#arianespace

[lonestarflight]

Launch of an X-38-based crew vehicle onboard Arianespace's Ariane 5. Several X-38 variants beyond the Crew Return Vehicle were proposed, for crew/cargo launch and freeflying scientific missions.

Renders by brickmack: link

#NASA X-38 Crew Return Vehicle #NASA X-38 CRV #NASA X-38 #X-38 #Crew Return Vehicle #CRV #NASA #spaceplane #lifting body #Ariane 5 #Arianespace #ESA #what if #my post

[scooby-doo-exploration]

FROM :  without-ado  -  Arianespace launch

#without-ado #rockets #space #universe #gifs #space & universe #arianespace #launches

[general-hugss]

#rest well legend #🫡 #ariane #ariane 5 #esa #arianespace #space #rockets #Youtube

[mickeyisprocrastinating]

Big changes for the Mars Sample Return program

Until now, the purpose of the mission was to collect the Martian soil samples with the Perseverance rover and deposit them at a designated point, waiting for a rover lander with the task of collecting the tubes containing the samples and bring them to the lander, where waiting for them there would be another lander with a solid-fuel mini rocket with a capsule where they could be deposited. The mini rocket has the task of bringing the capsule into Martian orbit, which will be intercepted and retrieved by an ESA orbiter, which, in turn, will bring the capsule with the samples close to Earth.

Following a reanalysis of Perseverance's operational expectation, the plan has undergone major changes, simplifying the mission and potentially saving budget.

The rocket and its lander, respectively Sample Retrieval Lander and Mars Ascent Vehicle, remain in the design; two drones will be added to them, based on Ingenuity's design, with tube retrieval capability, to have a secondary retrieval system.

Once in Mars orbit, the capsule will be intercepted by NASA's Capture, Containment, and Return System, aboard the Earth Return Orbiter spacecraft, provided by ESA.

The orbiter is scheduled to launch in the fall of 2027 aboard the new Ariane 6, the lander in the summer of 2028. With this timeline, the samples should arrive on Earth in 2033.

The next steps for the mission are the start of the preliminary design phase in October. During this phase, which is expected to last 12 months, the development of technologies and the creation of engineering prototypes of the main components will be completed.

#space #nasa #esa #arianespace #mars #perseverance #mars rover #rockets #space exploration #astronomy

[nerdwelt]

Amazon wechselt von Vulcan zu Atlas V, um Prototypensatelliten früher zu starten

Amazon hat entschieden, den Start seiner ersten Testsatelliten für sein Internetkonstellationsprojekt Kuiper zu verschieben. Die beiden Satelliten werden nun am 26. September mit einer Atlas-V-Rakete der United Launch Alliance (ULA) vom Space Launch Complex 41 der Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida abheben. Ursprünglich sollten die Satelliten mit der Vulcan Centaur-Rakete der ULA…

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#Ariane 6 #Arianespace #Atlas V #Blue Origin #Cape Canaveral Space Force Station #Florida #Kennedy Space Center #New Glenn #Space Launch Complex 41 #United Launch Alliance

[der-auftrittsberater]

EUROPA-WOCHE 2023/32: Wahlangst, Autogesetze, Netrebko

Europäische Themen dieser Woche EUROPA-TopThemen von WOLF ACHIM WIEGAND 🇪🇺 (Europäische Union) – Was hat europäische Macher und Beobachter vergangene Woche an- und umgetrieben? Die Ferienzeit zwischen Nordkap und Sizilien schlägt sich auch in Brüssel nieder. Große Projekte? Skandale und Skandälchen? Politaufreger? Alles Fehlanzeige. Aufregendes enthält dagegen die neuste Umfrage in Sachen…

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#EU2023ES #Anna netrebko #ariane 6 #arianespace #autos #Brexit #catania #Europawahl #europäische #Europäische Kommission #europäische menschenrechtskonvention #european space agency #flutkatastrophe #gasversorgung #Grüne #Großbritannien #grossbritannien #Hakan Fidan #Menschenrechte #Migration #netrebko #Rechtspopulisten #slowenien #splendid isolation #telekom #Ursula von der Leyen #verkehr #Wolf Achim Wiegand

[warningsine]

Faced with soaring global competition, the continent has unexpectedly found itself without a way to independently launch heavy missions into space due to delays to the next-generation Ariane 6 and Russia withdrawing its rockets.

