Warpspace, aiming to realize near real-time optical communication services in space using small satellites, has developed a high-sensitivity acquisition and tracking optical sensor necessary for long-distance optical communications between the Moon and Earth, under contract from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

ispace technologies U.S., inc. (ispace-U.S.) has announced the official launch of a new data relay service enabled by two relay satellites that will tentatively deploy during ispace-U.S.’s Mission 3 scheduled in 2026. SpaceX will also be tentatively providing the launch service. ispace-U.S. released the details for the relay service at the Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium 2024 Spring Meeting, which the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory hosted.

ICEYE has announced a new data collaboration with Juniper Re, LLC ("Juniper Re"), the reinsurance broking arm and indirect subsidiary of BRP Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: BRP). As a result, Juniper Re will leverage ICEYE's Flood and Wildfire Insights data to support their carrier clients by accessing near real-time observed data on large-scale events to determine the impact within hours and support data-driven decisions.

Primo Space Fund has announced two new deals: Lithium Lasers and Ecosmic, investing about €2,6 million across both deals. This round of investments brings Primo Space Fund’s portfolio to fourteen companies. Lithium Lasers S.r.l., an Italian startup, developed a USPL called FemtoFlash for material processing, biophotonics and non-linear optics applications in several industries, and is particularly useful when dimensional accuracy and tighter tolerances are necessary.

The ClearSpace-1 debris removal mission has undergone a transformative period to achieve a faster execution pace and reviewed mission objectives. After the successful completion of its mission’s first phase, the detection of space debris objects in the vicinity of the mission’s client object, which indicates a collision of the target with untraceable debris, and the need for a change towards a more expedited and cost-effective approach prompted a pivot in the next stage of the ClearSpace-1 mission.

PLD Space has announced that it has attained 120 million euros in funding to date, thus ensuring it can meet its upcoming technological and corporate milestones, culminating in the launch of the MIURA 5 mission at the end of 2025. The Company has received 78 million euros in investment from shareholders who have invested in its technological program and business model. In addition to this sum, there are 42 million euros from the PERTE backed by the Government of Spain for a Spanish space launcher (1.5M€ in July 2023 and 40.5M€ at the end of January 2024).

OroraTech has announced a partnership with GREEN+ Program to provide forest fire management to safeguard millions of hectares of protected areas in the hands of sub-national governments around the globe. The partnership will enable leaders and emergency teams to monitor destructive fires within their protected natural areas, detect deforestation, save local forests, and create the right incentives.

Space Systems Command (SSC)’s Innovation and Prototyping Acquisition Delta has successfully completed the CloudSat mission after almost two decades of providing scientists with a deeper understanding of atmospheric conditions and providing key discoveries of weather patterns and precipitation observed from space. Space Systems Command’s recently launched  Weather System Follow-on Microwave (WSF-M) satellite will continue the U.S. Space Force’s space-based environmental monitoring mission.

Astroscale Ltd. ("Astroscale UK"), a subsidiary of Astroscale Holdings Inc, announces the successful completion of the Preliminary Design Review phase with the UK Space Agency (UKSA) for its national Active Debris Removal (ADR) mission, COSMIC (Cleaning Outer Space Mission through Innovative Capture). The Company also recently partnered with Space Trash Signs, an initiative to visualize the consequences of space debris on different aspects of life on Earth – highlighting the imperative need for missions such as COSMIC.

Space & Satellite Professionals International (SSPI) has announced the beginning of Invisible, Indispensable Infrastructure, a multi-week campaign featuring videos, podcasts, live conversations and a new issue of SSPI’s digital magazine, The Orbiter. The campaign explores the little-known, frequently surprising ways in which satellite technology contributes to life, health, welfare and the economy on Earth.