX’s satellite constellation, Starlink, may be in a monopoly position following the announcement of the bankruptcy of OneWeb. The company is currently continuing to deploy its satellite constellation, apparently without suffering from the same cash flow problems as its competitor. Starlink…
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coronavirus covid-19 space industry

Coronavirus (COVID-19): impacts on the space industry

This page is updated with news involving the coronavirus crisis and the space industry. Predictions on the impact of the coronavirus crisis on the space industry – News of March 29, 2020 – The risk that space projects will suffer from the health and economic crises linked to COVID-19 is significant. It is impossible to…
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ExoMars

ExoMars : tests of the parachutes are still not OK

– News of November 5, 2019 – The ExoMars program rover, Rosalind Franklin, will take off in 2020 on the same launch window as the Chinese mission Chang’e 5. A year before departure, the mission led by ESA and Roscosmos still faces problems with parachutes. Two tests conducted in May and August 2019 showed that…
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Pluto

Pluto: NASA plans to send an orbiter

– News of November 5, 2019 – Pluto was explored four years ago by the American space probe New Horizons. This speed meeting allowed to make some beautiful photos that generated many questions. Pluto’s surface seems much more active than previously thought, which makes some people think that the dwarf planet could even have an…
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black holes

A mini black hole detected thanks to the gravitation

– News of November 5, 2019 – In recent years, there has been significant progress in the study of black holes. The first detections of gravitational waves made possible to know how they merge, an additional proof of their existence. In April 2019, the first image of the event horizon of a black hole was…
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chang'e

Chang’e 5 : the Long March 5 launcher delays the mission

– News of November 5, 2019 – The Chinese space agency will postpone its lunar samples return mission, called Chang’e 5. Expected for this year, this mission will finally take off in the last months of 2020, because of the Chinese heavy launchers . The Long March 5 launcher continues to be the cause of…
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Firefly Aerospace

Firefly Aerospace will use a Aerojet Rocketdyne engine

– News of October 29, 2019 – Firefly Aerospace is currently developing a light launcher called Firefly Alpha that could make its first flight in 2020. Firefly Aerospace is also developing a heavier launcher called Firefly Bêta. So far, it was designed as a heavy version of the Alpha, with three boosters glued to the…
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spacex starship super heavy

The Starship wants to join the Artemis program

– News of October 29, 2019 – During her lecture at the 70th International Astronautics Congress (IAC) in Washington DC, Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX’s COO, talked about how the Starship could help the Artemis program. SpaceX hopes the Starship will reach orbit next year. Then it will be able to conduct missions towards the Moon from…
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blue origin

Blue Origin wants to participate in the Artemis program

– News of October 29, 2019 – Last week, the 70th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) was held in Washington D.C. The lunar plans of NASA took a prominent place. The US space agency wants to bring humans back to the Moon by 2024 and relies heavily on the private sector to do that. In particular,…
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virgin orbit

Virgin Orbit develops an interplanetary launcher

– News of October 29, 2019 – LauncherOne, the launcher developed by Virgin Orbit to place smallsats into Earth orbit, should have an optional third stage to complete interplanetary missions. The ambitions are modest : 100 kg to the Moon, 70 kg to Venus or 50 kg to Mars. What pushes Virgin Orbit to develop…
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expansion of the universe

Speed ​​of universe expansion : scientists disagree

– News of October 29, 2019 – The expansion of the universe did not always have the same speed The universe is expanding, that is, all objects that are not held by gravity move away from each other. The speed of the expansion of the universe is however subject to debate. This is one of…
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sabre engine

The SABRE engine test is a success !

– News of October 29, 2019 – The SABRE engine must be able to function as a turbojet engine, a ramjet engine or a rocket engine. There are still many technical challenges to solve in order to make this engine work. In particular, it needs a high-performance heat exchanger that can cool incoming air at…
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nasa

NASA validates a robotic lunar mission

– News of October 29, 2019 – NASA has decided to validate a robotic mission to the Moon in 2022. A rover called VIPER will go thanks to the CLPS program, perhaps aboard a Blue Moon lander manufactured by Blue Origin. It will land at the South Pole of the Moon in order to identify…
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NASA InSight

InSight : the drilling of Mars finally resumes !

– News of October 22, 2019 – InSight’s drill rig has been stuck for 8 months The HP3 drill rig installed on the InSight lander has been designed to dig to a depth of 5 meters, unwinding thermal sensors. This should make it possible to study how the heat propagates in the Martian crust. But…
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space suits

The xEMU space suit has been unveiled

– News of October 22, 2019 – xEMU, the space suit of the Artemis program The space suits currently used on the International Space Station were designed some 40 years ago. As part of the Artemis program that aims to send humans back to the Moon, the US space agency must update its equipment for…
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moon

Artemis : SLS and space suits make news

– News of October 22, 2019 – NASA continues to advance on the technical solutions of its Artemis program. The US Space Agency has just authorized Boeing to expand its operations for the manufacture of the SLS. This should allow NASA to place an order for ten launchers at Boeing, probably as early as 2020.…
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interstellar objects

Interstellar objects : the origin of Borisov identified ?

– News of October 22, 2019 – After a few weeks of observation, the trajectory of the interstellar comet Borisov is now well established. It is estimated that it should pass close to the sun on December 8, 2019. This passage should be at a distance of 2 astronomical units, that is to say twice…
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jaxa

JAXA will join the Artemis program

– News of October 22, 2019 – To succeed in sending men to the Moon in 2024, NASA has an interest in surrounding itself with a maximum of partners, including international partners. The European Space Agency should detail its participation next month in the interministerial conference to be held in Seville. In the meantime, Japan…
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curiosity rover mars

Curiosity rover : searching for traces of water

– News of October 15, 2019 – We are now sure that there has been liquid water on the surface of the planet Mars in a very distant past. However, we don’t know how long this liquid water has lasted and in what form. The Curiosity rover is in the right place to try to…
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milky way galaxy

Milky Way : a huge explosion 3.5 million years ago

– News of October 15, 2019 – Until recently, it was thought that the central black hole of the Milky Way, called Sagittarius A*, was a small supermassive black hole. With 4 million solar masses, it is not one of the big supermassive black holes. Its activity seems weak, nothing to do with the overpowering…
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space tug

Space Tug : Astroscale and Clearspace lead the way

– News of October 15, 2019 – 62 years after the launch of Sputnik, the Earth’s orbit is congested. Defective satellites, space rocket stages and space debris of all kinds are piling up at all altitudes, representing a risk of collision that increases each year. There has already been a spectacular accident between satellites in…
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wfirst

WFIRST will use the gravitational microlensing method

– News of October 13, 2019 – The gravitational lens effect was predicted by Albert Einstein in 1936. When two massive objects, for example two stars, are perfectly aligned with an observer, the object in the middle, called the lens, will act as a magnifying glass on the light emitted by the farthest, called the…
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PLD Space

PLD Space multiplies partnerships to develop itself

– News of October 13, 2019 – PLD Space is one of the first companies of the european “New Space”. It was founded in 2011 in Spain. PLD Space is currently working on the development of two space rockets, a suborbital rocket called MIURA 1 and another space rocket that has to be able to…
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hayabusa 2

Hayabusa 2 performs one of its last missions on Ryugu

– News of October 8, 2019 – Hayabusa 2 is completing its exploration of the asteroid Ryugu. The Japanese space probe dropped on September 28, 2019 the last of its rovers. MINERVA 2, the little octogonal robot, will reach its target on October 8, 2019. There is some suspense in this descent because the JAXA…
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