At 2343 GMT on 8 October, China launched a Long March 2D (CZ-2D) rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center to LEO. The payload carried was the ASO-S (Advanced Space-borne Solar Observatory) solar observation mission which is intended to monitor the sun 24 hours...
India’s Mars probe, the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), has ceased to function over eight years after its launch on 5 November 2013, according to recent reports. It is also over seven years since its post-launch design life, of 1.5 years, expired. Communications...
There have long been concerns that the Earth could one day be threatened by the impact of a large object – usually an asteroid – from space. Scientists have mooted various ways of planetary defence ranging from nuclear missile strikes to asteroid deflection...
SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9v1.2FT Block 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral, USA at 2308 GMT on 4 August. The vehicle was carrying Danuri (meaning “enjoy the Moon”) – better known as the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO). As South Korea’s first Lunar...
A series of small spacecraft and experiment orders were announced in July. Satellite Vu has ordered the second in its small seven thermal imaging satellite constellation from the Guildford, England-based small satellite manufacturer SSTL using its DarkCarb bus design....
NASA has reported a serious communications issue with its CAPSTONE mission, which was intended to test an orbit for future lunar exploration plans. Following its launch by an Electron rocket on 28 June, after a series of burns, the Lunar Photon converted kick stage...