TOKYO (JAXA PR) — The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has examined the application documents submitted by 4,127 applicants for astronaut candidate recruitment, and as a result, the following document selection passers have been determined. Number of successful applicants for document selection: 2,266 Breakdown 1,778 male (78.5%) 485 female (21.4%), 3 other (0.1%) Breakdown of Astronaut Candidates by Age Group Who Passed Document Selection Age Group Successful Applicants (Document Selection) […]

TOKYO (JAXA PR) — The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has sent users to the mission equipment installed on the outboard experiment platform of the Japanese Experiment Module “Kibo” at the International Space Station (ISS). We have built and operated the “Kibo” external operation management system on the cloud, which enables connection and operation from outside the JAXA Tsukuba Space Center such as offices and laboratories via a secure network.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. (NASA PR) — An international crew of astronauts is en route to the International Space Station following a successful launch on the first NASA-certified commercial human spacecraft system in history. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission lifted off at 7:27 p.m. EST Sunday from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

TOKYO (JAXA PR) — Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has selected, following public solicitation, and signed an agreement with Space BD Inc. who provides private companies and universities with piggyback launch opportunities for their small satellites when JAXA launches its own satellites using H-IIA and H3 launch vehicles.

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

The sooner NASA can decide the future of the International Space Station (ISS), the easier it will be for the space agency to pursue its Artemis program to return astronauts to the moon by 2020, according to a new report from its Office of Inspector General (OIG).

“Whether NASA decides to extend, increase commercialization of, or retire the ISS, the timing of each of these decisions has a cascading effect on the funding available to support space flight operations in low Earth orbit, ambitions for establishing a permanent presence on the Moon, and ultimately sending humans to Mars,” the report stated.

HOUSTON (NASA PR) — The 19th SpaceX Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-19) contract mission for NASA carries a variety of cutting-edge scientific experiments to the International Space Station. The Dragon cargo spacecraft blasts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on a Falcon 9 rocket no earlier than Dec. 4, 2019.

Its payloads include investigations studying malting barley in microgravity, the spread of fire and bone and muscle loss, which will be added to the dozens of research projects already under way aboard the microgravity lab.

PARIS (Arianespace PR) — Arianespace and the European Space Agency (ESA) today announced the signature of a launch services contract with a Soyuz launch vehicle for the EarthCARE satellite.

EarthCARE (Cloud, Aerosol and Radiation Explorer) satellite – the sixth mission in ESA’s Earth Explorer program – will advance our understanding of the role clouds and aerosols play in reflecting incident solar radiation back into space and trapping infrared radiation emitted from Earth’s surface.