The 117th and final flight of the Ariane 5 rocket took place around 2200 GMT on Wednesday from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

The launch had been postponed twice. It was originally scheduled on June 16, but was called off because of problems with pyrotechnical lines in the rocket's booster, which have since been replaced.

Then Tuesday's launch was delayed by bad weather.

The Wednesday night flight went off without a hitch, watched by hundreds of spectators, including former French Justice Minister Christiane Taubira, and was greeted with applause.

Marie-Anne Clair, the director of the Guiana Space Centre, told AFP that the final flight of Ariane 5 was "charged with emotion" for the teams in Kourou, where the rocket's launches have punctuated life for nearly three decades.

The final payload on Ariane 5 is a French military communications satellite and a German communications satellite.

The satellite "marks a major turning point for our armed forces: better performance and greater resistance to jamming," French Minister of the Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu tweeted.

Though it would become a reliable rocket, Ariane 5 had a difficult start. Its maiden flight exploded moments after liftoff in 1996. Its only other such failure came in 2002.

Herve Gilibert, an engineer who was working on Ariane 5 at the time, said the 2002 explosion was a "traumatic experience" that "left a deep impression on us".

But the rocket would embark on what was ultimately a long string of successful launches.

The initial stumbles had "the positive effect of keeping us absolutely vigilant," Gilibert said.

Webb and Juice

Ariane 5 earned such a reputation for reliability that NASA trusted it to launch the $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope in late 2021.

The rocket's second-last launch was in April, blasting the European Space Agency's Juice spacecraft on its way to find out whether Jupiter's icy moons can host alien life.

Daniel Neuenschwander, the ESA's head of human and robotic exploration, said that in commercial terms, Ariane 5 had been "the spearhead of Europe's space activities".

The rocket was able to carry a far bigger load than its predecessor Ariane 4, giving Europe a competitive advantage and allowing the continent to establish itself in the communication satellite market.

While waiting for Ariane 6, whose first launch was initially scheduled for 2020, Europe had been relying on Russia's Soyuz rockets to get heavy-load missions into space.

But Russia withdrew space cooperation with Europe in response to sanctions imposed over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The number of launches from Kourou fell from 15 in 2021 to six last year.

Another blow came in December, when the first commercial flight of the next-generation Vega C light launcher failed. Last week, another problem was detected in the Vega C's engine, likely pushing its return further into the future.

- 'Difficult times' -

The launcher market has been increasingly dominated by billionaire Elon Musk's US firm SpaceX, whose rockets are now blasting off once a week.

Lacking other options, the ESA was forced to turn to rival SpaceX's Falcon 9 for the successful launch of its Euclid space telescope on Saturday.

The ESA will also use a SpaceX rocket to launch satellites for the EarthCARE observation mission.

It remains unclear how the agency will launch the next round of satellites for the European Union's Galileo global navigation system.

At the Paris Air Show earlier this month, ESA chief Josef Aschbacher acknowledged that these were "difficult times," adding that everyone was "working intensely" to get Ariane 6 and Vega-C ready.

Ariane 6 was unveiled on a launch pad in Kourou earlier this month ahead of an ignition test of its Vulcain 2.1 rocket engine.

Because the new rocket requires less staffing and maintenance, 190 out of 1,600 positions are being cut at the Kourou spaceport.

#Arianespace #Ariane 5 #Kourou #French Guiana #news

[paraparaparadigm]

#arianespace #Ariane V #Zelda

[biglisbonnews]

Virgin Orbit launched the first rocket from the UK The space age has arrived in Europe: Today’s launch of nine small satellites from Newquay, England, marks the first time spacecraft have been delivered to orbit from the United Kingdom. Read more... https://qz.com/virgin-orbit-launched-the-first-rocket-from-the-uk-1849965659

#Tim Fernholz #Quartz #The Blind Machine #MXFL - Economia PT e Global #virginorbit #spacex #virgingalactic #virgingroup #inspaceflight #outerspace #spaceflight #smallsatellite #arianespace #environment #business2cfinance #satellite #spacecraft #richardbranson

[cryptograndeenews]

French ArianeGroup will create a reusable spacecraft SUSIE for autonomous and manned missions.

