Content for "cnes.fr"

Vinci: full steam ahead

23 March 2006

Conclusive test results

The new-design Vinci engine uses an expander cycle that avoids the use of gas generators to drive its turbopumps, thereby reducing the risk of explosions and enhancing reliability while allying power with safety.

Europe sets it stall for high-power satellite market

23 March 2006

Alphabus – a new European platform

ESA and CNES recently reached a major milestone in the development of the European Alphabus spacecraft bus designed for new-generation telecommunications satellites.

MRO blazes trail for future Mars missions

15 March 2006

Exceptional Mars mission

Weighing 2.18 t, MRO is the heaviest spacecraft ever to orbit Mars. Its fuel tank alone holds more than 1.22 t of propellant.
Ultimately, MRO will also generate very-high-resolution imagery (30 cm/px), making it in every way an exceptional mission that will send back more data to Earth than any previous Mars orbiter.
Friday 10 March, MRO successfully accomplished a crucial phase of its mission when it put itself into an elliptical orbit with a periapsis of 350 km above the planet’s surface.

CryoSat recovery mission confirmed for 2009

15 March 2006

CryoSat reborn

Designed to meet strong demand from the scientific community, the CryoSat spacecraft was lost last autumn due to a malfunction of its Russian Rockot launcher.

At the latest meeting of its Earth Observation Programme Board, at headquarters in Paris on 23 and 24 February, Esa received the green light from member states to build and launch a CryoSat recovery mission, CryoSat-2.

CSG subcontractors reduce reliance on space

8 March 2006

Reducing reliance

Although the Guiana Space Centre (CSG) saw a slowdown in space activities in 2003, with problems related to Ariane 5 end 2002 and the retirement of Ariane 4 early in the year, its service providers and subcontractors appear to have weathered the storm.

Nasa cuts down science programmes budget

1st March 2006

Budget trimming

Nasa’s 2007 budget request published a few weeks ago allocated $5.3 billion to science, a slight decrease in real terms.
In all, Nasa has trimmed about $1 billion from its space science programmes and $1.5 billion from space exploration.

Consequently, several missions have been pushed back:

Polder science data processing closes at CNES

15 February 2006

Exploring Earth’s radiation

10 years after the launch of the 1st Polder* instrument, the concept remains as original as ever and the mission is clearly a success.

Gliding safely back to Earth

7 February 2006

Introducing PRE-X

Presented at the 6th International Symposium on Launcher Technologies in Munich, 8 to 10 November 2005, the PRE-X technology demonstrator has reached an important milestone in its development.

Spot at 20

23 February 2006

20 years observing Earth

20 years ago to the day, on 22 February 1986, the Spot 1 Earth observation satellite soared skyward. Only 3 days later, it sent back its 1st image—a truly remarkable performance.

Cassini-Huygens mission - Titan one year on

16 January 2006

Titan’s unique atmosphere

Pages

F