Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News

December 30, 2013

Russia launches upgraded Soyuz rocket
Moscow (Voice of Russia) Dec 29, 2013
Russia launched an upgraded version of its Soyuz rocket on Saturday, successfully delivering a scientific satellite into space. The Soyuz-2.1v light class rocket includes a new engine design. "The operational crew at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome (in Russia's Arkhangelsk Region) has successfully conducted a unique launch of a light-class Soyuz-2.1v rocket carrier with Volga upper stage and Aist spacecraft," Russia's Defense Ministry said. The Soyuz-2.1v blasted off at 12:30 GMT, with the Aist sate ... read more

Previous Issues

Dec 27

Dec 26

Dec 25

Dec 24

Dec 23

Space trips open to Chinese travelers Chinese travelers will be able to take space trips by the end of 2014 thanks to an agreement signed on Friday in Beijing between a Chinese travel agency and Netherlands-based space tourism firm Spac ... more		Russian cosmonauts Kotov and Ryazansky complete ISS spacewalk Two Russian cosmonauts who last month carried the Olympic torch into open space for the first time finished a spacewalk on Saturday to replace equipment on the outside of the International Space Sta ... more		Russian Rocket Puts Telecoms Satellite Into Orbit A Russian Proton-M heavy-lift rocket put a government communications satellite into orbit on Thursday in the final launch of the year for the Russian space industry. The rocket lifted off at 2 ... more
				Work on NASA's New Orion Spacecraft Progresses as Engineers Pivot to 2014 Orion's first mission, Exploration Flight Test-1, or EFT-1, is less than a year away now, and the team building the spacecraft is meeting milestones left and right as they prepare the vehicle for it ... more		The Athena-Fidus satellite is readied for Arianespace first heavy-lift mission of 2014 The multi-role Athena-Fidus satellite has completed initial checkout at the Spaceport as it is readied for a dual-payload, geostationary transfer orbit launch on Arianespace's first flight in 2014. ... more

Curious Results from Mars NASA's Curiosity rover touched down on Mars with dramatic style in August, 2012. Now that the rover has spent more than a year exploring the martian surface, scientific data from the mission is star ... more		Laser Demonstration Reveals Bright Future for Space Communication The completion of the 30-day Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration or LLCD mission has revealed that the possibility of expanding broadband capabilities in space using laser communications is as b ... more		EU states to hold talks on 'drone wall' to protect bloc Denmark military intel fails to identify source of drone flights Lithuania eases rules on shooting down drones		Official: Iran to Send Astronaut into Space in 2024 Head of Iran's Space System Research Center Mohammad Ebrahimi underscored the countries' rapid growth in aerospace industries, and said that Iran plans to launch an explorer which can carry astronom ... more
				First launch of new Soyuz rocket with redesigned engine delayed A test launch of a Russian Soyuz rocket with a new engine design has been delayed until 2014, officials said without specifying a new date. ... more		Station's Replacement Pump Successfully Restarted Following Two Spacewalks To Replace A Degraded Pump Module On The Truss, Or Backbone, Of The International Space Station, Flight Controllers In The Mission Control Center At Nasa's Johnson Space Cen ... more

CubeSats, SmallSats and MicroSats

International Conference on Protection of Materials and Structures From Space Environment

Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison & Memory Foam Mattress Review

China's moon rover "sleeps" through lunar night The moon rover and lander of China's Chang'e 3 lunar probe mission will "sleep" during the lunar night, enduring extreme low temperatures on the lunar surface. According to Wu Fenglei of the B ... more		Dwarf Planet Ceres - 'A Game Changer in the Solar System' In March of 2015, NASA's Dawn mission will arrive at the dwarf planet Ceres, the first of the smaller class of planets to be discovered and the closest to Earth. Ceres, which orbits the Sun in the a ... more		NASA ISRO radar satellite beams first Earth images from space Morocco High Atlas whistle language strives for survival China warns Papua New Guinea over Australian defence deal		ISRO end year on high note after Mars mission The successful launch of India's first inter-planetary Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), the sending up of India's first navigation satellite midnight, the launch of the Indo-French satellite SARAL, and s ... more
				Spacewalk ends, station fix a success NASA astronauts on Tuesday successfully wrapped up a Christmas Eve spacewalk to make repairs at the orbiting International Space Station, the US space agency said. ... more		JAXA plans to test new large rocket from 2020 The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency plans to launch a new large-scale test rocket in fiscal 2020 and another the following year. The rocket, provisionally dubbed H-III, is a successor to JA ... more

