ESA and Hungary-based Admatis are developing infrared and phosphorescent navigation markers for satellites. The patches that attach to the outer hull or insulation of the spacecraft are designed to help space servicing vehicles more safely approach, rendezvous, and dock with the target satellite.
Continue Reading
ESA has now detailed the side mission it’s planning for the asteroid-visiting spacecraft Hera. After the main work is complete, the probe will test out some new autonomous navigation systems, which should help future spacecraft get around without relying on ground control all the way back on Earth.
Continue Reading
A comprehensive study has combined field observations and satellite data to track glacial ice loss. The team found that between 1961 and 2016, glaciers globally lost a total of over 9 trillion tonnes of ice, contributing significantly to sea level rise.
Continue Reading
The mystery of methane on Mars has been wafting around for decades. Now, using data gathered by the ESA's Mars Express orbiter and NASA's Curiosity rover on the ground, a new study has not only confirmed that the gas is there, but identified its likely source.
Continue Reading
ESA's CHaracterising ExOPlanets Satellite (CHEOPS) has been declared flight ready and is being stored at the Airbus Defence and Space facility in Madrid before being shipped to Kourou, French Guiana, where it will be installed atop a Soyuz-Fregat rocket.
Continue Reading
The landing craft that will deliver Europe's first rover to the planet Mars has arrived for assembly and testing in Turin, Italy, and has been officially named. A key component of the ExoMars 2020 mission, the Roscosmos landing platform has been christened "Kazachok" (Cossack).
Continue Reading
The lack of gravity in space means that muscles begin to waste away, and scientists have been studying these health effects on Earth with extended bed-rest experiments. In the latest, those beds will be put in a centrifuge to mimic artificial gravity, to see if that can help offset the issues.
Continue Reading
It's hard to really understand the large-scale structure of the Milky Way. Now, astronomers have peered towards the center of the galaxy using the ESA's X-ray telescope XMM-Newton, and discovered two colossal "chimneys" pumping huge amounts of energy and gas out into intergalactic space.
Continue Reading
When the Gateway outpost is deployed in 2023, it will need an airlock to get any useful work done, so ESA is working on a new egress point for scientific experiments for the cislunar manned laboratory. Based on two independent approaches, the final design will be part of the European module ESPRIT.
Continue Reading
Reaction Engine's Synergetic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine (SABRE) comes closer to reality as ESA and the UK Space Agency (UKSA) green light the preliminary design of the hypersonic demonstrator engine core designed to act as both a jet and a rocket.
Continue Reading
See the stories that matter in your inbox every morning