Missions under construction!

[ChrisSpace]

[Frida Space]

Cool video of another satellite which has just finished construction and testing and will launch in June, ESA's Sentinel 2:

[B787_300]

Don't forget BEAM going to the ISS...

[Frida Space]

Don't forget BEAM going to the ISS...

http://i1077.photobucket.com/albums/w474/SpaceKSCBlog/Misc/Packaged%20BEAM_zpsnndzacka.jpg

Yes thanks, I think someone had already posted it I'll update the main thread as soon as I have a computer in front of me

[Frida Space]

ESA's Solar Orbiter mission is due for launch in 2017, and should be well into construction by now, but I haven't been able to find any photos.

Just in: Solar Orbiter launch date moved to Oct 2018

And an image, finally!

[xenomorph555]

I found another image of hardware that will be used for Chang'e 5.

This is an Expedition-2 advanced upper stage, they are going to be used on LM-5 flights to GEO but for Chang'e 5 it will be heavily modified to make the probes orbital module.

[Frida Space]

I found another image of hardware that will be used for Chang'e 5.

This is an Expedition-2 advanced upper stage, they are going to be used on LM-5 flights to GEO but for Chang'e 5 it will be heavily modified to make the probes orbital module.

http://www.spacechina.com/n25/n144/n206/n214/c897960/part/897970.jpg

Cool! By the way, here is a cool pic of ESA's LISA Pathinder:

And here some photos of ESA's Entry, Descent and Landing (EDL) Demostration Module (the Schiaparelli Lander which will land on Mars in 2016) being mated to the Trace Gas Orbiter.

The final product:

The Trace Gas Orbiter prior to mating:

[Kryten]

As a reminder that most missions aren't scientific probes or space station modules, here's the payload on what's currently the next scheduled orbital launch, THOR 7;

it's going up with another communications sat called SICRAL 2, but it's for the french and italian militaries so no images are being released of it.

[Frida Space]

As a reminder that most missions aren't scientific probes or space station modules, here's the payload on what's currently the next scheduled orbital launch, THOR 7;

Cool! That guy with the blue wire running out of him...

[Frida Space]

I updated the original post with images and new updates, however a lot is still missing.

[Kryten]

Here's the base body structure for the Chandrayaan 2 orbiter;

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=20324.0;attach=1031554;image

[Frida Space]

Here's the base body structure for the Chandrayaan 2 orbiter;

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=20324.0;attach=1031554;image

Thanks Kryten! I'll upload this to the main post asaic

[CptRichardson]

Cool! That guy with the blue wire running out of him...

Might be that they're running a neutral gas atmosphere in there, and that's his personal air line.

[Selvaarchi]

lots of cool staff from NASA and ESA as well as on the moon Indian mission. Do not see many mention what the three big Asian space nations are doing in the next three months. I posted this on the cosmoquest.org exploration forum and am now sharing it with you. Hope one of you might give more information on them.

"Wow, talk about a coincidence. Within the next three months China, India and Japan, will each be launching an astronomy satellite. This can only be good for space exploration.

1st off is India with their Astrosat. India's first dedicated astronomy satellite to be launched next month or October.

Then both China and Japan will launch theirs in November.

China with their DAMPE (DArk Matter Particle Explore)It is one of the five satellite missions in the framework of the Strategic Pioneer Research Program in Space Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

Japan with their (also known as NeXT for New X-ray Telescope) .ASTRO-H will be the heaviest Japanese astronomy mission so far.

Well done Asia Keep it coming. "

[Frida Space]

Quick updates on LISA Pathfinder, ExoMars 2016 and 2018 rover and OSIRIS-REx.

- LISA Pathfinder has arrived at the Kourou launch site in French Guyana. We now have an official launch date: December 2, 2015. Latest update

- Due to faulty pressure sensors, ExoMars 2016 (Schiaparelli EDM + TGO orbiter)'s launch has been moved from Jan to March 2016. The sensors have been removed as they were simply unnecessary. Latest update

- Scientists and engineers from all over Europe and Russia have gathered in Noordwijk, Netherlands, to select a potential landing site for the ExoMars 2018 rover (which I should probably start calling the ExoMars 2020 rover, as I have a feeling it's not going to make it in time). The choice was between Aram Dorsum, Hypanis Vallis, Mawrth Vallis and Oxia Planum. The winner was Oxia Planum, with Aram Dorsum and Mawrth Vallis recommended as second choices. On a side note, Mawrth Vallis is also among the 8 potential landing sites for NASA's 2020 rover. Latest update

