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D-Orbit USA
D-Orbit (as in de-orbit) is a private aerospace company headquartered in Italy with subsidiaries in Portugal, UK, US and a joint venture in the US, D-Orbit USA. D-Orbit is mainly active in the Space tug also known as orbital transfer vehicle (OTV) market. While this concept has existed for several decades, it is only in the last few years that more examples are being produced and used. D-Orbit has been operating commercial ION missions since September 2020, deploying satellites for customers like Planet Labs, EnduroSat, Elecnor Deimos, University of Southern California, SatRevolution, and Kleos, and operating payloads for the German HPS, High Performance Space Structure Systems, the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), and the Swiss data security company Cysec SA. History D-Orbit was founded in 2011 by Luca Rossettini, currently serving as chief executive officer (CEO), and Renato Panesi, currently serving as chief commercial officer (COO). The company's initial ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Private Spaceflight
Private spaceflight is any spaceflight development that is not conducted by a government agency, such as NASA or ESA. During the early decades of the Space Age, the government space agencies of the Soviet Union and United States pioneered space technology in collaboration with affiliated design bureaus in the USSR and private companies in the US. They entirely funded both the development of new spaceflight technologies and the operational costs of spaceflight. Following a similar model of space technology development, the European Space Agency was formed in 1975. Arianespace, born out of ESA's independent spaceflight efforts, became the world's first commercial launch service provider in the early 1980s. Subsequently, large defense contractors began to develop and operate space launch systems, which were derived from government rockets. In the United States, the FAA has created a new certification called Commercial Astronaut, a new occupation. In the 2000s, en ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
European Space Agency
The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member International organization, international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 in the context of European integration. Its 2025 annual budget was €7.7 billion. The ESA Human and Robotic Exploration programme includes human spaceflight (mainly through participation in the International Space Station programme); as well as the launch and operation of missions to Mars and Moon. Further activities include science missions to Jupiter, Mercury, the Sun, Earth observation, Asteroid impact avoidance and Telecommunications missions, designing launch vehicles; and maintaining Europe's Spaceport, the Guiana Space Centre at Kourou (French Guiana). Further programmes include space safety, satellite navigation, applications and commercialisation. The main European launch vehicle Ariane 6 is operated through Arianespace ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
German Aerospace Center
The German Aerospace Center (, abbreviated DLR, literally ''German Center for Air- and Space-flight'') is the national center for aerospace, energy and transportation research of Germany, founded in 1969. It is headquartered in Cologne with 35 locations throughout Germany. The DLR is engaged in a wide range of research and development projects in national and international partnerships. The DLR acts as the German space agency and is responsible for planning and implementing the German space programme on behalf of the Cabinet of Germany, German federal government. As a project management agency, DLR coordinates and answers the technical and organisational implementation of projects funded by a number of German federal ministries. As of 2020, the German Aerospace Center had a national budget of €1.348 billion. Overview DLR has approximately 10.000 employees at 30 locations in Germany. Institutes and facilities are spread over 13 sites, as well as offices in Brussels, Pari ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
UK Space Agency
The United Kingdom Space Agency (UKSA) is an executive agency of the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the United Kingdom's British space programme, civil space programme. It was established on 1 April 2010 to replace the British National Space Centre (BNSC) and took over responsibility for government policy and key budgets for space exploration; it represents the United Kingdom in all negotiations on space matters. The Agency "[brings] together all UK civil space activities under one single management". It is based at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus near Didcot, England. History and aims The creation of the UK Space Agency was first publicly announced by UK Minister of State for Science and Innovation, Paul Drayson, Baron Drayson, Lord Drayson, on 10 December 2009 during a speech at the Rutherford Appleton Lab (RAL) space conference. As the UK Space Agency neared its opening day, Peter Mandelson, Lord Mandelson, Lord Drayson and astronaut Timothy Pea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Italian Space Agency
The Italian Space Agency (; ASI) is a government agency established in 1988 to fund, regulate and coordinate space exploration activities in Italy. The agency cooperates with numerous national and international entities who are active in aerospace research and technology. Nationally, ASI is responsible for both drafting the National Aerospace Plan and ensuring it is carried out. To do this the agency operates as the owner/coordinator of a number of Italian space research agencies and assets such as CIRA as well as organising the calls and opportunities process for Italian industrial contractors on spaceflight projects. Internationally, the ASI provides Italy's delegation to the Council of the European Space Agency and to its subordinate bodies as well as representing the country's interests in foreign collaborations. ASI's main headquarters are located in Rome, Italy, and the agency also has direct control over two operational centres: the Centre for Space Geodesy (CGS) located ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spacecraft Attitude Determination And Control
Spacecraft attitude control is the process of controlling the orientation of a spacecraft (vehicle or satellite) with respect to an inertial frame of reference or another entity such as the celestial sphere, certain fields, and nearby objects, etc. Controlling vehicle attitude requires actuators to apply the torques needed to orient the vehicle to a desired attitude, and algorithms to command the actuators based on the current attitude and specification of a desired attitude. Before and during attitude control can be performed, spacecraft attitude determination must be performed, which requires sensors for absolute or relative measurement. The broader integrated field that studies the combination of sensors, actuators and algorithms is called '' guidance, navigation and control'', which also involves non-attitude concepts, such as position determination and navigation. Motivation A spacecraft's attitude must typically be stabilized and controlled for a variety of reasons. I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Docking And Berthing Of Spacecraft
