The cereal-box sized GomX-4B – ESA’s biggest small CubeSat yet flown – has completed its mission for the Agency, testing out new miniaturized technologies including: intersatellite link communication with its GomX-4A twin, a hyperspectral imager, star tracker and butane-based propulsion system. “This multifaceted little mission has performed extremely well in flight,” says Roger Walker, overseeing…
Putting Everyday Computer Parts To Space Radiation Test
ESA’s next mission, the miniature GomX-4B, includes a piggyback experiment to test how well everyday commercial computer memories perform in the radiation-soaked environment of space. Ready to be launched from China this Friday, GomX-4B was built from six standard 10 cm CubeSat units by GomSpace in Denmark. Its main goal is to test radio links between…
Satellites Paint A Detailed Picture Of Maritime Activity
ESA has helped coastal authorities to track up to 70% more ships and pick up nearly three times more ship positions via satellite than was possible before. Large cargo vessels and passenger ships are required to carry Automatic Identification System equipment. It transmits the course and speed as well as identification and position information to other vessels…
Exploring Alien Worlds With Lasers
In everyday life we look and touch things to find out what they are made of. A powerful scientific technique does the same using lasers – and in two years’ time it will fly in space for the first time. A researcher working with ESA has been investigating how lasers might be used in future space…
ESA’s Next Satellite Propelled By Butane
ESA’s next miniature satellite will be its first able to change orbit. Thanks to a compact thruster resembling a butane cigarette lighter, the cereal box-sized satellite will fly around its near-twin to test their radio communications. Ready to be launched with its counterpart from China on 2 February, GomX-4B is built from six standard 10…
Galileo Satellites Atop Rocket For Next Tuesday’s Flight
Europe’s next four Galileo navigation satellites are in place atop their Ariane 5, ready to be launched next Tuesday. Liftoff from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana is scheduled for 18:36 GMT (19:36 CET, 15:36 local time), carrying Galileo satellites 19–22. Completion of Galileo’s Ariane 5 rocket took place in the Spaceport’s Final Assembly Building,…
Space Technology To Drive Autonomous Ships
ESA Director General Jan Wörner signed a Memorandum of Intent with Rolls-Royce today, as the two entities agree to investigate how space technology can be used to develop autonomous and remote-controlled ships. The partners will pool their expertise to analyse and implement space-enabled services for autonomous and remote-controlled shipping, which reduces the opportunity for human…
Crossing Drones With Satellites—ESA Eyes High-Altitude Aerial Platforms
ESA is considering extending its activities to a new region of the sky via a novel type of aerial vehicle, a ‘missing link’ between drones and satellites. High Altitude Pseudo-Satellites, or HAPS, are platforms that float or fly at high altitude like conventional aircraft but operate more like satellites – except that rather than working…
The Road To Orion’s Launch
NASA’s Orion spacecraft aims to send humans further into space than ever before, and ESA’s European Service Module will provide the essentials for keeping the astronauts alive and on course. A review of the programme by NASA to assess progress is now showing a launch date from December 2019 to June 2020. The first Exploration Mission-1 will…
Image Of The Day: Hubble Sees Nearby Asteroids Photobombing Distant Galaxies
Photobombing asteroids from our solar system have snuck their way into this deep image of the universe taken by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. These asteroids are right around the corner in astronomical terms, residing roughly 160 million miles from Earth. Yet they’ve horned their way into this picture of thousands of galaxies scattered across space…
Image Of The Day: Reflection Nebula NGC 1999
This spooky sight, imaged by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, resembles fog lit by a streetlamp swirling around a curiously shaped hole – and there is some truth in that. While the ‘fog’ is dust and gas lit up by the star, the ‘hole’ really is an empty patch of sky. When the dark patch…
Galileo In Place For Launch
Two more Galileo satellites have reached Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, joining the first pair of navigation satellites and the Ariane 5 rocket due to haul the quartet to orbit this December. Galileos 21 and 22 left Luxembourg Airport on a Boeing 747 cargo jet on the morning of 17 October, arriving at Cayenne –…
Image Of The Day: Clouds Over Lava Flows On Mars
Diffuse, water-ice clouds, a hazy sky and a light breeze. Such might have read a weather forecast for the Tharsis volcanic region on Mars on 22 November 2016, when this image was taken by the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter. Clouds, most likely of water-ice, and atmospheric haze in the sky are coloured blue/white in this…
