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SpaceX has competition in the form of space startup Rocket Lab, as the firm plans an ambitious Venus mission, develops a rocket that can send humans into space and also launch mega-constellation satellites into orbit.
This move comes off the back of a $4.1 billion listing on the Nasdaq exchange that has allowed the California firm to move away from small-scale satellite launches.
Founder, CEO and CTO of Rocket Lab, Peter Beck, told MailOnline the goal is to bring down the cost of getting small satellites into space, and make it cheaper for universities to send experiments to the moon, Mars and Venus.
Mars, Moon & a fresh pair of eyes in the sky â the big space missions planned for 2021
Among other things, the coming year will provide a glimpse at the progress being made by the burgeoning private space industry â with many new rockets set for their maiden flights.
Sandhya Ramesh 1 January, 2021 12:00 pm IST
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Bengaluru: While 2020 was defined by the Covid pandemic, astronomical and space missions continued to thrive, albeit with minor setbacks and delays. The year saw plenty of planetary findings, from Venus to the Moon to mysterious radio signals, fast radio bursts in the Milky Way, and a dimming star.Â
Earth observation chief Dr Josef Aschbacher takes reins at European Space Agency
Also: Rocket Lab rounds out a busy year, OneWeb returns to constellation work, NASA ploughs ahead with Orion
Richard Speed Tue 22 Dec 2020 // 14:30 UTC Share
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In brief Dr Josef Aschbacher will succeed Jan Wörner as director general of the European Space Agency once Wörner s term ends on 30 June 2021.
Aschbacher, currently ESA director of Earth Observation Programmes and head of ESRIN, ESA s centre for Earth Observation near Rome, had been the frontrunner for the job.
His appointment has been welcomed by European organisations. Tony Azzarelli, director and co-founder of UK-based Access Space Alliance, said his nonprofit welcomes the new ESA director general Dr Josef Aschbacher to guide the future of the European Space Agency. We are looking forward to many exciting programmes and discoveries enabled by the space agency, in particular the participation in a Mars sampl