Aerospace
4,371 news found
AerospaceNASA TV coverage set for sixth SpaceX resupply mission to Space Station
Cape Canaveral, USA - The Dragon spacecraft will be launched from Cape Canaveral with Falcon 9 rocket
The sixth SpaceX cargo mission to the International Space Station under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract is scheduled to launch on Monday, April 13, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral... more
AerospaceTwo new Galileo satellites successfully launched (seventh and eighth): the role of Finmeccanica companies
Rome, Italy - The Group plays a fundamental role in the development of the programme, with its companies Telespazio, Thales Alenia Space and Selex ES
The seventh and eighth satellite of the European satellite navigation and localization system Galileo were successfully launched at 22:46 (CET) on March 27, with a Soyuz launcher, from Europe's Spaceport... more
AerospaceArianespace to launch Peru-Sat1 satellite for Perù
Rome, Italy - The launch is scheduled for 2016
Arianespace announced that it has signed a launch service contract with Airbus Defence & Space to launch the PeruSat-1 satellite for the government of Peru, using a Vega launch vehicle. Built by Airbus... more
AerospaceIt happened today. 19 March 1965: the Russian Alexey Leonov made the first spacewalk
Lausanne, Switzerland - Exactly 50 years ago, outside of the Voskhod 2 spaceship
Today is a special day in the history of space exploration. It is the day, 50 years ago, that Russian cosmonaut Alexey Leonov became the first person to walk in space. On 19 March 1965, Leonov exited... more
AerospaceAvio’s Vega space rocket will launch a block of Skybox Imaging satellites
Rome, Italy - It will take off next year
The Vega space rocket will launch a block of high resolution imaging satellites for Skybox Imaging from the Guyana Space Center in 2016. The contract was signed by Arianespace. It is the European launcher... more
AerospaceNASA: DAWN enters orbit around Ceres
Rome, Italy - Making it the first mission to reach a dwarf planet
NASA's Dawn spacecraft has returned new images captured on approach to its historic orbit insertion at the dwarf planet Ceres. Dawn is the first mission to successfully visit a dwarf planet when it enters... more
AerospaceThales Alenia Space: Sicral 2 reached Guiana Space Center launch site
Rome, Italy - Now the preparation campaign to the launch, fixed for next April 15
The Sicral 2 telecommunications satellite, a joint undertaking of the Italian Ministry of Defense and the French defense procurement agency DGA (part of the Ministry of Defense), has arrived at the Guiana... more
AerospaceASI and CNES: collaboration confirmed between Italy and France in space field
Rome, Italy - The Presidents of the two national agencies signed yesterday a MoU in Paris to reinforce the cooperation in the sector's key-areas
The cooperation reinforcement path continues between the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and the French Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES). The respective Presidents, Roberto Battiston and Jean-Yves... more
AerospaceE-GEOS (Italian ASI/Telespazio) wins tender of the EC to provide satellite maps for emergency management
Rome, Italy - Annually renewable contract of maximum four year duration is worth 12 million Euros
e-GEOS, a company established by Telespazio (80%) and the Italian Space Agency (20%), has been awarded a contract from the European Commission worth 12 million euros, to provide satellite maps for emergency... more
AerospaceAircraft and security. Homeless fools controls of the Rome-Fiumicino airport
Rome, Italy - Young Pakistani used a parked plane as a bedroom
Alitalia's vigilantes and the border police have found yesterday morning -11 February- a young homeless man sleeping on board a parked plane. The case occurred at the "Leonardo da Vinci" in Rome-Fiumicino.... more
AerospaceThales Alenia Space. The IXV launch spotlights joint French-Italian research efforts (2)
Turin, Italy - The industry is the prime-contractor for this ESA program
Europe's IXV atmospheric reentry demonstrator has been launched from the Guiana Space Center, Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana. Meanwhile, at the mission control center in Turin, operated by Altec,... more
AerospaceMission success for the IXV atmospheric reentry demonstrator (VIDEO)
Rome, Italy - Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle developed by Thales Alenia Space
The IXV (Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle), the European Space Agency's atmospheric reentry demonstrator, developed by Thales Alenia Space, was successfully launched by Arianespace today on board a Vega... more
AerospaceESA: first launch in 2015 by VEGA
Rome, Italy - The liftoff of IXV for a suborbital flight to test technologies and critical systems
An annotated timeline of the most critical events during the IXV mission. ESA’s wingless spaceplane is set for liftoff on a Vega rocket from Kourou, French Guiana, 11 February 2015. ESA’s Intermediate eXp... more