French aerospace company ArianeGroup, a joint venture between Airbus and Safran, has announced the development of a reusable space system that is designed to carry out manned and autonomous missions on Arianespace rockets in low Earth orbit and the Moon. The project was presented at the International Astronautical Congress, which is taking place this week in Paris… Detail: https://bitcoingrandee.com/news NEWS

#Cryptocurrency #Blockchain #Business #News #France #Paris #ArianeGroup #Airbus #Safran #Arianespace #SUSIE #Ariane

[spaceexp]

Webb Delivers Deepest Infrared Image of Universe Yet In Special Briefing

The international NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has delivered the deepest, sharpest infrared image of the distant Universe so far. U.S. President Joe Biden unveiled the image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723, known as Webb’s First Deep Field, during a White House event on Monday 11 July.

“Webb's First Deep Field is not only the first full-color image from the James Webb Space Telescope, it’s the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant Universe, so far. This image covers a patch of sky approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arm’s length. It’s just a tiny sliver of the vast universe," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “This mission was made possible by human ingenuity – the incredible NASA Webb team and our international partners at the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. Webb is just the start of what we can accomplish in the future when we work together for the benefit of humanity."

The image – which focuses on a spot in the sky that, from the perspective of someone on the ground, is about the size of what would be covered by a grain of sand held at arm’s length – reveals thousands of galaxies, including the faintest objects ever observed in the infrared.

“What an incredible honour for ESA and its international partners to reveal Webb’s first image from the White House,” says ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher. “Only with teamwork, dedication, and the human drive to push boundaries and explore have we arrived at this historical moment of seeing the deepest view of the early Universe to date.”

Known as Webb’s First Deep Field, this image features the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723, which is overflowing with detail.

“We are now even more excited for tomorrow’s release of further images and spectra from ESA-contributed instruments, which add another dimension to the Deep Field and the other stunning cosmic targets,” says ESA’s Director of Science, Günther Hasinger.  “We are ready to begin our voyage back to early days of our Universe with this world-class observatory.”

“This is just a first glimpse of what Webb can do," says Macarena Garcia Marin, MIRI ESA Instrument Scientist. "While we are truly in awe today of Webb's first deep field, I can’t help but think of what images and science results are just around the corner in the many years to come!”

This image is among the telescope’s first-full colour images. The full suite will be released Tuesday 12 July, beginning at 16:30 CEST (a leadership address will be aired beforehand, at 15:45 CEST, and a media briefing will follow at 18:30 CEST). The full array of Webb’s first images and spectra, including downloadable files, will be made available here: https://esawebb.org/initiatives/webbs-first-images/

Webb is the largest, most powerful telescope ever launched into space. As part of an international collaboration agreement, ESA has provided the telescope’s launch service using the Ariane 5 launch vehicle. Working with partners, ESA was responsible for the development and qualification of Ariane 5 adaptations for the Webb mission and for the procurement of the launch service by Arianespace. ESA has also provided the workhorse spectrograph NIRSpec and 50% of the mid-infrared instrument MIRI, which was designed and built by a consortium of nationally funded European Institutes (The MIRI European Consortium) in partnership with JPL and the University of Arizona.

Webb is an international partnership between NASA, ESA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).

#jwst

[itsfullofstars]

Launch of VA258 carrying Eutelsat Konnect VHTS by europeanspaceagency The fourth Spacebus Neo satellite to benefit from ESA’s Neosat programme has launched into space on board the second Ariane 5 launch mission of 2022. The 8.9 metre, three-storeys-high communications satellite – which will deliver high-speed broadband and in-flight connectivity across Europe for its operator, Eutelsat – weighs 6.525 tonnes and accounted for 99% of the 6.62-tonne launch mass. Called Eutelsat Konnect Very High Throughput Satellite, it includes several innovative features developed under an ESA Partnership Project with satellite manufacturer Thales Alenia Space. The satellite was launched at 23:45 CEST (18:45 local time) on 6 September from Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, into a sub-synchronous transfer orbit. This highly elliptical trajectory, which loops from close to Earth to up to 60 000 kilometres away from the planet at an inclination of 3.5°, will enable it to transfer into a geostationary orbit some 36 000 kilometres above Earth. After reaching geostationary orbit the satellite – the tallest ever built in Europe – will be tested further before it enters commercial service. The satellite features new antenna deployment and pointing mechanisms used within the antenna tracking system, as well as other innovative features including next-generation batteries and structural panels, all developed under the ESA Partnership Project. Credits: ESA / CNES / Arianespace / Optique vidéo du CSG - P. Piron https://flic.kr/p/2nKwrm7

