Tag Archives: Space Launch

Space IL has successfully launched the first private spacecraft to the Moon. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida on Thursday, 21 February 2019, carrying the Beresheet spacecraft. Beresheet, meaning beginning or genesis in Hebrew, will land on the lunar surface in approximately sixty days and will make Israel the fourth country to land a spacecraft on the Moon.

The head of the French national space agency, the Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES), Jean-Yves Le Gall, spoke at the French-Russian seminar organized by GIFAS, the French aerospace industries association, at the Espace Hamelin in Paris on 30 January 2019.

Thailand's mu Space is heading for the Final Frontier as it announced plans to participate in projects with the U.S. space agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and space exploration initiatives. The announcement, that came during the Pacific Telecommunications Council’s (PTC) conference earlier this week, saw mu Space CEO and Founder James Yenbamroong set out his stall in terms of his future vision for the company.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is aiming for the first crewed Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission to take place in December 2021.

The Indian government announced on 28 December 2018 that its Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission expected to take place in 2022 will consist of three crew members, last for five to seven days in orbit, and is budgeted for the equivalent of U.S.$1.43 billion, according to Indian media reports.

Israeli not-for-profit SpaceIL and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) completed the construction of the SpaceIL lunar lander and, in a ceremony at IAI facilities prior to being shipped to Cape Canaveral, placed a time capsule on board the spacecraft that will stay on the Moon indefinitely.

The Russian state space corporation Roscosmos has been accused by a Russian journalist of spending "billions on space but kopecks" on the engineering talent required for the sustainable and long-term success of Russia's space ambitions.

China successfully launched its Chang'e 4 lunar probe on Saturday, 8 December 2018, as part of its overall goal to establish itself as a global space power and spread its strategic influence throughout Eurasia.

Nine U.S. companies are nows eligible to bid on NASA delivery services to the lunar surface through Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contracts, as one of the first steps toward long-term scientific study and human exploration of the Moon and eventually Mars.

It’s been nearly half a century since humans left footprints on the moon and during that time human space exploration has largely centered on manned low-Earth orbit missions and unmanned scientific exploration. But now, high levels of private funding, advances in technology, and growing public-sector interest is renewing the call to look toward the stars.