SatSure, the Indian geospatial data analytics company that utilises advances in Earth observation satellites, machine learning, and big data analytics, has announced that it has won the Imkan Innovation Award worth U.S.$10,000 at startAD’s Venture Launchpad.

By Blaine Curcio and Tianyi Lan When reading about the Chinese space industry in English-language media, or when speaking with Western companies about the Chinese space industry, we oftentimes hear two types of opinions: China is catching up in space so fast! By Wednesday next week, they will have overtaken …

Hub71, a global tech hub driven by Mubadala in collaboration with Microsoft, SoftBank Vision Fund and Abu Dhabi Global Market, announced that two new partners, Techstars and Starburst, will join Hub71 in Q4 of this year. Hub71 is a key initiative of the Abu Dhabi Government’s Ghadan 21 economic acceleration programme.

China Satellite Communications Corp. (China Satcom), a subsidiary of the China Aerospace and Science Technology Corporation (CASC), is aiming for a 1 billion Yuan (U.S.$148 million) Initial Public Offering (IPO) in June 2019. Despite China’s plans to almost double the size of the global space industry, fundraising is not the main objective.

Portugal has become the latest country to establish a national space agency. The new entity, called Portugal Space, will be headquartered in the Azores island of Santa Maria, the site of a proposed spaceport and a European Space Agency (ESA) Estrack tracking and telemetry station.

Thuraya Telecommunications Company, a subsidiary of the Al Yah Satellite Communications Company, Yahsat, today announced that it has signed a Service Partner agreement with Elcome, one of the largest marine technology system integrators. Elcome will provide Thuraya’s products and services worldwide across key vertical markets.

Spanish satellite telecommunications operator Hispasat, has completed the successful installation of a hub at its gateway in Ixtlahuaca del Rayón (México) to manage the Smartellites™, hiSky terminals that offer mobile satellite services (MSS) and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions through Amazonas-5 satellite Ka-band, which covers 79% of the Mexican population. Both companies signed an agreement in 2017 to jointly commercialize this solution in Spain, Portugal, Latin America, and North Africa.

Pakistan signed a space cooperation agreement with China at a ceremony in Beijing held on 27 April 2019 providing a framework for the training of Pakistani astronauts, space science and exploration, as well as the establishment of a Sino-Pakistani space committee that will discuss other cooperative initiatives in space.

U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) reached a milestone with the signing of its 100th space situational awareness agreement when the Romanian Space Agency signed an agreement with USSTRATCOM on 25 April 2019. These agreements foster openness, predictability of space operations and transparency in space activities.

In the presence of Abdellatif Loudiyi, Minister Delegate to the Head of Government in charge of the National Defense Administration of Morocco, and Mr. Moulay Hafid Elalamy, Moroccan Minister of Industry, Investment, Trade and Digital Economy, Jean-Yves Le Gall, President of the Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES) and of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF), gave the opening address on 24 April 2019 in Marrakesh at the GLEC 2019 Global Conference on Space for Emerging Countries (GLEC).