#IFTTT #Flickr #décollage #lanceur #campagnedelancement #nuit #zl3 #ela3 #csg #guyane #va258 #ariane5

[atomicjay42]

The last launch of Ariane 5 is around 10 minutes away. Watch if you can.

#space #spaceflight #Ariane 5

[mrm101]

VA-261 the 117th and last ever Ariane 5 will launch at 23:00BST tonight from ELA-3 Kourou, French Guiana. It will launch two military communication satellites, one French, one German.

Syracuse 4B (Comsat-NG2): French military communications satellite built for prime contractor Thales Alenia by Airbus using an all electric (with a Fakel SPT140D propulsion unit) Eurostar-3000EOR bus for the French defence procurement agancy DGA (Direction Generale de l'Armement). It is a military communications satellite with X-band and Ka-band sets plus an active anti-jamming antenna with onboard processor. It will join the previously launched Syracuse 4A and will replace the Syracuse 3A & 3B vehicles. It has a design life of 15 years. Mass 3572kg

Heinrich Hertz (H2Sat): Built by OHB Systems AG civil and military communications technology demonstrator funded by the German government, managed by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs & Energy (BMWi) and the German Federal Ministry of Defence (BMVg). Based on the SmallGEO (LUXOR) bus, it will be capable of onboard digital signal processing and reprogramming.

The fairing feature banners for the satellites plus an Ariane Continuum banner and a last launch lucky shamrock as also adorned previous marks of Ariane.

Ariane 6 will replace Ariane 5, but it is running a little late, first launch is planned for 2024. Pic: Arianespace S. Corvaja

[spaceflight-insider]

Europe launches JUICE to study Jupiter’s icy moons

An Ariane 5 rocket launches the JUICE spacecraft on its way toward Jupiter. Credit: Arianespace / JM Guillon The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, JUICE, is on its way to the solar system’s largest planet to study three of its four Galilean moons. (more…) “”

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#Callisto #ESA #Europea #Ganymede #JUICE #Jupiter #Lead Stories

[sciencespies]

2023 Space and Astronomy News: What to Expect

https://sciencespies.com/space/2023-space-and-astronomy-news-what-to-expect/

2023 Space and Astronomy News: What to Expect

As years in space and astronomy go, 2022 is going to be a tough act to follow.

NASA wowed us with cosmic scenes captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. The DART mission slammed an asteroid into a new orbit. Artemis I set humanity on a course back to the moon. China finished building a new space station in orbit. SpaceX launched 61 rockets in 12 months. And the invasion of Ukraine imperiled Russia’s status as a space power.

It’s a lot to measure up to, but 2023 is bound to have some excitement on the launchpad, the lunar surface and in the sky. Once again, you can get updates on your personal digital calendar by signing up for The New York Times’s Space and Astronomy Calendar. Here are some of the major events you can expect. Not all of them have certain dates yet, but Times journalists will provide additional information as it emerges. Learn more at nytimes.com/spacecalendar

New Rockets

NASA got its giant Space Launch System off the ground for the first time in 2022, lighting up the night in Florida with an incredible stream of flame as it carried the Artemis I mission toward the moon. That shifted attention to SpaceX, which is building a next generation rocket, Starship, that is also central to NASA’s crewed Artemis III moon landing attempt.

SpaceX cleared a key environmental review that would allow it to launch an uncrewed orbital test flight from South Texas if it met certain conditions. But the rocket wasn’t ready for flight in 2022. The company has not announced a date for a test this year, but regular ground tests of Starship equipment indicate it is working toward one.

