Cislunar Developments, New Moon Vision with ULA, Lockheed, Boeing, NASA Planning
The Race to Cislunar Space is at the forefront of public / private plans, one of which may see GLXP contestants launch to the Moon before 2018. United Launch Alliance CEO Tory Bruno is promoting Cislunar 1000 transportation system utilizing Vulcan rockets, Advanced Cryogenic Evolved Stage (ACES) and Xeus VLVT lunar lander to support a potential US$3 trillion cislunar economy. He envisions commercial habitats & space metals prospecting within 5 years, space tourism & Moon mining in 15, and asteroid mining, Moon settlement and 1,000 people living in space in 20-30 years. Boeing Co. is advancing Deep Space Gateway concept powered by a Solar Electric Propulsion system for global government or commercial partnership opportunities. Lockheed Martin proposal for a cislunar habitat would take full advantage of Orion capabilities including radiation protection and life support systems. Bill Gerstenmaier stresses NASA’s immediate priority to choose technologies to be launched on SLS missions to support cislunar outpost development. U.S. administration is requesting NASA to study feasibility of sending Astronauts on the 1st SLS flight, EM-1 in 2018. NASA and ISS partners (ESA, RSA, CSA, JAXA) are outlining initial plans for Power and Propulsion Bus to launch in 2023 to elliptical Lunar orbit (1,500 km to 70,000 km altitude) to house 4 people for 90 days at a time. It could serve as hub for robotic and human landers returning from Moon surface, and may include China collaboration. (Image Credit: ULA, Boeing, NASA, Off World Consortium, Zuber, M.T., Nature, et al)
MONDAY
Ongoing… Apr 17 — ISS, 330-435-km LEO: Expedition 51 to receive 3 crew members & cargo from Soyuz on Friday, OA-7 cargo ship expected by end of week, Commander Peggy Whitson & ESA Astronaut Thomas Pesquet cleaning / preparing spacesuits for May EVA and tending to rodent research, Cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy maintaining Russia Orbital Segment.
for terrestrial events in local time unless noted.
= All times for international terrestrial events in local time unless noted.
= All times for space events, and…
= All times for international space / astro events in Hawaii Standard Time unless noted. Add 10 hours to obtain UT (‘Universal Time;’ Greenwich, England).
Space Debris Conferences in Germany Exploring New Solutions and Opportunities
ESA is hosting the 7th European Conference on Space Debris April 18-21 at the European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany. Billed as the largest dedicated gathering on this subject, the conference includes internationally recognized scientists, engineers, operators, lawyers and policy makers. Topics cover measurement techniques, environment modeling theories, risk analysis techniques, protection designs, mitigation & remediation concepts and policy & legal issues. On Friday Apr 21 the Secure World Foundation of Broomfield, Colorado is hosting a side event in Darmstadt by invite-only. The Workshop on Principles for Safe and Responsible Active Debris Removal will feature a facilitated interactive discussion focused on technical progress and concepts towards the fielding of active debris removal approaches. Multiple commercial enterprises are working in this area. Astroscale is a Singapore-based company launched in 2013 by Nobu Okada. It is actively preparing for its first 2 missions, IDEA OSG 1 a 22-kg orbital debris monitoring microsat and ELSA-d a demonstrator for spacecraft retrieval services. Launchspace Technologies is an orbital debris solutions and space consulting company led by serial technology entrepreneur John Bauman. Tethers Unlimited is a company founded in 1994 to develop products based on space tether technologies and has made proposals for debris capture and spacecraft grapple technologies. LeoLabs based in Menlo Park CA is working on Collision Avoidance and Space Debris Mapping Services to enable the LEO economy. (Image Credit: ESA, Tethers Unlimited, LeoLabs)
Oct 15, 2016 – Sep 4 — Peabody Essex Museum, Salem MA: Lunar Attraction Exhibit; featuring 60 Apollo memorabilia, paintings, sculptures, photographs, books, movies, jewelry that illustrate our profound connection to the Moon.
TUESDAY
Apr 18 — United Launch Alliance, Launch Atlas 5 / OA-7, Cape Canaveral AFS FL: ULA Atlas 5 rocket to launch 8th Cygnus cargo freighter dubbed “S.S. John Glenn” on 7th operational cargo delivery flight to ISS for Orbital ATK; carrying many secondary payloads.
Apr 18 — Discovery Channel, Broadcast: Cooper’s Treasure premiere; film based on Gordon Cooper (1 of the 7 original Astronauts in Project Mercury) setting out to uncover shipwrecks from Space; 22:00.
Apr 19 — Apollo Asteroid 2014 JO25 Near-Earth Flyby: Near-Earth Flyby at 0.012 AU or about 4.6 times the distance from Earth to Moon of estimated 650-meter wide rocky asteroid.
