European Spaceflight
• Andrew Parsonson
ESA and ArianeGroup said October’s Prometheus engine tests were not part of preparations for Themis’ long-delayed inaugural flight. The clarification separates engine testing from the flight-readiness effort for the reusable-launcher demonstrator; the articles provide no revised flight date or further explanation of the tests.
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ESA and ArianeGroup said October’s Prometheus engine tests were not part of preparations for Themis’ long-delayed inaugural flight. The clarification separates engine testing from the flight-readiness effort for the reusable-launcher demonstrator; the articles provide no revised flight date or further explanation of the tests.
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On Nov. 12, 2014, Europe’s Philae spacecraft reached Comet 67P, but its landing did not go to plan: the probe bounced twice and was lost for nearly two years. The episode became a defining moment in a mission to explore a comet at close range.
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The European Space Agency says negotiations with MaiaSpace over a European Launcher Challenge contract have been complicated by the company’s preference for launch-service contracts. The statement explains the delay in signing, but the available report provides no revised timetable or further details on the proposed agreement.
TYTAN Technologies says it is opening Western Europe’s largest mass-production facility for autonomous interceptor drones. Separately, Horizon Microtechnologies is scaling its metallised polymer micro-additive manufacturing platform through a two-year, €500,000 project and selection for ESA Phi-Lab Austria, with constellation-scale production as its target.
The European satellite spent four years in orbit measuring Earth’s gravity field before falling back to Earth on Nov. 10, 2013. Its mission made gravity mapping the central purpose of a dedicated spacecraft, earning GOCE the nickname “Ferrari of space.”
The European mission launched on Nov. 8, 2005, marking Europe’s first mission to Venus. A retrospective revisits why Venus Express mattered, placing the spacecraft’s significance in the context of Europe’s exploration of the planet.
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The European Space Agency’s Hera spacecraft has returned its first close-up images of the Didymos binary asteroid system, which NASA’s DART mission struck in humanity’s first deliberate test of asteroid deflection. The observations give Hera an initial view of the target it is traveling to study.
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