Space

Virgin Galactic has partnered with space infrastructure company Redwire to build research payload lockers for its next-generation Delta-class spaceplane.

ESA has signed an $897 million contract with Thales Alenia Space for the manufacturer to deliver cargo to the lunar surface under ESA’s Argonaut Mission.

The flagship product of the collaboration is Site3D, a 3D point cloud map of the Earth’s surface.

The M-class has a payload capacity of 1,000 kg (2,200 lb.) and 8 kW of peak power, York announced Jan. 29.

Findings from a pair of extensive research efforts were published Jan. 29 by the journals Nature and Nature Astronomy.

The partners will use Vertix AI, Google Cloud’s machine learning platform, to analyze decades of solar activity data.

The European Space Agency says that as of Jan. 29 “the probability that asteroid 2024 YR4 may impact Earth on 22 December 2032 is 1.2%.”

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency plans the fifth mission for the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries H3 rocket on Feb. 1.

The latest configuration of Boeing's Lunar Orbiter, seen from above, shows the directional antenna (top) and omnidirectional antenna (lower right) extended. Four solar panels are deployed, and the silvery, bulbous shape at the center houses the Eastman camera sub-system.

Airbus plans to provide an update on the technical assessment of a major space program when it publishes full-year results next month.

Planet Labs says it has secured a $230 million contract to build Pelican high-resolution satellites for an unnamed customer and announced a data provision deal with the European Space Agency (ESA) to support the Copernicus program.

Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser spaceplane has completed a series of payload integration tests at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida which keep it on track for a planned mission to resupply the International Space Station (ISS) later this year.

India launched the second in a new series of navigation satellites, NVS-02, using a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle.

The service has supported a steady growth in its launch cadence and does not see it slowing down in the near future.

A date for a second launch attempt was not set as the scrub was called at 12:54 a.m. EST.

ESA has signed a deal with Thales Alenia Space to build the EnVision spacecraft to explore Venus from its inner core to upper atmosphere, the company said.

Shifting geopolitical realities are driving European space leaders to push defense and security up the space agenda.

Europe aims to resume flying the Ariane 6 heavy-lift rocket on Feb. 26, with the launch set to be the first managed by Arianespace.

Even phantom vessels emit signals that satellites can detect.

The Torrance, California-based company specializes in robotic arms for in-space servicing and lunar rovers.

The startup says its fuel tanks can store cryogenic fuels such as liquid oxygen, methane, and liquid hydrogen in space for multiple years.

The private rocket company said the launch window for NS-29 is due to open at 11 a.m. EST.

Lockheed Martin is preparing to ship its newly completed Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft to Kennedy Space Center for its planned launch next month to map water deposits on the Moon.

France plans to demonstrate a higher-thrust rocket engine roughly on par with SpaceX's Raptor and Blue Origin’s BE-4 to avoid Europe falling further behind.

ESA scientists say liquid water may not yet have been discovered on another planet because observation has not focused long enough on a given star.