ESA News

SpaceNews.com

TYTAN opens interceptor-drone production facility as Horizon advances micro-manufacturing for satellite constellations

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.

Space.com

Europe’s GOCE satellite reentered on Nov. 10, 2013, after four years mapping Earth’s gravity field

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.”

Space.com

Europe launched Venus Express, its first mission to Venus, on Nov. 8, 2005

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.

Space.com

High activity

ESA’s Hera captures first close-up view of Didymos, the asteroid system struck by NASA’s DART

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.

SpaceNews.com

Amorim Cork Solutions supplies thermal protection material for ESA’s DRACO satellite-reentry mission

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.

eVTOL Insights

High activity

OHB wins €554 million ESA contract for first Sentinel-3 Next Generation Topography satellite

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.

NASA Spaceflight

High activity

Hydrogen chloride above Martian fissures suggests possible ongoing volcanism

An orbiting atmospheric research spacecraft detected hydrogen chloride above fissures near a massive ancient Martian volcano, a finding researchers say may indicate volcanic activity beneath the surface. The region’s relatively young fissures also raise interest in whether subsurface heat and water could have created conditions comparable to Earth’s hydrothermal environments, where life can flourish.

Space.com

High activity

ESA’s Hera spacecraft resolves Didymos and Dimorphos ahead of close study of NASA’s DART impact

The European Space Agency’s Hera planetary-defense probe has imaged Didymos and its smaller moon Dimorphos as separate objects for the first time, as it approaches the binary asteroid system. Hera will investigate the aftermath of NASA’s DART collision, collecting data on kinetic-impact deflection and probing outstanding scientific questions about the asteroids.