European Space Agency

By Irene Klotz
NASA has added Rocket Lab to the list of teams hired to study alternative architectures for returning high-priority rock and soil samples from Mars.
Space Exploration

By Irene Klotz
The new mission, known as Hera, is a followup to NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART).
Space Exploration

By Robert Wall
ESA says the motor was successfully fired for a second time on Oct. 3, following a first test in May.
Launch Vehicles & Propulsion

By Robert Wall
ESA is still optimistic its Hera mission to survey the Dimorphos asteroid will launch Oct. 7 despite a technical glitch with a SpaceX Falcon 9 during a recent flight.
Space Exploration

By Thierry Dubois
The praise demonstrates that startups are eagerly awaiting the new form of competition in Europe.
Launch Vehicles & Propulsion

By Mark Carreau
Initial findings from studies of space radiation measurements taken during NASA’s 2022 Artemis I lunar mission were published Sept. 18 in the journal Nature.
Operations & Safety

By Thierry Dubois
Seeing business cases solidifying, manufacturers are striving to keep production costs low.
Satellites

By Robert Wall
Europe is planning to upgrade some of the software on its Ariane 6 heavy rocket to deal with a malfunction during the launcher’s inaugural mission.
Launch Vehicles & Propulsion

By Thierry Dubois
The deviation was precisely measured and the 2022 mission was deemed a success.
Space Exploration

By Garrett Reim
Boeing plans to launch its Q4S satellite in 2026 to demonstrate quantum entanglement swapping.
Satellites

By Robert Wall
Europe has now retired its Vega light launcher after the final mission that lofted the Copernicus Sentinel-2C Earth-observation satellite into orbit.
Space

By Thierry Dubois
Arianespace is gearing up to launch the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-2C Earth observation satellite on its last Vega light rocket.
Space

By Robert Wall
Airbus is dispatching the third European Service Module (ESM-3) to the U.S. for eventual use on NASA’s mission to return humans to the moon.
Space

By Vivienne Machi
The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 11:56 a.m. Pacific time from Space Launch Complex 4E.
Operations & Safety

By Mark Carreau
Jezero Crater is a 28-mi.-wide depression that was caused by an asteroid impact more than 4 billion years ago.
Space

By Mark Carreau
NASA must document efforts to address the greater-than-planned mass of the first two modules for its lunar-orbiting human-tended Gateway, says GAO auditors.
Space

By Mark Carreau
Northrop Grumman’s 21st NASA contracted International Space Station (ISS) Cygnus resupply mission is planned for an Aug. 3 launch.
Defense

By Robert Wall
Arianespace aims to launch the Sentinel-2C Copernicus satellite on Sept. 3 in what would be the final mission for a Vega rocket before the shift to the Vega C.
Defense

By Robert Wall
Europe is pressing ahead with the second Ariane 6 launch, even as program officials continue to assess an upper-stage glitch during the rocket’s first flight.
Space

By Irene Klotz
“This rock could potentially be very important,” says Ken Farley, Perseverance project scientist.
Space

By Mark Carreau
Previously a British Army Air Corps officer and test pilot, Peake is a veteran of a Russian Soyuz-launched 186-day mission to the International Space Station.
Space

By Robert Wall
ESA has given the provisional go-ahead for a mission to fly by the Apophis asteroid in 2029 as part of planetary defense, with NASA also sending Osiris-Apex.
Space

By Thierry Dubois
Launch service provider Arianespace’s order backlog totals 29 missions, with the next being planned for December.
Space

By Thierry Dubois
The first Ariane 6 medium- to heavy-lift launcher placed payloads into orbit in its debut flight July 9.
Space

By Robert Wall
Germany’s Tesat-Spacecom said it has secured a European Space Agency (ESA) project to deliver a cubesat to test 6G telecommunications technology.
Commercial Space