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Antrix Corporation, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation, has successfully launched two satellites on behalf of Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL). The first satellite, dubbed the NovaSAR-1, is a Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite that will be used for monitoring Earth from Space. The NovaSAR-1 is on a technology demonstration mission that is desi...

The European Space Agency’s Aeolus wind sensing satellite has made the long journey to the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou and has been loaded into its launch vehicle. It is scheduled to be launched on 21st August. Aeolus is designed to observe global wind profiles on a daily basis and in real-time. Built by Airbus, Aelous will be equipped with a LIDAR instrument named Aladin....

Boeing is looking to step up its presence in the small satellite market by acquiring Millenium Space Systems, a developer and manufacturer of satellites for military applications. Milennium’s AQUILA small satellite is used by the US Air Force for classified projects. It also produces the ALTAIR Pathfinder spacecraft, currently actively working a mission in space, which is is...

The Airbus Zephyr S HAPS (High Altitude Pseudo-Satellite) vehicle has successfully landed after its maiden flight. The Zephyr had spent a record-breaking 25 days aloft, the longest flight ever made. The Zephyr is solar-powered and flies in the stratosphere, well above the weather and regular air traffic, acting as a cross between a satellite, a UAV and a conventional aircraf...

Boeing will open a new R&D centre of excellence that will focus on designing, building and flying autonomous air vehicles. The new 100k sq ft facility will be situated in Cambridge, Massachusetts on a new campus belonging to Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) and will open in 2020. Autonomy is all the rage in many industries at the moment and aviation is no differ...

The Space industry is poised for huge growth in the next few years as new technologies bring down the cost of launch significantly and more and more applications for satellites become viable. The UK is well placed to capitalise on this trend due to a strong position in satellites and related applications, as well as hosting a number of innovative start-ups and a wealth of sp...

Virgin Galactic’s Unity spacecraft undertook a third successful rocket-powered flight last week. This test flight saw the spacecraft go faster and higher than it has ever done before. In fact, Unity reached the Mesosphere for the first time by hitting an apogee of 170,800ft. Unity was taken up to 46,500 ft by a carrier aircraft. Once released, the vehicle pulled into a near ...

SIx years after the merger of Airbus and BAE was shot down by Angela Merkel, the idea is back in the news. Tom Enders, Airbus Chief Executive, has seemingly revived the idea, this time just focused on the merger of Airbus’ and BAE Systems fighter jet programme, after he remarked that it was time to “seriously look at consolidating and coalescing efforts eventually to one”. E...

Airbus’ Zephyr S High-Altitude-Pseudo-Satellite (HAPS) has achieved a new endurance flight record without refuelling after staying aloft for 14 days, 22 minutes and 8 seconds. The Zephyr started its maiden flight on July 11 from Arizona. The Zephyr is designed to operate in the stratosphere at an average altitude of 70,00ft for a range of applications such as surveillance an...

Electric flight was all the rage this week at Farnborough. Government Support For Electric Flight First up, the Business and Energy Secretary announced that the aerospace sector will be awarded £343m in funding in order to usher in a new era of cleaner flight. The pot will be split between a £255m tranche for new R&D projects, £68m to support small and medium-sized enterpris...