The pathfinder first stage of the Vulcan Centaur, a new rocket by United Launch Alliance that will eventually replace that company’s Atlas V.United Launch Alliance

Numerous other rockets may take flight for the first time in 2023. The most important, Vulcan Centaur by United Launch Alliance, will eventually replace that company’s Atlas V, a vehicle that has been central to American spaceflight for two decades. The Vulcan relies on the BE-4 engine built by Blue Origin, the rocket company founded by Jeff Bezos. The same engine will in turn be used in Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket, which may have a test flight late this year.

A number of American private companies are expected to test new rockets in 2023, including Relativity and ABL. They could be joined by foreign rocket makers, including Mitsubishi Heavy Industries which could test Japan’s H3 rocket in February, and Arianespace, which is working toward a test flight of Europe’s Ariane 6 rocket.

New Lunar Landings

We’re guaranteed at least one lunar landing attempt in 2023. A Japanese company, Ispace, launched its M1 mission on a SpaceX rocket in December. It’s taking a slow, fuel-efficient route to the moon and is set to arrive in April, when it will try to deploy a rover built by the United Arab Emirates, a robot built by Japan’s space agency, JAXA, as well as other payloads.

There could be as many as five more lunar landing attempts this year.

NASA has hired a pair of private companies to carry payloads to the lunar surface. Both of them, Intuitive Machines of Houston and Astrobotic Technology of Pittsburgh, faced delays in 2022, but may make the trip in the coming months.

They could be joined by three government space programs’ lunar missions. India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission was delayed last year but could be ready in 2023. A Japanese mission, Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or SLIM, aims to test the country’s lunar landing technologies. Finally, Russia’s Luna-25 mission was postponed from last September, but Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, may try this year.

New Space Telescopes

Scientists in 2019 at work with the European Space Agency’s Euclid spacecraft, which will study energy and dark matter. Its 2022 launch was postponed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.S. Corvaja/European Space Agency

The Webb telescope wowed space enthusiasts and scientists with its views of the cosmos, but we may get new vantages from a variety of orbital observatories.

The most significant may be Xuntian, a Chinese mission setting off later in the year that will be like a more sophisticated version of the Hubble Space Telescope. The spacecraft will survey the universe at optical and ultraviolet wavelengths in an orbit around Earth close to the country’s Tiangong space station.

A Japanese-led mission, XRISM, pronounced chrism, could launch earlier in the year as well. The mission will use X-ray spectroscopy to study clouds of plasma, which could help to explain the universe’s composition. A European space telescope, Euclid, may also launch on a SpaceX rocket after the Russian invasion of Ukraine resulted in the spacecraft losing its seat on a Russian Soyuz rocket. It will study the universe’s dark energy and dark matter.

New Planetary Missions

A new spacecraft will head toward Jupiter this year, aiming to become the first to ever orbit another planet’s moon. The European Space Agency’s Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer, or JUICE, will launch from an Ariane 5 rocket as early as April 5 to set off to the Jovian system, arriving in 2031. Once it reaches the gas giant, it will move to conduct 35 flybys of three of the giant world’s moons: Callisto, Europa and Ganymede, all of which are believed to have subsurface oceans. In 2034, JUICE will begin orbiting Ganymede, the largest moon in the solar system.

Heading closer to the sun will be Rocket Lab, a small launch company that was founded in New Zealand. It aims to use its Electron rocket to send a mission to Venus. The company’s Photon satellite will try to deploy a small probe, built with Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers, that will briefly study the planet’s toxic atmosphere. The mission was planned for May, but it is expected to face delays while the company prioritizes missions for its other customers.

A Total Eclipse and a Not-So-Total One

There will be two solar eclipses in 2023.

A total eclipse on April 20 will be more of a Southern Hemisphere event, and the moon will only blot out the sun in remote parts of Australia and Indonesia. (Perhaps not a bad time to be on a boat in parts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, too.)

But Americans may get a good show on Oct. 14, when North America will be visited by an annular eclipse. Eclipses of this type are sometimes called “ring of fire” eclipses because the moon is too far from Earth to fully block the sun but creates a ring-like effect when it reaches totality. The eclipse’s path runs through parts of Oregon, California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas before dipping into Central and South America. Where the weather cooperates, it should be a great solar show and a nice lead up for the April 8, 2024 total eclipse that will cross the United States from southwest to northeast.

#Space

#Space