PARIS (ESA PR) — The notion of living in a bubble is usually associated with negative connotations, but all life on Earth is dependent on the safe bubble created by our magnetic field. Understanding how the field is generated, how it protects us and how it sometimes gives way to charged particles from the solar wind is not just a matter of scientific interest, but also a matter of safety. Using information from ESA’s Cluster and Swarm missions along with measurements from the ground, scientists have, for the first time, been able to confirm that curiously named bursty bulk flows are directly connected to abrupt changes in the magnetic field near Earth’s surface, which can cause damage to pipelines and electrical power lines.

Editor’s Note: Although NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program has awarded a grant for Steven Collicott to fly as a researcher on SpaceShipTwo, the space agency has yet to approve Virgin Galactic’s spacecraft or Blue Origin’s New Shepard vehicle to carry agency-funded researchers. Those technical reviews are on-going at the moment. It’s unclear when approvals might be given. Virgin Galactic is scheduled to complete its flight test program next summer and begin flying paying passengers in the fourth quarter of 2022.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (Purdue University PR) — Purdue University’s Steven Collicott was 8 years old when he saw Neil Armstrong step onto the moon and dreamed of reaching the stars. Now, both he and his research are going to make a giant leap into space aboard a Virgin Galactic craft.

Collicott, a professor of aerospace engineering in the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, was selected Wednesday to receive an award by NASA’s Flight Opportunities program giving him the chance to fly into suborbital space and back on a Virgin Galactic craft while conducting a zero-gravity experiment.

With its recent 17^th flight, the Red Planet rotorcraft reaches an airborne milestone the team never considered achievable. Its 18^th flight is scheduled for no earlier than today.

PASADENA, Calif. (NASA PR) — The 17^th flight of NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter on Dec. 5 pushed the total flight time past the 30-minute mark. The 117-second sortie brought history’s first aircraft to operate from the surface of another world closer to its original airfield, “Wright Brothers Field,” where it will await the arrival of the agency’s Perseverance Mars rover, currently exploring “South Séítah” region of Mars’ Jezero Crater.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Space Perspective PR) — Space Perspective, the world’s leading luxury spaceflight experience company, today announced that it has selected Florida’s Space Coast Spaceport in Titusville, Florida as the location for the company’s worldwide campus and manufacturing complex.

PARIS (CNES PR) — With a view to preparing for the future, the development of new dense and energetic propellants (HEDM) is one of the avenues to be explored to optimize the performance of launchers.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Redwire PR) — Redwire Corporation (NYSE: RDW), a leader in space infrastructure for the next generation space economy, is launching four payloads on SpaceX’s 24th cargo resupply services (CRS) mission for NASA to the International Space Station (ISS) focused on advanced materials manufacturing and plant science experiments in low-Earth orbit. SpaceX CRS-24 mission is scheduled to lift off on Tuesday, December 21 at 5:06 a.m. EST from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

HOUSTON (NASA PR) — NASA has assigned two crew members to launch on the agency’s SpaceX Crew-6 mission – the sixth crew rotation flight aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station.

NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg will serve as spacecraft commander and pilot, respectively, for the mission. The agency’s international partners will assign additional crew members as mission specialists in the future.

SpaceX Starship Super Heavy Operations at the Kennedy Space Center
NASA Fact Sheet

Project Description

Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) submitted a proposal to expand its Starship/Super Heavy program operations at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). This proposal was submitted through the Land Use Notice of Availability (NOA) process to construct and operate a new launch complex (LC-49) as well as expand SpaceX’s existing operations near Roberts Road.  

Euroconsult announced the winners of its Finspace award during the final days of its flagship World Satellite Business Week in Paris.

PARIS, WASHINGTON, MONTREAL, YOKOHOMA, SYDNEY, TOULOUS France, 16 December 2021 – Euroconsult, the leading consulting firm specialising in the space sector and satellite markets, announced the winners of the Finspace competition at the 2021 World Satellite Business Week (WSBW) held at the Westin Hotel in Paris. A staple of the WSBW since its inception in 2017, Finspace acknowledges the year’s most avant-garde and innovative start-ups in the space sector.

Companies taking part in the Finspace competition benefit from an exceptional networking opportunity with Euroconsult’s executive level network in attendance at the event, as well as peer-level exchange of best-practices and experience. Finspace assesses companies from a comprehensive spectrum within the value chains of Satellite manufacturing or subsystems, Access to space, Satellite operations, Space traffic management and awareness, Ground segment & end user terminals, Downstream services (Satcom, EO, Information, Navigation) and Software..

India is delaying its planned launch of its Gaganyaan crew vehicle due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. India Today reports:

India’s maiden space mission, Gaganyaan, will be launched in 2023, Science & Technology Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said on Thursday. In reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, the minister said that India’s maiden human space mission will soar to the skies in 2023, making the country the fourth nation in the world to launch a human spaceflight mission after the US, Russia and China.

Meanwhile, the test vehicle flight for the validation of Crew Escape System performance and the first uncrewed mission of Gaganyaan are scheduled at the beginning of the second half of 2022.

“This will be followed by the second uncrewed mission at the end of 2022 carrying “Vyommitra” a spacefaring human-robot developed by ISRO and finally the first crewed Gaganyaan mission in 2023,” he said.

CULVER CITY, Calif. (Amazon Studios PR) — Prime Video and William Shatner today announced that Shatner in Space, a one-hour special, premiered on Prime Video on Wednesday, December 15 in the U.S., Canada, UK, Australia, and New Zealand, with additional territories launching in early 2022. The announcement was first made by Mr. Shatner during a virtual panel for CCXP Worlds, the virtual version of the world’s largest fan convention in São Paulo, Brazil.

PARIS (ESA PR) — ESA’s Vega-C launch vehicle will fly in the second quarter of 2022 offering more performance to all orbits and extended mission flexibility at a similar cost to the current Vega. A new contract aims to widen these mission capabilities to capture new opportunities and satisfy emerging market needs to 2027.