Latest news with #JosephAschbacher
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
German start-up's historic rocket test launch delayed due to weather
A historic test flight of an orbital launch vehicle by German space start-up Isar Aerospace was delayed due to adverse weather conditions in northern Norway on Monday. According to Joseph Aschbacher, the director general of the European Space Agency (ESA), the test was due to mark "the first commercial orbital launch from mainland Europe." The company's Spectrum launch vehicle had been set to take off from the Andøya spaceport on Monday, but the test was pushed back due to high winds. The Munich-based company said it would announce a timeline for the next attempted launch when a plan is in place. Its rocket was not expected to reach orbit, with a company spokeswoman warning that no company has ever managed to achieve space flight in a first test. "The rocket may explode - that is even likely during the test flight," she said. "Thirty seconds would be a great success." Isar Aerospace, founded in 2018, is seeking to develop a viable launch vehicle to carry satellites to orbit. It is a European rival to Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin. Europe is currently lagging the United States, China and India in space travel, amid delays in the development of the ESA's Ariane 6 launcher. The Spectrum launch vehicle is 28 metres long, with a diameter of 2 metres. Depending on the desired orbit, it can carry a payload of between 700 and 1,000 kilograms to space. If it carries out a successful test, Isar could ramp up production, with two further rockets already being built. "How quickly they will be on the launchpad also depends on the results of the first test flight - and whether only software or hardware adjustments need to be made," said the spokeswoman. "In any case, our goal is to be back on the launchpad as quickly as possible." Isar Aerospace envisions building up to 40 launch vehicles per year. The firm has so far raised more than €400 million ($433 million) in capital. The NATO Innovation Fund, a venture capital fund supported by 24 NATO member states, was among the participants in the latest financing round.
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
German start-up set for historic orbital launch from mainland Europe
German space start-up Isar Aerospace is set to launch a historic test flight in northern Norway on Monday. According to Joseph Aschbacher, the director general of the European Space Agency (ESA), the test marks "the first commercial orbital launch from mainland Europe." The company's Spectrum launch vehicle is due to take off from the Andøya spaceport between 12:30 pm (1130 GMT) and 3:30 pm, although the test could still be pushed back due to adverse weather conditions or safety concerns. The rocket is not expected to reach orbit, with a company spokeswoman warning that no company has ever managed to achieve space flight with a first test. "The rocket may explode - that is even likely during the test flight," she said. "Thirty seconds would be a great success." Isar Aerospace, founded in 2018, is seeking to develop a viable launch vehicle to carry satellites to orbit. It is a European rival to Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin. Europe is currently lagging the United States, China and India in space travel, amid delays in the development of the ESA's Ariane 6 launcher. The Spectrum launch vehicle is 28 metres long, with a diameter of 2 metres. Depending on the desired orbit, it can carry a payload of between 700 and 1,000 kilograms to space. If the test is a success, Isar could ramp up production, with two rockets already in production. "How quickly they will be on the launchpad also depends on the results of the first test flight - and whether only software or hardware adjustments need to be made," said the spokeswoman. "In any case, our goal is to be back on the launchpad as quickly as possible."
Telegraph
14-03-2025
- Science
- Telegraph
European Space Agency spacecraft to steer asteroids away from Earth
Hollywood films would have you believe that the best way to deal with an Earth-threatening asteroid is to blast it out of orbit. But the European Space Agency (ESA) is looking at a far subtler approach to saving the planet – a gravity tractor. The plan involves sending a spacecraft to rendezvous with a dangerous asteroid and use its tiny gravitational field to slightly alter the space rock's trajectory so that, over time, it would soar harmlessly past Earth. It is an idea that has been floated for decades, but recently become more pressing after the 2024 YR4 scare earlier this year, an asteroid that came seemingly out of nowhere and at one point had a one in 32 chance of hitting Earth in December 2032. Joseph Aschbacher, director general of ESA, admitted he had been ''very worried' about 2024 YR4 and said the space agency was stepping up its planetary defence capabilities. Speaking to The Telegraph at Space-Comm expo this week, Dr Aschbacher said: 'I was very worried. 'If the asteroid is in front of your door, more or less, it's too late, and we probably cannot do much. 'The earlier you detect an asteroid that might impact planet Earth, and the earlier you can take action far away from planet Earth, the higher the chances are that it will not have negative impacts. '(A planetary defence mission) may actually start, by just sending a satellite there, and letting it fly close by the asteroid so that the gravity of the satellite influences the gravity of the asteroid itself. 'Slightly by degrees, it would change the trajectory, and therefore may result in a different trajectory than the ones that might be directed to Earth. So the further away you can do it, the bigger the chances of minimising damage.' Apophis rock no longer a risk Last year, ESA announced that it planned to rendezvous with the asteroid 99942 Apophis, a cruise ship-sized rock, which makes an exceptionally close flyby of Earth in April 2029, when it will be visible to the naked eye. The mission, called Ramses (Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety), will give a crucial window into how asteroids are affected by gravitational forces – in this case, the gravity of Earth. Apophis was predicted to get dangerously close to Earth in 2068, but experts have since revised their calculations and no longer see it as a risk. 'We have a mission planned already to encounter that asteroid before it comes to Earth, and to really measure it,' added Dr Aschbacher. 'We are not assuming it will hit planet Earth, but it will fly by very closely, and that will be quite a spectacle, in terms of every citizen being able to see it, but it is a unique opportunity to really study the asteroid close by.' Most asteroids and comets have orbits that do not bring them very close to Earth, and they are only classed as dangerous if they come within 4.6 million miles and are larger than 460 feet. But occasionally they can hit. The last major impacts include the Tunguska event in 1908 in Siberia which felled an estimated 80 million trees, while the 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor is the only known incident in modern times which resulted in numerous injuries. Only one asteroid deflection test has ever taken place in space. In 2022, Nasa sent its Dart (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) spacecraft to crash into Dimorphos, a 525ft-wide 'moonlet' which circles a larger asteroid called Didymos. The team had hoped the impact would shorten Didymos' 11 hour 11 minute orbit by a few minutes, but it ended up shaving off around half an hour. However, the impact had unexpected consequences, unleashing a storm of boulders 'as deadly as Hiroshima' and proving that deflection strategies could have unintended consequences that leave smaller rocks on a collision course with Earth. In contrast, a gravity tractor would cause less collateral damage, gently nudging an Earth-bound asteroid in a new trajectory. Last year, ESA launched a spacecraft, named Hera, which is travelling to Didymos-Dimorphos to assess the true scale of the damage in a mission which will help determine which asteroid defence scheme will be chosen in the event of another scare. It is due to arrive in October next year. Dr Paul Bate, the chief executive of the UK Space Agency, said: 'Asteroids are one of the ways in which you show the power in space, so we are right to be worried. 'Whether we like it or not, these things have been happening literally since the start of the solar system. We're connected. 'We don't have any choice, but we know we can actively choose to understand more and that's very important for deflection, for protecting our planet.'
