The Consortium for Execution of Rendezvous and Servicing Operations (CONFERS) has announced its new executive committee, with iboss boss Joerg Kreisel elected as President. The Association also elected Jon Beam, CEO of Rogue Space Systems Corporation, as Vice President, Dr Brien Flewelling, Director of Strategic Program Development at ExoAnalytic Solutions, as Secretary, and Joseph Anderson, Vice President of Space Logistics, LLC, as Treasurer.

Astroscale Japan Inc. has announced that its commercial debris inspection demonstration satellite, Active Debris Removal by Astroscale-Japan (ADRAS-J), has achieved a major technical milestone: completion of the rendezvous phase of its mission and the beginning of the proximity approach. This success is underscored by starting Angles-Only Navigation, a navigation method to estimate relative position and velocity through the servicer’s onboard cameras.

HEO has finalized a deal with Sidus Space, which will see Sidus Space host HEO’s NEI imager, HOLMES-006, onboard LizzieSat-3 as part of the Bandwagon-2 launch, along with a monthly data services contract. This consequently marks the second agreement between HEO and Sidus Space, as Sidus Space’s LizzieSat-2 will be hosting HEO’s HOLMES-004 on the same launch.

Kepler Communications, Inc. has entered into an agreement with TESAT-Spacecom and Airbus Defence and Space to develop a high bandwidth optical communications network in low Earth orbit (LEO) to address emerging opportunities such as the European Space Agency’s (ESA) High Throughput Optical Network (HydRON) program. This marks a significant milestone toward the development of terabit-class optical networking in space.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and Japan’s Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) Masahito Moriyama have signed an agreement to advance sustainable human exploration of the Moon. As a result, Japan will design, develop, and operate a pressurized rover for crewed and uncrewed exploration on the Moon. On the other hand, NASA will provide the launch and delivery of the rover to the Moon as well as two opportunities for Japanese astronauts to travel to the lunar surface.

The European Space Law, a flagship project of the EU aimed at protecting satellites and ensuring safer and more sustainable space flights, initially scheduled for release this month of April 2024, is again delayed. It is unlikely that the European Space Law will make it in the current EU legislative season, which poses significant risks.

The U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command (SSC) and its mission partners have successfully launched and delivered on orbit a National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) payload, NROL-70, onboard United Launch Alliance (ULA)’s final Delta IV Heavy rocket. The launch happened from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS), on the central coast of Florida.

Astrobotic is partnering with Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. (LZH) on MOONRISE, a project in which researchers are working to bring 3D printing to the Moon. As a result, LZH has contracted with Astrobotic for a flight to the Moon, which will tentatively take place in late 2026. LZH will equip Astrobotic’s lander with a compact, sturdy laser that will melt lunar dust, known as regolith, creating 2D structures on the lunar surface.

Latitude and Aldoria have signed a 3-year partnership agreement that will see Aldoria support Latitude during the pre-launch and launch phases of the Zephyr light launcher. This will consequently enable Latitude to enhance its launch activities by providing anti-collision protection for its customers. The two parties signed the MoU during the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs. 

Vast Space has announced that its Haven-1 commercial space station will feature SpaceX's Starlink user terminal, consequently providing Gigabit/s speed low-latency connectivity to its crew users, internal payload racks, external cameras and instruments.