Docking and berthing of spacecraft is the joining of two space vehicles. This connection can be temporary, or partially permanent such as for space station modules. ''Docking'' specifically refers to joining of two separate free-flying space vehicles. ''Berthing'' refers to mating operations where a passive module/vehicle is placed into the mating interface of another space vehicle by using a robotic arm. Because the modern process of un-berthing requires more crew labor and is time-consuming, berthing operations are unsuited for rapid crew evacuations in the event of an emergency. History Docking Spacecraft docking capability depends on space rendezvous, the ability of two spacecraft to find each other and station-keep in the same orbit. This was first developed by the United States for Project Gemini. It was planned for the crew of Gemini 6 to rendezvous and manually dock under the command of Wally Schirra, with an uncrewed Agena Target Vehicle in October 1965, but t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Space Rendezvous
A ''space rendezvous'' () is a set of orbital maneuvers during which two spacecraft, one of which is often a space station, arrive at the same orbit and approach to a very close distance (e.g. within visual contact). Rendezvous requires a precise match of the Orbital elements, orbital velocities and position vectors of the two spacecraft, allowing them to remain at a constant distance through orbital station-keeping. Rendezvous may or may not be followed by docking and berthing of spacecraft, docking or berthing, procedures which bring the spacecraft into physical contact and create a link between them. The same rendezvous technique can be used for spacecraft "landing" on natural objects with a weak gravitational field, e.g. landing on one of the Moons of Mars, Martian moons would require the same matching of orbital velocities, followed by a "descent" that shares some similarities with docking. History In its first human spaceflight program Vostok programme, Vostok, the Sovie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
International Astronautical Congress
The International Astronautical Congress (IAC) is an annual meeting of the actors in the discipline of space science. It is hosted by one of the national society members of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF), with the support of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) and the International Institute of Space Law (IISL). It consists of plenary sessions, lectures and meetings. The IAC is attended by the agency heads and senior executives of the world's space agencies. As the Second World War came to an end, the United States and the Soviet Union held different and competing political worldviews. As the Cold War began to take shape, communication between the two countries became less frequent. Both countries turned their focus to achieving military superiority over the other. Six years after the Iron Curtain fell, the IAF was formed by scientists from all over Europe in the field of space research in order to collaborate once more. During the years of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Space Manufacturing
Space manufacturing or In-space manufacturing (ISM in short) is the fabrication, assembly or integration of tangible goods beyond Earth's atmosphere (or more generally, outside a planetary atmosphere), involving the transformation of raw or recycled materials into components, products, or infrastructure in space, where the manufacturing process is executed either by humans or automated systems by taking advantage of the unique characteristics of space. Synonyms of Space/In-space manufacturing are ''In-orbit manufacturing'' (since most production capabilities are limited to low Earth orbit), ''Off-Earth manufacturing'', ''Space-based manufacturing'', ''Orbital manufacturing'', ''In-situ manufacturing'', ''In-space fabrication'', ''In-space production'', etc. In-space manufacturing is a part of the broader activity of in-space servicing, assembly and manufacturing (ISAM) and is related to in situ resource utilization (ISRU). Three major domains of In-space manufacturing are ISM f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
On-orbit Satellite Servicing
On-orbit satellite servicing refers to refueling or repairing space satellites while in orbit. New commercial interest in on-orbit servicing of satellites is in large part due to the decreased costs of launching commercial satellites and the rise of low orbit, rather than geostationary, satellites for which servicing costs less. History Although servicing of satellites has been theoretically considered since the early days of spaceflight, little was done. The term is usually thought of as meaning autonomous or telerobotic servicing of a satellite by robotic spacecraft, but can also mean servicing that occurs by human astronauts, such as repeated and regular servicing of the International Space Station (ISS) starting in 1998. The first orbital repair was made by James van Hoften and George Nelson in 1984 during their mission to Solar Maximum Mission (SMM) satellite. One famous sequence of servicing a satellite by astronauts was the several flights of the Space Shuttle to th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
European Investment Fund
The European Investment Fund (EIF), established in 1994, is a financial institution for the provision of finance to SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises), headquartered in Luxembourg. It is part of the European Investment Bank Group. It does not lend money to SMEs directly; rather it provides finance through private banks and funds. Its main operations are in the areas of venture capital and guaranteeing loans. Its shareholders are: the European Investment Bank (62%); the European Union, represented by the European Commission (29%); and 30 financial institutions (9%). The European Investment Bank Group is able to assist the development of a broader creative, green ecosystem through the European Investment Fund: venture capital funds, technical transfer, business perspectives, and private-sector equity (infrastructure funds) in general. Since 2015, the EaSI Guarantee Instrument (EU Programme for Employment and Social Innovation), managed by the European Investment Fund, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