- Meanwhile, Lockheed Martin has completed NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft construction. The program is now entering the environmental testing phase and will be shipped to Cape Canaveral in May 2016 for a September 2016 launch. Latest update

- - - Updated - - -

lots of cool staff from NASA and ESA as well as on the moon Indian mission. Do not see many mention what the three big Asian space nations are doing in the next three months. I posted this on the cosmoquest.org exploration forum and am now sharing it with you. Hope one of you might give more information on them.

Don't know how I managed to miss this post, but thanks. Many useful info and links

Edited October 21, 2015 by Frida Space

[cryogen]

As a reminder that most missions aren't scientific probes or space station modules, here's the payload on what's currently the next scheduled orbital launch, THOR 7;

Cool! That guy with the blue wire running out of him...

Cool! That guy with the blue wire running out of him...

Might be that they're running a neutral gas atmosphere in there, and that's his personal air line.

Those are "SCAPE suits", used when working with highly toxic rocket fuel (i.e., hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide). They're at positive pressure for leak safety (just like biohazard suits). The blue hoses are air supplies.

So that photo was likely taken when they were fueling the satellite before launch.

http://sci.esa.int/rosetta/33116-scape-suit-training-is-given-by-the-csg-safety/

http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20110008456.pdf

Some more views (click for sources + captions):

(Photo credits: ESA/CNES/Arianespace/Optique vidéo du CSG, and P. Baudon)

Edited October 22, 2015 by cryogen

[PB666]

http://www.engadget.com/2015/10/24/osiris-rex-complete/?

[CelticCossack51]

The ISRO plans to send its Aditya satellite to the sun by late 2015-2016.

[Frida Space]

^ Cool! Thanks @cryogen and @CelticCossack51. Thanks for the link @PB666, I updated the main post.

I thought I'd post it here: ESA has simulated post-landing operations with a 1/2 scale model of the ExoMars 2018 rover. Basically what happened is controllers at ESTEC, in the Netherlands, controlled a rover in Tolouse's Mars Yard, without knowing its exact location or what were its surroundings. They made the cameras take a 360 degree panorama to create a digital reconstruction of the terrain and then decided which side to come down from the landing module and where to explore first.

The only article I could find is this very detailed one in Italian, Google translate does a pretty decent job: http://www.pollucenotizie.com/2015/10/290.html

----- update -----

An update:

Edited October 30, 2015 by Frida Space

[Streetwind]

EDIT: apparently the picture I included broke, so have this original source instead. I will not hotlink this one because it's something like 4K resolution.

 

Recognize what this is?

That's the 18-segment, 6.5m diameter primary mirror of the most expensive payload ever, the James Webb Space Telescope. It is now fully assembled. That is one of the largest milestones in the entire project, and the team is ecstatic about getting it done.

Scheduled launch is still 2018, onboard a European Ariane 5 ECA heavy lift rocket, contributed by ESA to the project as part of the international cooperation effort.

Edited February 8, 2016 by Streetwind

[Scotius]

Safest, most reliable launcher in existence. JWT is in good hands (^_^)b

[Frida Space]

A few, excting updates from this past week on what are bound to be some of the main actors in space exploration in a few years time.

NASA's Solar Probe Plus mission, launching on July 30th, 2018, has entered the assembly, integration, test and launch phase, which includes finishing the spacecraft bus, installing the scientific instruments, testing everything under launch and deep space conditions, and liftoff.

NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission, which will embark on a two-way trip to asteroid Bennu on September 8th, 2016, has passed its latests tests, which were aimed at simulating the communications with the spacecraft once it will be millions of miles away. The tests were performed at MIL-71 at KSC.

ESA and JAXA's BepiColombo mission, Mercury-bound, will soon undergo its last acceptance tests ahead of its shipping to the launch site. Weirdly, the latest update says the mission remains on track for its launch window in April 2018; however, the update prior to that said the launch had been postponed to the beginning of 2017, so I'm assuming it has been postponed again to April 2018 without any official press release (or at least, one that I could find).