European Spaceflight
• Andrew Parsonson
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.
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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.
Amorim Cork Solutions is contributing its P50 cork-based thermal protection material to the European Space Agency’s DRACO mission. The mission is designed to capture rare in-flight data on how satellites break apart during atmospheric reentry, providing direct observations of a key phase of satellite disposal.
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The European Space Agency has awarded OHB a €554 million contract to develop the first Sentinel-3 Next Generation Topography satellite for the Copernicus program. The mission is intended to improve radar altimetry, extending Europe’s satellite capabilities for measuring ocean and land surface topography.
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