AerospaceItalian ASI: report on Cassini mission status during an annual meeting hosted at the Agency's headquarters
Rome, Italy - Ten years after the Moon landing by Huygens on Titan
Four days and over 100 scientists from worldwide for the Italian meeting, hosted this year for the first time at new headquarters of Italian Space Agency (ASI). It was dedicated to the analysis of the... more
AerospaceVirgin Galactic: building of the new SpaceshipTwo almost completed
Los Angeles, USA - The construction of the second spaceplane had begun before the 31 October accident destroyed the first plane killing one of the pilots
The fatal accident occurred during a SpaceshipTwo test flight last 31 October did not stop Virgin Galactic project to take tourist to space. A new spaceplane is under construction in the Mojave, California... more
AerospaceInternational Space Station: the suspected ammonia leak was a false alarm
Houston, USA - Astronauts returned back to the international sector. A computer malfunctioning may have caused the alarm to sound
Emergency is over on the International Space Station (ISS). As reported by AVIONEWS, the crew of the American and European sector had been evacuated to the Russian part of the orbiting base following an... more
AerospaceThales Alenia Space: ten years ago, Europe landed on Titan
Rome, Italy - In January 2005, the TAS-built Huygens space probe landed on Saturn's enigmatic moon
Ten years ago Europe celebrated the success of an exceptional mission, still the only one of its kind: a landing on Titan, Saturn's enigmatic moon, at a far greater distance than any atmospheric probe... more
AerospaceEmergency on the International Space Station
Rome, Italy - An ammonia leak from the thermal control system forced the crew to evacuate the international sector of the base to reach the Russian part, which is safe from contamination
A suspected ammonia leak raised alarm on the International Space Station (ISS) today. Astronauts were told to put on masks and move to the Russian part of the ISS. As indicated by safety procedures, the... more
AerospaceThales Alenia Space wins ESA contract for Plato phase B1 study
Rome, Italy - Part of ESA's Cosmic Vision 2015-25
Thales Alenia Space announced today that it has been selected by the European Space Agency for one of the three phase B1 studies of the Plato (PLAnetary Transits and Oscillation of stars) program, part... more
AerospaceItalian ASI: Samantha Cristoforetti continues experimental activitity on the ISS
Rome, Italy - She successfully carried out second session of Blind and Imagined/Slink experiments, one of the nine projects selected and developed by the Agency for the "Futura" mission
Samantha Cristoforetti successfully conducted the second session of the"Blind and Imagined/Slink" experiments. The Italian astronaut of ESA (European Space Agency) and commander pilot of the Italian Air... more
AerospaceThales Alenia Space to build SWOT oceanography satellite
Rome, Italy - The industry has been selected by French space Agency CNES
Thales Alenia Space announced that it has been selected by French space agency CNES (Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales) to build the oceanography satellite SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography).... more
AerospaceSuccessful first test-launch for Russian space rocket Angara A-5
Moscow, Russia - The carrier has been developed to replace the Soviet rocket Proton and reduce Russian dependence on Bajkonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan
New Russian heavy-class Angara A-5 rocket successfully performed its first test-launch from Pesetsk cosmodrome, 800 km from Moscow at 8:57 local time. Twelve minutes after lift-off, third stadium Breeze-M... more
AerospaceItalian ASI and financial law: effort by Government permits to complete realization of the Cosmo-SkyMed, the Italian satellite system
Rome, Italy - Satisfaction by the Space Agency for funds that allow to the national space sector to protect a strategic infrastructure
The way made for the second generation of the Italian satellite system Cosmo-SkyMed will continue as predicted. This is the result of a governmental amendment approved by the financial law, that predicts... more
AerospaceThales Alenia Space: third batch of four O3b satellites successfully launched
Rome, Italy - It is the prime-contractor for the 12 satellites in this high-speed, low latency, low-cost constellation
The third batch of four satellites in the O3b medium Earth orbit (MEO) constellation, operated by O3b Networks, was successfully launched by Arianespace on December 18 from French Guiana using a Soyuz... more
AerospaceCuriosity finds methane on Mars
Washington, USA - The presence of this gas might be evidence that there was life on the planet in the past
Curiosity, NASA’s rover that landed on Mars in August 2012, has detected methane flares on the surface. The discovery adds new evidence on the possibility that there was life in the past on the Red Planet. O... more
