Orbital Propulsion Team members in SCAPE suits. (Credit: Orbital Sciences Corporation)

WALLOPS ISLAND, VA (Orbital PR) — While all eyes have been on Antares in the recent weeks, our Cygnus spacecraft has achieved many significant firsts as it prepares for its maiden voyage to the International Space Station. After initial cargo installation at Wallops Flight Facility building H-100 and the first-time mating of the Cygnus Service and Cargo Modules, Cygnus completed its next milestone by completing its Launch-Site Integrated Systems Test and its transfer from the Wallops Main Base to the Wallops Fueling Facility, on Wallops Island, just north of the Antares launch site.

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Jean-Yves Le Gall

PARIS (CNES PR) — The French government has appointed Jean-Yves Le Gall as the new President of the Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES), the French space agency.

Born in 1959, Jean-Yves Le Gall graduated from the École Supérieure d’Optique engineering school in 1981 and obtained a doctorate in engineering from Paris-Sud University in 1983. He began his career in 1981 as a CNES grantee/researcher at the LAS space astronomy laboratory, attached to the French scientific research centre CNRS.

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ARLINGTON, Va., April 22, 2013 (ATK PR) — ATK (NYSE: ATK) was awarded a contract to support the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va. for the Space Enabled Effects for Military Engagements (SeeMe) program.

SeeMe seeks to develop enabling technologies to provide reliable surveillance data to the warfighter in the field, using small, low-cost satellites that are launched quickly to support the speed of military operations.

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Video Caption: SpaceX’s Grasshopper flies 820 feet, more than tripling its March 7th leap. Grasshopper is a 10-story Vertical Takeoff Vertical Landing (VTVL) vehicle that SpaceX has designed to test the technologies needed to return a rocket back to Earth intact. While most rockets are designed to burn up in the atmosphere during reentry, SpaceX’s rockets are being designed to return to the launch pad for a vertical landing.

NEW YORK, Monday, 22nd April 2013 (Mars One PR) — Mars One is happy to announce the launch of its astronaut selection program today. The search has begun for the first humans to set foot on Mars and make it their home.

Mars One invites would-be Mars settlers from anywhere in the world to submit an online application via apply.mars-one.com.

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Uwingu’s name the Earth-like planet around alpha Centauri contest ends tonight at midnight Eastern Time. There is still time to get your votes in for your favorite names. Rakhat and Caleo are currently the top two names. Votes cost 99 cents. Up to half of the proceeds of each nomination and each vote will go toward The Uwingu Fund, which will provide grants to scientists, educators and others to conduct […]

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., APRIL 22, 2013 (Space Florida) – Today, Space Florida announced a public workshop to determine projects that will be named in the organization’s Spaceport Master Plan. The plan, compiled every two to three years, provides information to guide Space Florida in its efforts to modernize and expand infrastructure at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. The workshop will take place on Friday, April 26 at the Cape Canaveral Port Authority Chambers and will allow stakeholders to help identify aerospace-related projects that may be considered for funding from the Florida Department of Transportation.

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SEATTLE, WA, April 21, 2013 (Spaceflight PR) — Spaceflight Inc. (Spaceflight) announced today that it successfully deployed five CubeSats from two different launch vehicles that were launched from two different continents.

On Friday April 19, 2013, the Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicle successfully lifted off from its pad in Baikonur to insert the Bion-M1 satellite into orbit. The Bion-M1 spacecraft is a biological research satellite that carried a host of experiments aimed at researching how to make life in space easier and healthier for astronauts.

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This week on The Space Show with David Livingston…. 1. Monday, April 22, 2013, 2-3:30 PM PST (5-6:30 PM EST, 4-5:30 PM CST): No show today as I am teaching my UND Space Studies class. 2. Tuesday, April 23 2013 2013, 7-8:30 PM PST (10-11:30 PM EST, 9-10:30 PM CST): No program as I am still in Los Angeles. The Open Line show planned for tonight will be rescheduled as […]

Arlington, Va., April 21, 2013 (ATK PR) – ATK’s CASTOR® 30 upper stage solid rocket motor supported the successful flight of Orbital Sciences Corporation’s (NYSE:ORB) Antares rocket as it lifted off from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia at 5:00 p.m. EDT with the Cygnus mass simulator payload. This was the test flight of the new Antares launch vehicle.

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