Author: starpathwp-production
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ESA Advances Apophis Mission Despite Funding Gaps
The European Space Agency (ESA) has approved preliminary work for the Ramses mission to the asteroid Apophis, maintaining its development timeline despite incomplete funding. ESA’s space safety program, which includes planetary defense, gave the green light on July 16 for the Ramses mission to proceed, ensuring it stays on track to visit Apophis before its…
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France Awards Thales Alenia Space Contract for Satellite Capture and Inspection Mission
France has contracted a consortium led by Thales Alenia Space to develop a mission aimed at capturing and inspecting a small satellite. This demonstration mission is slated for launch towards the end of the decade. Supported by undisclosed funding from the French space agency CNES and state-owned investment bank Bpifrance, the mission will employ two…
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Armada to Apophis—scientists recycle old ideas for rare asteroid encounter
For nearly 20 years, scientists have known an asteroid named Apophis will pass unusually close to Earth on Friday, April 13, 2029. But most officials at the world’s space agencies stopped paying much attention when updated measurements ruled out the chance Apophis will impact Earth any time soon. Now, Apophis is again on the agenda,…
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NASA SLS Core Stage headed to KSC for Artemis II
Prime contractor Boeing rolled out the second Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage on July 16 from the Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) and secured it to NASA’s Pegasus barge for transportation to the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida over the next several days. The stage will control the beginning of the Artemis II mission…
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Rocket Report: Firefly’s CEO steps down; Artemis II core stage leaves factory
Welcome to Edition 7.03 of the Rocket Report! One week ago, SpaceX suffered a rare failure of its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket. In fact, it was the first time the latest version of the Falcon 9, known as the Block 5, has ever failed on its prime mission after nearly 300 launches. The world’s launch…
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DIU Chief: Culture Within DoD Remains the Biggest Obstacle to Success for Startups
The way more non-traditional defense companies will grow their business with the Defense Department is for more of them to be successful in doing so, which will provide more courage for acquisition organizations within the department to accept the risk of working with startups, the head of the DoD unit focused on accelerating the use…
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Former SPAC Astra is Once Again a Private Company
The founders of smallsat launcher Astra Space completed a deal to take the company private on July 18. Astra Space was one of the companies to go public in the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) boom of 2021 but ran into financial trouble. Co-founders CEO Chris Kemp and CTO Dr. Adam London acquired all shares…
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Maxar Intelligence Reveals the First Images from its WorldView Legion Satellites
Maxar Intelligence, a provider of secure, precise geospatial intelligence, released the first images from its next-generation WorldView Legion satellites, the first two of which were launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, on May 2, 2024. The high-resolution, 30 cm-class images were collected on July 16, 2024, by one of Maxar’s WorldView Legion satellites on…