AerospaceTelespazio: contract with ESA for harmonising European Ground Systems Infrastructure
Darmstadt, Germany - The subsidiary will lead a consortium of 20 companies from ten European countries
Telespazio VEGA Deutschland, a subsidiary of Telespazio (a Finmeccanica/Thales company), has been awarded a contract by the European Space Agency (ESA) to lead the initial stage of phase C/D of the European... more
AerospaceThales Alenia Space: Yamal-401 in orbit
Rome, Italy - The industry supplies the repeater assembly and antennas, the onboard TT&C and ground control facilities, and satellite AIT services
The Yamal-401 telecommunications satellite of the Russian operator JSC Gazprom Space Systems was successfully launched today from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan by International Launch Services... more
AerospaceOrion: first launch cancelled yesterday, the capsule took off today around 7:00
Cape Canaveral, USA - The mission had been postponed four times and then deferred 24 hours
Orion space capsule launch, postponed four times yesterday and finally cancelled yesterday December 4, was eventually successfully done today, few minutes after 7:00 local time from Cape Canaveral NASA... more
AerospaceFirst test launch for Orion, the space capsule that will take man to Mars
Cape Canaveral, USA - Today’s mission will test atmospheric entry systems
Today at 1:05 pm Italian time (7:05 am local time) NASA will perform the first test flight of Orion space capsule, that one day might take men on Mars. The launch will depart from Cape Canaveral base in... more
AerospaceAirbus and Safran officially launch their aerospace joint-venture
Paris, France - The announcement arrived one day after the European conference on the development of a new generation of launchers
In the wake of Ministers of European Space Agency Member States council that agreed on the development of a family of new launchers -Ariane 6 e Vega C-, Airbus Group and Safran gave official announcement... more
AerospaceESA Council approves new generation of space launchers (VIDEO)
Luxembourg, Luxembourg - The decision marks a historical phase
ESA (European Space Agency) yesterday concluded a productive one-day Council meeting at ministerial level in Luxembourg. Ministers of ESA Member States agreed the further development of a family of... more
AerospaceJapan launches space probe to look for the origins of life (VIDEO)
Tokyo, Japan - Hayabusa 2 will bring samples of the asteroid 1999 JU3 back to Earth in 2020
Less than a month after the European lander Philae’s touch down on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (for details see AVIONEWS), on December 3 at 1:22 pm local time Japan launched the probe Hayabusa 2, o... more
AerospaceIndustry. EU: joint-venture between Airbus and Safran is in line with antitrust regulations
Brussels, Belgium - The two companies want to put together their space launch activities
The European Union approved the constitution of a joint-venture between Airbus Group and Safran, for space launcher activities, satellite subsystems and missile propulsion. EU verified that the merger... more
AerospaceThe Russian space agency postpones Astra 2G satellite launch
Moscow, Russia - There were technical problems on the carrier rocket Proton-M. The missile was removed fro the launch pad
The Russian space agency Roscosmos postponed the Proton-M missile launch scheduled for November 28 from Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. It had to carry the European commercial satellite Astra 2G. The... more
AerospaceESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti arrived at ISS, together with a Russian and an American on board. The "Futura" mission began (VIDEO)
Rome, Italy - Lifted off at 21:01 GMT of yesterday from Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan
The Soyuz spacecraft launched from Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan last night safely docked with the International Space Station this morning, delivering ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti and her... more
AerospaceItalian Space Agency (ASI): the "Futura" mission by Samantha Cristoforetti will begin next Sunday (VIDEO)
Rome, Italy - The second of long duration by ASI (six months)
ASI (Italian Space Agency) and ESA (European Space Agency) communicate that the event of launch by the astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti will take place next Sunday, November 23, 2014, starting from 8:30pm... more
AerospacePhilae recorded the sound of the first comet landing (AUDIO)
Darmstadt, Germany - A 2 seconds “Thud” reveals precious information on the comet’s composition, as well as other data collected by the lander before it went on stand by
Among the elements collected by the Rosetta mission of the European Space Agency (ESA), there is also the sound made by Philae on landing on the comet P67. A two-seconds recording that “Tells more than w... more
AerospaceSpaceShipTwo accident: a communication problem behind the disaster?
