Arianespace launched the CO3D and MicroCarb missions in the penultimate Vega-C launch for the service provider before operations of the rocket shift to Avio.
Thales Alenia Space says that the French government has appointed the Franco-Italian joint venture to lead development of a laser communications system in GEO.
ESA and French space agency CNES have not paused any activities potentially affected by proposed U.S. cuts to NASA’s budget, but are developing backup plans.
French space agency CNES, operator of Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, is preparing a new contractual relationship with launcher manufacturer Avio.
Dubbed Balman, the balloon may be used to watch a given area, thanks to its station-keeping capability, at a lower cost than a geostationary satellite.
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.
If NASA puts all its resources into sending a U.S. person planting the U.S. flag on Mars, the game changes for the European, CNES President Lionel Suchet says.
The EU effort to create a sovereign satellite communications network, known as IRIS², should be unaffected by the exit of Thierry Breton from the EC, program backers say.
With the Ariane 6 seeing progress at last and Avio leaving Arianespace, the European Space Agency takes steps toward a competition for Europe’s future launchers.
