Having received a NASA CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) contract in May worth US$77 million to carry up five payloads to the lunar surface, the Nova-C commercial lunar lander’s operator has moved quickly to secure its passage to the Moon. It has signed...
The UK Space Conference 2019 had its fair share of current players in the space market very much on display. However, there were other companies there who were looking to break into the space market and which could be major players in the future. Here are two that...
Controllers at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) were licking their wounds after its unmanned landing attempt on the Moon ended in failure – and with India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, looking on. The Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter/Vikram Lander/Pragram Rover...
The complicated multi-parachute landing system for the European Space Agency’s ExoMars landing mission in 2020 is under scrutiny after it failed a second test. The test on 5 August, of the large 35 m diameter subsonic main parachute was deemed a failure. It...
While NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine appeared to have his own mini-version earlier in the month, the newly appointed UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has similarly been accused of having a “Night of the Long Knives” purge of his cabinet in a...
India’s second lunar mission Chandrayaan-2 was launched at 0913 GMT on 22 July 2019, from the Sriharikota launch site. The initial plan was to place the spacecraft into a low Earth orbit. From here it will slowly raise its orbit and then be injected into a...