In 1957, Sputnik became the first artificial satellite to successfully reach space. Since then, thousands of satellites have…
Today, we take it for granted that we can see live TV pictures of events such as the…
Although astronauts have to spend long periods in space, far from home, they are not alone. Teams of…
Mars Express met with Phobos on 3 March 2010, smoothly skimming past at just 67 km, the closest…
ESA’s Mars Express orbiter has been sending back remarkable images and other data since it reached the Red…
Some Earth observation satellites follow a special type of polar orbit, called a Sun-synchronous orbit. As it travels…
Objects that travel around a planet are called satellites. Each complete journey a satellite makes around the planet…
In March 2002, the Hubble Space Telescope’s solar arrays were brought back to Earth. After eight years in…
There is no garage in space. Once a spacecraft has left planet Earth, everyone hopes that all of…
Once a satellite is launched, the success of its mission often depends on the ability to communicate with…
The European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) is linked to a worldwide network of ground stations. After a launch,…
Space junk is a major problem. Some of it is very large, such as burnt-out rocket stages, dead…
Most spacecraft are placed in orbits around the Earth. But this is not always the optimal place for…
An orbit is the path of an object around a particular point in space, for example the path…
As you know, a car tends to slow down when it goes up a mountain and to accelerate…
