News ESA's Future: The News and Updates Thread

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10 June 2019
On Friday 7 June, ESA began a three-day starring role at the World Club Dome electronic dance music festival. Billed as the Space Edition, this event is the latest stage of an eighteen-month partnership with BigCityBeats, the company behind the show. This year’s festival featured Armin van Buuren, Jason Derulo, Steve Aoki and David Guetta amongst its star performers – as well as a 28-metre high model of Ariane 5, which dominated the main stage.

http://www.esa.int/About_Us/Partnerships/Taking_electronic_dance_music_out_of_this_world

Funky!
 

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1 June 2019
A consortium of companies in Poland will investigate new fuel injector designs to improve variable thrust in rocket engines using storable ‘green’ propellants.
A contract was signed last week between ESA and Łukasiewicz Research Network – Institute of Aviation in Poland as prime contractor.
New injector and engine control valves will be designed, built and tested to better understand thrust control in a demonstration engine of a 5kN thrust class.

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/S...mprove_thrust_control_in_green_rocket_engines
 

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The huge launch pad complex for Arianespace’s new workhorse, Ariane 6, is in the final months of construction ahead of the new rocket’s debut in 2021. ELA-4 includes a massive mobile gantry that will roll back off the pad ahead of launch. Arianespace is currently working on constructing 14 contracted Ariane 6s.

The Ariane 6 launch complex has been under construction since 2017 and – per the latest update this week – is expected to be completed before the end of 2019.

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2019/06/kourous-new-pad-ariane-6-construction/
 

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Title Metal 3D-printed Ariane 5 bracket
Released 19/06/2019 11:09 am
Copyright ESA–A. Abel
Description
This organically-styled bracket, designed for the interior of an Ariane 5 launcher, was 3D printed in space-worthy titanium alloy for an R&D project.
One major advantage of 3D printing – otherwise known as additive manufacturing – is that material only needs to be placed where it is required. Embracing the design freedom this opens up can lead to the creation of parts with notably organic appearances compared to their traditionally manufactured counterparts.
At the same time their performance can be just as good, if not better, with sharp reductions in mass and manufacturing time.

www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2019/06/Metal_3D-printed_Ariane_5_bracket
 

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24 June 2019
‘Flow forming’ shapes a metal in a single step and is being trialed to create rocket cylinders that are much cheaper and quicker to make.
Ten 3 m-diameter integrally stiffened cylinders – a size representative for launch vehicles like Vega and Ariane – have recently been produced in a project jointly funded by ESA’s Future Launchers Preparatory Programme (FLPP) and NASA Langley Research Center.

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/S...-efficient_manufacturing_for_rocket_cylinders
 

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More so, somewhat secretly until this week:

https://www.retalt.eu/

Not a ESA project - but if you look at the involved partners of the project, you might notice some similarities...

(Also RGClark might get a bit excited since the press release also shows a European SSTO...)

PS: And I should apply there for proof-reading the press releases. :D
 
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Its all a bit short on details to me. Do you think Santa Maria island is linked to this?
 

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Its all a bit short on details to me. Do you think Santa Maria island is linked to this?


Very likely, since the Callisto project also aims at using it. And yes, it is pretty early in the project, kickoff was in March 2019, but it has EU funding now.
 

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More so, somewhat secretly until this week:

https://www.retalt.eu/

Not a ESA project - but if you look at the involved partners of the project, you might notice some similarities...

(Also RGClark might get a bit excited since the press release also shows a European SSTO...)

PS: And I should apply there for proof-reading the press releases. :D

:thumbup:

B.C.
 

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http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/O...it_chosen_for_humankind_s_first_lunar_outpost

18 July 2019
Mission planners at NASA and ESA’s Operations Centre (ESOC) have spent months debating the pros and cons of different orbits, and have now decided on the path of the lunar Gateway.

Gateway with Orion over Moon
Like the International Space Station, the Gateway will be a permanent and changeable human outpost. Instead of circling our planet however, it will orbit the Moon, acting as a base for astronauts and robots exploring the lunar surface.
 

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http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/O...it_chosen_for_humankind_s_first_lunar_outpost

18 July 2019
Mission planners at NASA and ESA’s Operations Centre (ESOC) have spent months debating the pros and cons of different orbits, and have now decided on the path of the lunar Gateway.

Gateway with Orion over Moon
Like the International Space Station, the Gateway will be a permanent and changeable human outpost. Instead of circling our planet however, it will orbit the Moon, acting as a base for astronauts and robots exploring the lunar surface.
 

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1 August 2019
A satellite network that can zoom in on ships at sea and check for oil spills in almost real time has demonstrated its capabilities at a high-level international event in Brussels.
The demonstration of the capabilities of the European Data Relay System (EDRS) was made to delegates at the headquarters of the European External Action Service on 10 July.
Dubbed the “SpaceDataHighway” by its private operator Airbus, EDRS enables Earth-observation satellites to deliver their information to users on the ground in near real-time, accelerating response to emergency situations and spurring the development of new services and products.

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/T.../EDRS/Space_data_relay_system_shows_its_speed
 

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Deep Space Antenna 1 is ESA’s first 35-m deep dish, staring out to space to communicate with missions far from home.
Located 140 kilometres north of Perth, Western Australia, close to the village of New Norcia, this giant antenna is in the perfect spot to observe the skies.
“The Wadjarri people from the Murchison region refer to much of the milky way as the emu, as it resembles an emu stretched across the sky,” says Suzy Jackson, Maintenance & Operations Manager for the ground station.

http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2019/08/What_are_we_looking_at

http://estracknow.esa.int/#/2019-08

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Operations/Estrack/ESTRACK_now_-_the_guide
 

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20 September 2019
Your phone or satnav receiver routinely picks up signals from navigation satellites in order to tell you precisely where you are. But have you ever thought what happens to those satnav signals afterwards? A foresighted ESA inventor had the idea of using them as a tool for observing the Earth.
There are currently more than 120 satellite navigation satellites in orbit, making up multiple constellations including Europe’s Galileo system, sending down a continuous rain of satnav signals for the benefit of users worldwide. Just like visible light, these microwave signals go on to reflect off Earth’s land and sea surfaces.

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/S...f_Earth_from_reflected_satnav_invented_at_ESA
 

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18 October 2019
A full-scale model of ESA’s ExoMars rover that is due to travel to the red planet in 2020 has gone on display at the Design Museum in London.
The rover is named after British chemist and DNA pioneer Rosalind Franklin and the model version forms part of the museum’s “Moving to Mars” exhibition, which invites visitors to consider the design challenges of travelling to and living on another planet.

http://www.esa.int/ESA_in_your_coun...its_go_on_show_at_the_Design_Museum_in_London
 

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ESA’s Council at Ministerial Level, Space19+, has concluded in Seville, Spain, with the endorsement of the most ambitious plan to date for the future of ESA and the whole European space sector. The meeting brought together ministers with responsibility for space activities in Europe, along with Canada and observers from the EU.

Has approved the Space Rider project along with a lot of other stuff.

http://www.esa.int/About_Us/Corporate_news/ESA_ministers_commit_to_biggest_ever_budget
 
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