Category: Space
UK Space Agency announces funding to extend satellite life and tackle space debris
Satellite Applications Catapult’s In-Orbit Servicing and Manufacturing facility, Westcott Space Cluster. Image shows the robot tracking equipment, with a target satellite and the Airbus VISPA robotic arm. Credit: Airbus Defence and Space The UK Space Agency has announced funding for work that aims to prolong the life of satellites, as part…
£3.5 million funding boost for RFA UK satellite launch from Shetland
Satellite launch company RFA UK (Rocket Factory Ltd) has received £3.5 million to support its plans to launch from SaxaVord Spaceport in the Shetland Islands. The funding was awarded by the UK Space Agency as part of the European Space Agency (ESA), Boost! Programme, which aims to help innovative companies develop new launch technologies and…
80 year old Olympian Jon Goodwin steps aboard Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic has announced that the first Private Astronaut Mission, ‘Galactic 02,’ will be crewed by Jon Goodwin, an 80-year-old Olympian and early Virgin Galactic ticket holder. Also on board will be as well as Keisha Schahaff and Anastatia Mayers, a Caribbean mother-daughter duo who won their seats in a sweepstake that raised funds for…
UK nuclear fusion company to use AI to design hyper-fast space rocket to Saturn
A British nuclear fusion company has joined forces with a leading American company to use AI to design a hyper-fast space rocket capable of reaching Saturn’s moons in just two years. Oxfordshire-based Pulsar Fusion has announced a partnership with Princeton Satellite Systems in a move which could drastically reduce the mission time to Saturn’s moon…
Nissan unveils lunar rover prototype
Nissan unveils lunar rover prototype jointly developed with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Nissan has unveiled a lunar rover prototype jointly developed with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) at its Nissan Futures event. The JAXA Space Exploration Innovation Hub Center is conducting research on lunar rovers which must be able to…
Sir Richard Branson becomes first billionaire in space
Sir Richard Branson has reached space, according to his company, Virgin Galactic. After releasing from the mothership - at approximately 4.25pm UK time - the VSS Unity spaceplane quickly reached its maximum altitude at 55 miles (88km) which is below the Karman Line, internationally recognised as the edge of space. The British billionaire took the…
Virgin Galactic confirms VSS Unity test flights
Virgin Galactic has confirmed that the next rocket-powered test flight of SpaceShipTwo Unity will be conducted on May 22, pending weather and technical checks. This follows the completion of a maintenance review of VMS Eve, the mothership jet aircraft which is designed to carry SpaceShipTwo to an altitude of approximately 50,000 feet. “Following a detailed…
Virgin Galactic unveils mirrored space craft, VSS Imagine
Virgin Galactic has unveiled its third-generation spacecraft, the VSS Imagine. Finished in an entirely mirror-like material, the craft is designed to reflect the surrounding environment, allowing it to change colour and appearance as it travels from Earth to space. Virgin Galactic said the third generation of spaceships was “built to enable improved performance in terms…
Tech Digest daily round up: Space debris satellite launched
A UK-led mission to show how space debris can be removed has blasted into space. Two spacecraft – a servicer satellite to collect the debris and a client satellite to act as the debris – launched from Kazakhstan on a Soyuz rocket operated by GK Launch Services. The End-of-Life Services by Astroscale demonstration (ELSA-d)…
British spaceflight takes one step closer
Spaceflight from the UK? Helen Sharman became the UK's first astronaut when she went to the Mir space station on a joint British-Soviet Union mission The Government has published its commercial spaceflight consultation, paving the way for future space launches from UK soil. Over the past few months, it has been…