Los Amgeles, USA - The US agency investigating on the case is now working on this hypothesis
The SpaceshipTwo disaster might have been caused by a miscommunication between the two pilots on board. The news was given by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), a US government agency investigating... more
AerospaceMoscow could leave the International Space Station after 2020
Moscow, Russia - Unconfirmed press reports say that Russia wants to create its own orbiting base
Russia could not renew its commitment with the International Space Station (ISS) after 2020, when its obligations are fulfilled. The news was given by the newspaper “Kommersant”, quoting internal sources fro... more
AerospacePhilae landed in the shadow of a crater: solar batteries charge on danger
Darmstadt, Germany - ESA's scientists are working on alternative manoeuvres
Things did not go exactly as expected during Philae’s descent on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (for details see AVIONEWS). The lander is now stable and is sending the first historical pictures, but i... more
AerospacePhilae landed successfully on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (VIDEOS)
Darmsatdt, Germany - For the first time in history, a space module landed on the surface of a comet
Rosetta's lander Philae has landed on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko at 5:03 pm CET. The news was given by the official blog opened by the European Space Agency. It is an historical day for aerospace... more
AerospaceRosetta (2). Italy, through ASI, provided a scientific-technological and industrial contribution to the mission (VIDEO)
Rome, Italy - Fundamental the participation by the national industry through the companies of Finmeccanica Group (Selex Es, Thales Alenia Space and Telespazio)
Today it is the great day, after a travel long ten years: the separation happened. Philae left Rosetta and flies towards the 67P/Churyumov Gerasimenko comet. For the first time in absolute in the history,... more
AerospaceFinmeccanica contributes essential technology for the Rosetta mission (3)
Rome, Italy - Many of the Rosetta probe’s on-board and ground-based instruments, as well as those of the mission’s Philae lander, are Finmeccanica-made
Today within the European Space Agency (ESA)’s Rosetta mission, the Philae lander touched down on the 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet. The Italian technical and scientific contribution among Research I... more
AerospaceRosetta mission. Lander Philae started descent towards 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet
Darmstadt, Germany - Landing is expected at 5:02 pm GMT but “Antirebound system” is not working
The European Space Agency (ESA) official blog following Rosetta mission confirmed that the lander Philae has separated from the space probe and started its descent towards Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.... more
AerospaceAirplanes and space. Rosetta towards first landing on a comet
Rome, Italy - The space probe lander will release a lander on the comet that will reveal secrets on the origin of the Universe
Tomorrow, Wednesday November 12, the Rosetta space probe, developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and launched in 2004, will perform the first landing of history on a comet. The lander Philae will... more
AerospaceAirplanes and space. Investigations over SpaceShip Two disaster: NTSB to review permits released by FAA
Los Angeles, USA - The Virgin Galactic aircraft explosion could question rules regulating “Space tourism”
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), US agency investigating on transportation accidents and currently committed to discover the causes of space airplane Spaceship Two explosion (for details... more
AerospaceAirplanes and space. First hypothesis on SpaceshipTwo accident
Los Angeles, USA - Two devices placed on the tail were activated earlier than expected
The National Transportation Safety Board, a US government agency investigating on transportation accidents, communicated the first elements collected in the investigation over the SpaceshipTwo disaster.... more
AerospaceItalian ASI with NASA already at work to bring onboard of ISS two experiments of the mission by Cristoforetti "Futura" embarked on Orbital3
Rome, Italy - To start necessary procedures for the replanning of two out of nine experiments lost with the Antares launcher's incident
Immediate contacts have been started by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) with NASA to begin soon all the necessary procedures to ensure the redevelopment of two out of nine experiments allocated to the "Futura"... more
AerospaceArianespace signs contract with ELV for ten Vega launchers
Rome, Italy - The ceremony was held in Rome at the Italian Ministry of Research and was attended by its minister and by Prof. Battiston (Italian ASI)
Stéphane Israël, Chairman and CEO of Arianespace, and Pierluigi Pirrelli, Chief Executive of ELV (European Launch Vehicle), signed a contract today, October 29, 2014, in Rome, confirming Arianespace's o... more
AerospaceSupply rocket for the International Space Station explodes after launch (VIDEO)
Wallops Island, USA - It was an unmanned mission, nobody got injured. Causes still unknown
An Antares rocket exploded in the sky few seconds after launch from the NASA base “Wallops flight facility”, in Virginia (USA). The video below this article shows the missile catching fire before crashing to... more