October 2019
Time to overcome the expendable rocket mindset
... to the third vehicle in the development sequence - Spacecab, a two-stage spaceplane with a lower stage somewhat like Ascender but scaled up by a factor of four to about the same size as the Concorde aircraft. Even if it were still in production...
01 September 2016
New software uses satellite data to monitor wildlife habitats by airports
... trained field personnel during site visits, pointing out the most problematic areas. Registering a lake in Ascend As early as next year, Ascend plants to extend their service to help locate objects that exceed height restrictions in designated areas...
May 2024
Spaceflight revolution on a shoestring
... space. Commercial markets that have so far become profitable involve transporting only small amounts of mass The ‘Ascender’ two-seat suborbital spaceplane is intended to serve as a lead-in to Spacecab and is like a quarter-scale Spacecab lower stage...
June 2021
China’s ascending commercial space sector
The 2020s have already proved to be an unprecedented decade in many ways. The first 16 months brought a global pandemic, economic changes, progressive digitisation and, oddly enough, increased interest in the space sector. The western space sector ...
23 November 2020
China's lunar sample return mission to launch tonight
... with a mechanical arm and by drilling through the regolith up to a depth of two metres. After sampling is complete, the ascender will transfer the collected materials to the re-entry module waiting overhead in a lunar orbit. The re-entry is then...
30 November 2020
Chang'e 5 separates from spacecraft, prepares for a lunar soft landing
...collection of samples from an extraterrestrial body. The lander-ascender combination of the spacecraft separated from its orbiter-returner ... ground control is normal, CNSA said. The lander-ascender combination will execute a soft landing on the moon ...
