Posts Tagged ‘ESA’
IXV’s Pride: Europe’s spaceplane homecoming prelude to future goals
ESA’s Intermediate Experimental Vehicle (IXV) is now enjoying the final leg of her mission, onboard the Nos Aries recovery ship. The vehicle – part of ESA’s future spaceplane aspirations…
Vega rocket launches IXV spaceplane – Mission Complete
The European Space Agency is flying a reentry demonstration mission Wednesday with its Intermediate Experimental Vehicle (IXV). Boosted by Europe’s lightweight Vega rocket, the IXV flew a suborbital…
Europe’s spaceplane on a trajectory for February launch
ESA’s Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV) spaceplane is finally into its final processing flow towards launch, following the loading of propellants and work to encapsulate the vehicle inside its payload…
Philae wins battle to send key data ahead battery depletion
ESA’s Philae lander battled against the odds on Friday, transmitting key scientific data before its batteries were depleted. Due to the unplanned location – following a couple of…
Rosetta’s Philae completes historic comet landing
ESA’s Rosetta – and her companion spacecraft – Philae – parted ways on Wednesday, ahead of a historic landing on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Philae conducted the journey…
Europe’s ATV-5 completes docking swansong with the ISS
The European Space Agency (ESA) ATV-5 has completed her final ever docking to the International Space Station (ISS). The “Georges Lemaître” is conducting an essential cargo run to…
Rosetta completes amazing journey to Comet 67P
The European Space Agency (ESA) spacecraft Rosetta – and her robotic lander companion Philae – have completed an amazing 10 year journey to arrive in orbit around Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Rosetta…
ESA’s experimental space plane gearing up for November debut
The European Space Agency (ESA) Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV) is enjoying a stay in Holland ahead of being shipped to Kourou, French Guiana to meet up with her Vega launch…
NEEMO returns with two new underwater missions
Two new missions under the NEEMO (NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations) program have been announced, returning an international crew to an underwater base off the coast of Florida….
Atlas V to launch Europe’s next-generation sun explorer in 2017
United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V has been selected as the rocket of choice by NASA’s Launch Service Program to loft a next-generation sun explorer called Solar Orbiter. The first…
ESA and CNES fire up POD-X to investigate solid motor oscillations
ESA’s Future Launchers Preparatory Program and France’s CNES space agency have test fired the Pressure Oscillation Demonstrator eXperimental (POD-X) motor at the French military procurement agency test site. The test…
ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft stirred from its long hibernation
ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft has awoken from its 957 days in slumber on Monday, ahead of its mission to rendezvous with the Churyumov–Gerasimenko comet in August. The spacecraft awakening was…
Gaia arrives at its destination – Lagrange points hold future possibilities
Europe’s galactic survey spacecraft, Gaia, recently arrived at its deep space location, ahead of conducting its primary mission of observing one billion stars. Gaia is now in a location…
Dream Chaser’s European deal points to multi-role ambitions
The new European allies of Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Dream Chaser have officially announced “cooperative understandings” that not only combine a transatlantic engineering boost for the baby orbiter, but may…
Russian Rockot successfully launches Swarm trio for ESA
A Russian Rockot (Rokot) launch vehicle has lofted three identical satellites for the European Space Agency (ESA) on Friday. Launch of the three Swarm spacecraft took place at…
European duo heading for fiery farewells
Two European spacecraft are currently enjoying their final moments high above the planet, as they continue their descent towards a fiery re-entry. ATV-4 – which recently undocked from…
ATV-4 bids farewell to ISS following flawless mission
Europe’s ATV-4 cargo vehicle has undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) on Monday morning at 08:55 GMT, completing a flawless mission ahead of its destructive re-entry. The…
Europe’s ATV heavy hauler launches on penultimate trip to ISS
The European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) Automated Transfer Vehicle-4 (ATV-4) spacecraft launched toward the International Space Station (ISS) on Wednesday at 9:52:11 PM GMT, atop an Ariane V booster…
NASA looks to Kourou for SLS ground ops streamlining ideas
As development of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket continues, NASA is looking to its international partners for inspiration and lessons learned. Specifically, the agency sent a team…
UK’s Major Peake delighted by historic ISS assignment
British astronaut Major Timothy Peake is to become the first British government-sponsored astronaut to fly on the International Space Station (ISS), following his assignment to a long-duration mission…
