The crescendo of the Conservative (Tory) Party Conference being held in Manchester in early October was supposed to be a rousing speech from Prime Minister Theresa May. However, it all ended rather badly. At the start, cheeky chappie comedian Lee Nelson (Simon Bodkin)...
Sixty years ago on 4 October 1957, the small 84 kg SPUTNIK 1 (PS-1) satellite was launched into orbit by the Soviet Union, beating the USA to the prize of being first nation to orbit something. It was Sergey Korolev’s R-7 converted ballistic missile which took...
Northrop Grumman Corporation, the US defence and aerospace company, is acquiring Orbital ATK (OATK) for US$9.2 billion. The completion of the deal will see OATK established as the fourth major Northrop Grumman business unit alongside Aerospace Systems, Mission Systems...
We are sad to report the death of Brian Spark, a well-known and respected figure in the space insurance market. He passed away on 7 August following a long period of illness. Brian Spark, who came to be nicknamed “Sparky”, originally joined the insurance market...
Professor Udupi Ramachandra Rao (aka U.R. Rao), the former head of the Indian Space Research Organisation, which he lead from 1984 to 1994, has passed away at the age of 85. U.R. Rao, was a space physicist by training who specialised in cosmic ray research at MIT in...
While this column is principally about spaceflight – past aerospace history sometimes features – and the new movie retelling of the “great escape” of British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and French army from the cut off port of Dunkirk in the early part of World War II...
