June 2015
Ultimate sunbather: NASA and ESA collaborate on Solar Orbiter
... to its very limits. It uses over 80 suppliers of major spacecraft parts from over 20 countries. The crucial Solar Orbiter structural test model is currently undergoing testing at a facility in Germany to ensure that all mechanical and thermal design...
October 2015
Down to Earth: how to deorbit satellites and save money
...safe all forms of stored energy — both propulsive and electrical — in order to avoid possible explosions or break-ups in orbit after the end-of-mission. This passivation procedure is relatively complicated, and can result in substantial cost in terms...
April 2019
The changing economics of space
...the range of operating conditions, both during launch and in orbit. Redundancy is usually built into each major spacecraft subsystem,...of re-lifing, for example in a new orbital location, or for orbit correction. The servicing process can then be ...
April 2020
European spaceports compete for recognition and business
.... And the Polish space sector seems to be busy with organisational and budget planning rather than sub-orbital spaceport considerations. Evaluating European spaceport options reveals that, surfing on the wave of excitement induced by US private space...
August 2020
Scorpion – a study of the possible
...improvement in satellite technology. But this new satellite technology is obliged to work within the limitations of a launch and in-orbit infrastructure that has not fundamentally changed since the early 1970s. Mark Hempsell’s Scorpion study suggests...
April 2021
Satellite servicing comes of age
...’ Liquid Apogee Engines (LAEs), a rocket used only at the beginning of a GEO satellite’s lifetime to place it in its final orbit. By utilising this near-universal feature, MEV-1 is able to dock with almost 80 percent of GEO satellites, even though...
