AckSed Posted October 31, 2024 Share Posted October 31, 2024 (edited) ESA asking Italian Spanish company, Pangea Aerospace, to design Kronos, a 2MN, possibly full-flow staged-combustion engine for them. For reference, they are the company that are developing a small aerospike: https://europeanspaceflight.com/esa-taps-pangea-aerospace-to-design-very-high-thrust-engine/ I hope they can do it, but making a Raptor- or BE-4-class rocket engine is a big ask. Bringing in a welter of smaller companies, and that The Exploration Company is also planning a similar engine also seems like a mistake. Edited October 31, 2024 by AckSed Correction of nationality Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AckSed Posted November 11, 2024 Share Posted November 11, 2024 The two cubesats inside Hera successfully phone home: https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Hera/Hera_asteroid_mission_s_CubeSat_passengers_signal_home Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AckSed Posted November 23, 2024 Share Posted November 23, 2024 More on The Exploration Company: https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/11/how-real-is-this-european-space-startup-that-aims-to-launch-astronauts/ https://payloadspace.com/european-space-capsule-biz-wins-160m-round/ Quote The Exploration Company got a little more free ranging yesterday, announcing a $160M Series B that puts the European firm on track to send a cargo space capsule to the ISS by 2028. I can sorta see the capsule coming to pass, and the management is certainly aware of how little time they have. I choose to hope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darthgently Posted November 23, 2024 Share Posted November 23, 2024 50 minutes ago, AckSed said: More on The Exploration Company: https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/11/how-real-is-this-european-space-startup-that-aims-to-launch-astronauts/ https://payloadspace.com/european-space-capsule-biz-wins-160m-round/ I can sorta see the capsule coming to pass, and the management is certainly aware of how little time they have. I choose to hope. I was going to post that first link here but it was private, not ESA, so I put it in science news. Seems promising, good leadership with a track record, interested investors. I hope it works out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AckSed Posted December 9, 2024 Share Posted December 9, 2024 (edited) The LUNA regolith simulator is up and running. First test: banging rocks together. Second test: dragging sensors over the rocks. Edited December 9, 2024 by AckSed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AckSed Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 ESA aiming to launch a cubesat in 2027 to Earth-Luna L2, to track the flashes of micrometeorites impacting the dark side of the Moon's surface: https://www.eoportal.org/satellite-missions/lumio This is a really clever idea, and should give a measurement of the frequency of MM impacts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darthgently Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 1 hour ago, AckSed said: ESA aiming to launch a cubesat in 2027 to Earth-Luna L2, to track the flashes of micrometeorites impacting the dark side of the Moon's surface: https://www.eoportal.org/satellite-missions/lumio This is a really clever idea, and should give a measurement of the frequency of MM impacts. And the flashes should be quite visible on the dark side <ducking> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darthgently Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 What could go wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCgothic Posted February 4 Author Share Posted February 4 I would love ESA and Europe's space sector to get its act together and lift its game, for all the reasons in that article. I'm seeing no evidence it has any clue how to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AckSed Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 ESA spooling up its own robotic lunar lander plans: https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Exploration/Argonaut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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