Europe’s First All-Electric Telecom Satellite
Europe’s first all-electric telecom satellite has reached its final working orbit above the Pacific Ocean. Eutelsat-172B, built for Eutelsat by Airbus, carries new technologies developed through ESA-led projects, including fully articulated thruster arms. The satellite relied entirely on electric thrusters to climb from its initial orbit into its planned slot over the equator some 35 800 km…
Sentinel-5P Satellite Reported In Excellent Health
Launched last week, Europe’s Sentinel-5P satellite – the first Copernicus mission dedicated to monitoring the air we breathe – is in excellent health. The 820 kg satellite was lofted into orbit from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia last Friday on a Rockot. The satellite will use its state-of-the-art Tropomi instrument to monitor our atmosphere, mapping…
Photo Of The Day: Randy Bresnik And Mark Vande Hai Spacewalk
Talk about an image making your head spin: ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli took this stunning image of NASA astronauts Randy Bresnik and Mark Vande Hai during last week’s spacewalk. During this excursion, the duo replaced part of the Station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm. The spacewalk took just under seven hours and saw the astronauts not only complete their main…
Telemedicine Via Satellite Improves Care At Astronaut Landings
Tempus Pro, a portable vital-signs monitor offering telemedicine via satellite, is helping medics at ESA astronaut landings. Thomas Pesquet was the first to benefit at the end of his mission in May. Astronauts returning from space must readjust to life on Earth. Gravity influences the body’s balance, cardiovascular functions, and especially the muscles, so astronauts are carefully…
Photo Of The Day: ISS Transits The Sun
Taking an image of the International Space Station as it passes in front of the Sun, Moon or planets is a popular pastime for astrophotographers. It requires planning, patience and a measure of luck. The camera must be set up at the right time in the right place to capture the Space Station as it…
Photo Of The Day: Sentinel-5P Sealed From View
As preparations for the launch of Sentinel-5P continue on track, the team at Russia’s Plesetsk site has bid farewell to the satellite as it was sealed from view in the Rockot fairing. Liftoff is set for 13 October at 09:27 GMT (11:27 CEST). Since its arrival at the launch site at the beginning of September, Sentinel-5P has…
Photo of the Day: Tim Peake’s Spacewalk Selfie
ESA astronaut Tim Peake during his 4 hour 43 minute spacewalk to replace a failed power regulator and install cabling. The meticulously planned and executed sortie was stopped early after fellow spacewalker NASA astronaut Tim Kopra reported a small amount of water building up in his helmet. The two Tims worked in close cooperation with each…
Photos of the Day: 13.5 Ton Orion Module Ready for Testing
A test version of ESA’s service module for NASA’s Orion spacecraft arrived in the US after leaving its assembly site in Italy last weekend. The European Service Module is adapted from Europe’s largest spacecraft, the Automated Transfer Vehicle, which completed its last mission to the International Space Station in February. Just nine months later, prime…
Galileo Satellites Ready for Fueling as Launcher Takes Shape
All the elements for this month’s Galileo launch are coming together at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. As the two satellites undergo final testing and preparations, the first part of their Soyuz launcher has also been integrated. View: Photos of the Day: Galileo Satellites Undergo Final Testing Assembly of the Soyuz ST-B’s first two stages,…
Unmanned Spaceplane to Test Tech for Future Vehicles
On its first launch of the year, Europe’s Vega rocket will loft ESA’s unmanned spaceplane to test reentry technologies for future vehicles. The launch campaign has resumed, aiming for a liftoff on 11 February from Kourou, French Guiana to release ESA’s Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle, IXV, into a suborbital trajectory. View: Photos of the Day: ESA’s…
Photos of the Day: Record Breaking Transfer Vehicle Set for Launch
The ATV-5 will deliver more than six tonnes of cargo to the Station, again breaking the record for the heaviest spacecraft launched on Ariane. Everything has been loaded and the ferry is now sealed until it reaches the orbital outpost. Read: ATV-5 to Deliver Touchy-Feely Joystick, Other Cargo to ISS ATV-5 on its Ariane 5…
ATV-5 to Deliver Touchy-Feely Joystick, Other Cargo to ISS
ESA’s fifth Automated Transfer Vehicle is now scheduled for launch to the International Space Station at 23:44 GMT on 29 July (01:44 CEST 30 July) on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. View: Photos of the Day: Record Breaking Transfer Vehicle Set for Launch ATV-5 will deliver more than six…