Tag: UKSA
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UK Space Agency Delays £75.6 Million Active Debris Removal Contract Award
The UK Space Agency (UKSA) has delayed awarding a contract for the next phase of the United Kingdom’s first active orbital debris removal mission, missing its original deadline for the £75.6 million program. Astronomy The contract for Phase 3 of the Active Debris Removal (ADR) mission was initially scheduled to be awarded by March 30,…
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UK Puts £62M Into Satellite Comms and Space Innovation
Does the UK’s £62M Space Funding Package Move the Needle? The UK government announced £62 million ($83.4 million) in new space sector funding on Monday, split between satellite communications development and broader space innovation. The headline allocation is £42 million ($56.5 million) for the third funding round of the Connectivity in Low Earth Orbit (LEO)…
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Vega C launches SMILE to study Earth’s magnetosphere
The European Space Agency’s (ESA) latest science mission, Solar Wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE), launched on a four-stage Vega C rocket from French Guiana on Tuesday morning. SMILE, a collaboration between ESA, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and multiple academic and commercial organizations, will capture the first global soft X-ray images of Earth’s…
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UK Space Agency Awards Contracts to Advance In-Orbit Manufacturing
The UK Space Agency (UKSA) has awarded contracts worth more than $1.1 million to three British companies to develop technologies for manufacturing products in microgravity, the agency said. The funding aims to accelerate research into producing advanced materials and medicines in space, where conditions such as microgravity and vacuum can yield higher-quality results than on…
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Orbex breaks ground on Sutherland Spaceport as UK prepares to enter domestic launch market
United Kingdom (UK) based spaceflight company Orbex has begun construction at the Sutherland Spaceport in Scotland. Set to host launches of Orbex’s Prime rocket, Sutherland is the UK mainland’s first vertical launch site. With another vertical-launch site at SaxaVord Spaceport in the Shetlands, and Spaceport Cornwall’s horizontal-launch options, the UK is finally ramping up its…
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SpaceX launches SWOT ocean research mission
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launched the joint NASA/CNES Surface Water and Ocean Topography satellite mission from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base at 3:46 AM PST (11:46 UTC) on Friday, Dec. 16, after a 24-hour delay to allow teams to complete further data review and analysis after moisture was identified in two of…
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NASA and CNES to begin SWOT testing as its launch date approaches
With less than one year to launch, France’s Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) and NASA are completing the final spacecraft assembly of the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) spacecraft. SWOT is a joint NASA and CNES mission with contributions by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the United Kingdom Space Agency (UKSA). The SWOT…
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UK spaceports and launchers gearing up for first flights
In recent months, the United Kingdom’s endeavor to tap into a rapidly-growing market of commercial spaceflight has become a firm prospect. To achieve this, spaceports and aerospace companies are clearing major hurdles in order to begin orbital launches as soon as next year — as several projects are vying to provide an unprecedented orbital launch…
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Scottish spaceport formally approved by Highland Council
Plans to launch small satellites from the Scottish Highlands took a step closer to fruition Wednesday after the Highland Council North Planning Applications Committee granted its final approval for the construction of a “Space Hub” in the northern county of Sutherland. The Space Hub Sutherland project, put forward by the Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE),…
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Scottish spaceport formally approved by Highland Council
Plans to launch small satellites from the Scottish Highlands took a step closer to fruition Wednesday after the Highland Council North Planning Applications Committee granted its final approval for the construction of a “Space Hub” in the northern county of Sutherland. The Space Hub Sutherland project, put forward by the Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE),…