LE BOURGET, France -  Two major figures in the European space industry on Monday backed plans to modify the Ariane 5 rocket to help it shoot larger satellites into orbit. The head of the European Space Agency, Jean-Jacques Dordain, said he would ask ESA member states for fast-track approval to have the modification carried out by the end of 2015. "The proposal has been made, and this week or next week we will be discussing at the next (ESA) Launchers Programme Board," he told a press conference a...

Le Bourget -  Today, at the International Aeronautics and Space Show in Le Bourget (Paris), Thales Alenia Space announces the signing of the agreement with Swiss Space System (S3) for the development of the pressurized compartment intended to house scientific experiments and astronauts of the SOAR (Sub-Orbital Aircraft Reusable) suborbital vehicle. Swiss Space Systems is a young Swiss aerospace company whose goal, from now until 2018, is the development, construction, certification and operation of sub...

REDONDO BEACH, Calif. -  Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) and teammate ATK (NYSE:ATK) have completed manufacturing of the backplane support frame (BSF) for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. Northrop Grumman is under contract to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., for the design and development of the Webb Telescope's optics, sunshield and spacecraft. When combined with the center section and wings, the BSF will form the primary mirror backplane support structure (PMBSS). In M...

ESA’s fourth Automated Transfer Vehicle, Albert Einstein, completed a flawless rendezvous with the International Space Station on 15 June when it docked smoothly with orbital outpost at 14:07 GMT (16:07 CEST). The Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) is now connected to the Space Station. “Bravo Europe, bravo ESA, bravo ATV. Thank you Member States, thank you industry, thank you CNES, thank you Russian partner,” commented Jean-Jacques Dordain, Director General of ESA. ...

ESA’s fourth Automated Transfer Vehicle, ATV Albert Einstein, is set to conduct an autonomous docking with the International Space Station on 15 June. The vessel will deliver scientific experiments, vital supplies and fuel to the astronauts. ATV-4 was launched by a powerful Ariane 5 rocket on 5 June into a highly precise injection orbit at an altitude of 259.5 km.  By Saturday, ATV-4 will have completed a series of phasing manoeuvres – a set of thruster burns – ...