Apr 20 — Roscosmos State Corporation, Launch Soyuz MS-04 / ISS 50S, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan: Expedition 51/52 members Fyodor Yurchikhin of Roscosmos and Jack Fischer of NASA to launch to ISS.
Apr 20 — CNSA, Launch Long March 7 (Y2) / Tianzhou-1,Wenchang Satellite Launch Center, Hainan Island, China (19° N): Cargo ship to launch to Tiangong-2 space lab for 305-day mission; will test technologies related to cargo transport, propellant re-supply, rapid rendezvous, docking, other experiments; will be 2nd Long March 7 launch.
Apr 20 — AIAA San Francisco Section, Mountain View CA: Dinner Meeting: History of Lick Observatory; featuring Rod Norden Public Outreach Telescope Operator at Lick Observatory.
Apr 21 — `Imiloa Astronomy Center, University of Hawai`i – Hilo, Hilo HI:Mauna Kea Skies Talk; astronomers from Mauna Kea observatories speak about recent discoveries; this session features Submillimetre Array (SMA); 19:00 HST, US$8-10.
Apr 22 — Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech), SpaceUp, Moscow, Russia: SpaceUp Skoltech; space unconference, where participants decide the format, subject, presentations; 10:00-19:00.
Apr 22 — Lyrid Meteor Shower Peak: Lyrids derived from Comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher with period 415 years, are medium-swift (49 km/sec), often bright with persistent trains and can offer 15-20 per hour, peak 02:00.
Apr 23 — ISRO, Launch PSLV / Cartosat 2E, Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota, India: Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, flying on PSLV-C38 mission, to launch ISRO satellite 2E of the Cartosat series, the current generation of Indian remote sensing satellites.
Includes ~150 meetings covering the fields of COSPAR Scientific Commissions / Panels / Task Groups, such as SC B: The Earth-Moon System, Planets, and...
From 02 to 07 August 2026, a few thousand geoscientists across diverse disciplines will gather at the 23rd annual meeting of the Asia Oceania Geosciences...
2:45 pm EDT from Johnson Space Center, NASA astronaut Chris Williams will recap his recent eight-month mission aboard the International Space Station. Williams returned to...
NASA Curiosity (Mars Science Laboratory) rover surpasses another full year of operations on Mars surface today; launched Nov 26, 2011 – landed Aug 5,...
Virtual Series 2026 will offer deeper conversations on why PQC matters and the practical steps businesses should be taking; starts 1:00 pm AEST. Featuring:...
This international lunar science meeting has two objectives: to provide a platform for leading experts to review recent advances across lunar research, from the...
At CSIR International Convention Centre. Key topics are Earth Observation, Developing Space Tourism, Space Supply Manufacturing. Cultural tours are offered.
Participants will receive theoretical and hands-on training in electron imaging and X-ray spectroscopy for application to planetary samples. This training opportunity is targeted at...
"Leading Australia’s Space Future for Our Strategic Advantage". Southern Space 2026 brings together decision-makers who set the direction for Australia’s space sector. It is...
The Race to Cislunar Space is at the forefront of public / private plans, one of which may see GLXP contestants launch to the Moon before 2018. United Launch Alliance CEO Tory Bruno is promoting Cislunar 1000 transportation system utilizing Vulcan rockets, Advanced Cryogenic Evolved Stage (ACES) and Xeus VLVT lunar lander to support a potential US$3 trillion cislunar economy. He envisions commercial habitats & space metals prospecting within 5 years, space tourism & Moon mining in 15, and asteroid mining, Moon settlement and 1,000 people living in space in 20-30 years. Boeing Co. is advancing Deep Space Gateway concept powered by a Solar Electric Propulsion system for global government or commercial partnership opportunities. Lockheed Martin proposal for a cislunar habitat would take full advantage of Orion capabilities including radiation protection and life support systems. Bill Gerstenmaier stresses NASA’s immediate priority to choose technologies to be launched on SLS missions to support cislunar outpost development. U.S. administration is requesting NASA to study feasibility of sending Astronauts on the 1st SLS flight, EM-1 in 2018. NASA and ISS partners (ESA, RSA, CSA, JAXA) are outlining initial plans for Power and Propulsion Bus to launch in 2023 to elliptical Lunar orbit (1,500 km to 70,000 km altitude) to house 4 people for 90 days at a time. It could serve as hub for robotic and human landers returning from Moon surface, and may include China collaboration. (Image Credit: ULA, Boeing, NASA, Off World Consortium, Zuber, M.T., Nature, et al)
Apr 17 — 
Apr 17 — Global: Russia 
Apr 17 — NewSpace: SpaceX 
= All times
= All times for international terrestrial events in local time unless noted.
= All times for space events, and…
= All times for international space / astro events in Hawaii Standard Time unless noted. Add 10 hours to obtain UT (‘Universal Time;’ Greenwich, England).