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
European Space Agency working on spacecraft to steer asteroids away from Earth
Hollywood films would have you believe that the best way to deal with an Earth-threatening asteroid is to blast it out of orbit. But the European Space Agency (ESA) is looking at a far subtler approach to saving the planet - a gravity tractor. The plan involves sending a spacecraft to rendezvous with a dangerous asteroid and use its tiny gravitational field to slightly alter the space rock's trajectory so that, over time, it would soar harmlessly past Earth. It is an idea that has been floating around for several decades, but has only recently become more pressing following the 2024 YR4 scare earlier this year - an asteroid that came seemingly out of nowhere and at one point had a one in 32 chance of hitting Earth in December 2032. Joseph Aschbacher, the Director General of ESA, admitted he had been ''very worried' about 2024 YR4 and said the space agency was stepping up its planetary defence capabilities. Speaking to The Telegraph at Space-Comm expo this week, Dr Aschbacher said: 'I was very worried. 'If the asteroid is in front of your door, more or less, it's too late, and we probably cannot do much. 'The earlier you detect an asteroid that might impact planet Earth, and the earlier you can take action far away from planet Earth, the higher the chances are that it will not have negative impacts. '(A planetary defence mission) may actually start, by just sending a satellite there, and letting it fly close by the asteroid so that the gravity of the satellite influences the gravity of the asteroid itself. 'Slightly by degrees, it would change the trajectory, and therefore may result in a different trajectory than the ones that might be directed to Earth. So the further away you can do it, the bigger the chances of minimising damage.' Last year, ESA announced that it planned to rendezvous with the asteroid 99942 Apophis, a cruise ship-sized rock, which makes an exceptionally close flyby of Earth in April 2029, when it will be visible to the naked eye. The mission, called Ramses (Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety), will give a crucial window into how asteroids are impacted by gravitational forces - in this case, the gravity of Earth. Apophis was predicted to get dangerously close to Earth in 2068, but experts have since revised their calculations and no longer see it as a risk. 'We have a mission planned already to encounter that asteroid before it comes to Earth, and to really measure it,' added Dr Aschbacher. 'We are not assuming it will hit planet Earth, but it will fly by very closely, and that will be quite a spectacle, in terms of every citizen being able to see it, but it is a unique opportunity to really study the asteroid close by.' Most asteroids and comets have orbits that do not bring them very close to Earth, and they are only classed as dangerous if they come within 4.6 million miles and are larger than 460 feet. But occasionally they can hit. The last major impacts include the Tunguska event in 1908 in Siberia which felled an estimated 80 million trees, while the 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor is the only known incident in modern times which resulted in numerous injuries. Only one asteroid deflection test has ever taken place in space. In 2022, Nasa sent its Dart (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) spacecraft to crash into Dimorphos – a 525ft-wide 'moonlet' which circles a larger asteroid called Didymos. The team had hoped the impact would shorten Didymos' 11 hour 11 minute orbit by a few minutes, but it ended up shaving off around half an hour. However, the impact had unexpected consequences, unleashing a storm of boulders 'as deadly as Hiroshima' and proving that deflection strategies could have unintended consequences that leave smaller rocks on a collision course with Earth. In contrast, a gravity tractor would cause less collateral damage, gently nudging an Earth-bound asteroid in a new trajectory. Last year, ESA launched a spacecraft, named Hera, which is travelling to Didymos-Dimorphos to assess the true scale of the damage in a mission which will help determine which asteroid defence scheme will be chosen in the event of another scare. It is due to arrive in October next year. Dr Paul Bate, the chief executive of the UK Space Agency, said: 'Asteroids are one of the ways in which you show the power in space, so we are right to be worried. 'Whether we like it or not, these things have been happening literally since the start of the solar system. We're connected. 'We don't have any choice, but we know we can actively choose to understand more and that's very important for deflection, for protecting our planet.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