The Athena-Fidus satellite is readied for Arianespace first heavy-lift mission of 2014

Boeing, Energia Achieve Mixed Results in Counterclaims

Russian Rocket Puts Telecoms Satellite Into Orbit

Curious Results from Mars

Mars One mission: one way ticket to new life

Mars Express heading towards daring flyby of Phobos

China's moon rover "sleeps" through lunar night

Will the Moon be carved-up?

NASA Releases New Earthrise Simulation Video

The Sounds of New Horizons

On the Path to Pluto, 5 AU and Closing

SwRI study finds that Pluto satellites' orbital ballet may hint of long-ago collisions

	Boeing, Energia Achieve Mixed Results in Counterclaims A US federal court on Wednesday granted in part and denied in part a motion by American aerospace and defense conglomerate Boeing to dismiss counterclaims filed by Russian space giant Energia in Boe ... more		Boeing Completes Mission Control Center Interface Test For the first time, the Mission Control Center (MCC) at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston has tested communications with a commercial, crew-capable spacecraft, as The Boeing Company conducted a ... more		Lockheed Martin Team Moves Forward In DARPA Robotics Challenge Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Laboratories (ATL) recently completed the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Robotics Challenge trials at the Homestead-Miami Speedway. The Lockhee ... more		Mars One mission: one way ticket to new life 200,000 people from 140 countries have applied for a one-way ticket to Mars. The applicants agreed to stay on the Red Planet for the rest of their lives and be filmed for a reality TV program, accor ... more

JUNO begins decade-long mission to probe neutrino mysteries

SFL Missions to Deliver Spacecraft Buses for HawkEye 360 RF Signal Detection Expansion

Voyager debuts first space based multi cloud region to advance orbital data processing

Mars Express heading towards daring flyby of Phobos		Only lawyers profit as tech giants go to war over patents		After Impressive Demonstrations of Robot Skill, DARPA Robotics Challenge Trials Conclude		Spacewalk ends, ISS fix a success		Mars rover Curiosity gets software upgrade, improved capabilities
ISS Crew Set for Tuesday Pump Replacement Spacewalk		Working With NASA On The Space Structures Of The Future		Using an Atmosphere to Weigh a Planet		NASA Awards Launch Services Contract for InSight Mission		Spacesuit flaw postpones station repairs to Dec 24

No early Christmas? Spacesuit issue delays second spacewalk to fix ISS cooling system

China's Yutu "naps", awakens and explores

Sailing satellites into safe retirement

China's moon rover continues lunar survey after photographing lander

Europe's Gaia telescope detaches from Fregat-MT upper stage

Orbital Launches Completes 40th Consecutive Successful Suborbital Rocket For NASA

Argentina successfully launches research rocket

Curiosity Team Upgrades Software, Checks Wheel Wear

NASA Releases New Earthrise Simulation Video

Astronauts remove faulty ammonia pump during first spacewalk after ISS coolant system goes wrong

China launches communications satellite for Bolivia

Will the Moon be carved-up?

Astronauts Finalizing Spacewalk Preparations

NASA plans 3 urgent spacewalks to fix ISS coolant system, suspends cargo delivery

NASA and Russia prolong contract on Soyuz taxi flights to ISS

NASA's Asteroid Hunter Spacecraft Returns First Images after Reactivation

Japan robot astronaut talks Santa in first chat with spaceman

Most Chang'e-3 science tools activated

Dawn Creates Guide to Vesta's Hidden Attractions

Sierra Nevada Completes CCDev2, Begins Dream Chaser Flight Test Program

Free Newsletters - Space - Defense - Environment - Energy

Buy Advertising

Media Advertising Kit

Editorial & Other Enquiries

Privacy statement

The contents herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy statement