European Space Agency

ESA member states scramble to protect independent access to space.

Despite technical glitches, Ariane 6’s final test campaign is now well underway.

The financing will be used to help pay for the company’s first space debris removal mission.

Just two launches are scheduled for 2023 at Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

NASA has agreed to carry out nine of the recommendations by March 31, 2024.

Last November, Europe’s three leading countries in space launchers issued a joint statement that set the stage for further cooperation.

German satellite launch startup Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) has declared plans to conduct its first launch from the UK’s SaxaVord Spaceport.

The 2023 budget includes funding for establishing a human presence at the Moon and developing new deep-space technologies.

The reconfiguration of the James Webb Space Telescope continued on Dec. 30 with the removal of covers that protected the observatory’s delicate sunshield for launch, setting the stage for the deployment of a five-layer, tennis court-sized structure needed to passively cool the telescope for its science program.

“There’s 344 things that now have to work perfectly,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a post-launch interview.

D-Orbit UK is to lead development of a spacecraft “deorbit kit” for the European Space Agency.

Swedish-British small satellite manufacturer AAC Clyde Space this month entered a conditional agreement to buy privately owned Omnisys Instruments, a Swedish developer and manufacturer of sensors for space projects, in a deal worth about $8.7 million.

ESA has made progress with an ExoMars 2020 parachute problem and hopes the probe will be ready for launch this summer.