ESA

The joint ESA and Russian Martian mission was expected to launch this year, but due to sanctions brought on by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, ESA has decided to suspend its cooperation.

Just over a week ago we got our very first look at images the James Webb Space Telescope was taking. The images are still far from the quality of scienfic images expected a few months from now, but now the previously messy array of light points has been organized and aligned according to mirror segment location.

On December 25, 2021, James Webb Space Telescope was launched from the French Guiana towards Lagrange point 2. People have been anxiously awaiting the return of the first image from the next-generation space scope, but now that wait is finally over!

Currently, more than 35,000 miles away, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is cruising through space on the way to its 1 million mile parking spot above the Earth. It will take the space telescope almost a month to complete orbital insertion. Here’s how you can track its way there.

FINAL UPDATE (1/31): James Webb is now fully deployed and orbiting in L2. The space telescope will spend the next few months commissioning and testing before taking its first photograph. Last week, NASA announced that Webb will point at HD 84406, a sun-like star 241 light-years away, to focus and align its mirrors in preparation for the moment we’ve been waiting for. Don’t hold your breath though, the mirror alignment process is very slow and tedious. We don’t expect James Webbs to take its first shot of the cosmos until around May 2022.

While the week of Christmas was a slow one, there were two highly anticipated launches. Check out this week’s top stories below.

This morning, the spaceflight and science communities held their breath as Arianespace launched the long-awaited James Webb Space Telescope. But, while the launch is now done, Webb has a long trip to go and many more obstacles to face.

The largest and most powerful telescope ever made is finally set to launch on Christmas day. After years of delays, the long-anticipated James Webb Space Telescope has been given the green light for lift-off. Here’s how you can tune in live.

Last night Arianespace launched their 111th Ariane 5 mission to space carrying satellites for SES and the French military. This marked its final flight of the Ariane 5 before it launches NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope in December.

After a secretive voyage from California (to avoid pirates) the James Webb Space Telescope has safely arrived in French Guiana aboard MN Colibri.

The European Space Agency has partnered with Mattel to send a Barbie version of astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti on a zero-G flight to inspire girls to become astronauts, engineers, and scientists.

Last Friday, cargo ship MN Toucan arrived in French Guiana carrying the upper stage and fairing of the Ariane 5 rocket that will launch the James Webb Space Telescope later this year.

Last week Tesla pulled a “One more thing” and announced they are working on an autonomous robot powered by their Full Self Driving neural net. Many have questioned the companies choice but there could be a clever reason for Elon’s madness. Yes, it includes Tesla Bots on Mars, it’s always about Mars.

Today the European Space Agency announced they will add a kick stage option to their upcoming Ariane 6 rocket. The addition brings expands the payload capabilities for the rocket.

While this week has been devoid of launches, it was far from an uneventful week in space news. We’ve had spacewalks occurring at the ISS, the arrival of ULA’s Atlas V booster for CFT, and brand new exclusive updates on SpaceX’s newest droneship.

Josef Aschbacher is pushing a major initiative at the European Space Agency to recruit and launch the first physically disabled astronaut to space. Reuters reports that several hundred of 22,000 ESA astronaut applicants who have applied are eligible thanks to ESA’s initiative.

SpaceX’s Dragon capsule has been a huge success with the launch of DM-2 and Crew 1 for NASA last year. This year they have two more missions to launch crew rotations to the International Space Station under the Commercial Crew Program with the next coming up this week.

Date: Friday, April 23nd, 5:49 AM EDT

The European Space Agency is developing a low Earth orbit transportation system called Space Rider, and this month plans for the reusable spacecraft have started to come together. ESA describes the future system as an “uncrewed robotic laboratory about the size of two minivans” that will launch on a Vega C rocket and stay in orbit for up to two months.

The European Space Agency (ESA) held a council meeting today to discuss the maintenance and changes due to take place at Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana for 2020 through 2024. During this meeting, a contract was signed by the ESA and National Centre for Space Studies (CNES), agreeing to “maintain and modernize” the spaceport.

With reusing rockets becoming the new trend in spaceflight, it’s no surprise that the European Space Agency (ESA) is developing the capability for themselves. The development is spurred on by the same reason as everyone else: cost savings. The ability to reuse a booster turns into savings for the manufacturer and lowers cost to orbit for the customer.

NASA and ESA have announced which three astronauts will train and become crew members for SpaceX Crew-3 mission in 2021. The mission, which is expected to launch sometime in the fall next year, will carry the three selected astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft.

On December 9, 2020, iSpace announced that it had opened a brand new mission control center in Nihonbashi, Tokyo. It will serve as the mission control for the companies commercial lunar exploration program, “HAKUTO-R.”