The Earth Observation (EO) market is expected to grow in the area of prediction and detection of risks, post-disaster rescue, recovery efforts, infrastructure planning, urban development utilities, and national mapping agencies. Satellite data can be integrated into system control to construct warning systems for assets management, to effectively decrease the response time in operation and increase management of precise and predictive maintenance. In other words, the growth of EO data creates a potential growth both in mitigating against climate damage and economic and efficiency growth across industries, across regions. But this potential will only come to fruition if utilized.

Starfish Space, a Seattle-based start-up has raised $14 million in funding to support its plans to develop spacecraft capable of hooking up with bigger satellites to boost their orbits or dispose of them. 

Forsway, a Swedish-based satellite broadband provider, announced on the 9th of March that Rymdkapital, the first Nordic investment firm dedicated to European space start-ups has endorsed Forsway with an unspecified amount of new funding and support. This new collaboration is part of Rymdkapital’s vision to provide capital, support and networks for new business areas for emerging new space start-ups in Europe aiming for a global market. 

Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT), a Norwegian-based company, has been contracted by Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC), home to the UAE National Space Programme, to provide direct communication between the Moon and the Earth. The Emirati Lunar Mission (ELM) Rashid rover will communicate with KSAT’s Svalsat ground station located on the island of Svalbard. 

Privateer Space, a data and intelligence platform, announced on the 8th of March its partnership with WARPSPACE - a Tsukuba-based spacetech startup developing an optical inter-satellite data relay service - to provide space operators with essential data in a timely manner to safeguard their assets from objects orbiting space. 

Ubotica Technologies, a Dublin based aerospace company, announced on the 7th of March that the CogniSAT-CRC solution which maximises Earth Observation asset utilisation using flight proven CogniSAT technology. CogniSAT-CRC uses lossless image compression and a flight-proven AI-based Cloud Detection and Removal algorithm to deliver a six-fold increase in useful data capture per orbit for Earth Observation (EO) satellites to maximise the areas of interest scanned during each orbit.

UKspace has announced on the 6th of March that the Cornwall Space Cluster will be the first to benefit from its new membership band. This is part of UKspace’s new strategy to broaden the models of membership and widen knowledge of the space sector within companies that can benefit from engaging with the industry. The new membership band is specifically for space clusters in the UK. 

The past four weeks have been eventful for the US Air Force. On Wednesday, February 1st 2023 an unknown floating balloon, the size of three school buses, was spotted flying over Billings, Montana, at around 18 km above the ground. On Friday, February 3rd, Mao Ning, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Foreign Minister’s spokesperson, released a note claiming that the airship was  “of a civilian nature, used for scientific research such as meteorology. Affected by the westerly wind and its control ability is limited, the airship seriously deviated from the scheduled route. China regrets that the airship strayed into the United States due to force majeure”.

Two Germany NewSpace companies - constellr, a technology company enabling space-based water, temperature and carbon measurement for the agricultural sector, and Exolaunch, a global provider of launch, deployment and in-space logistics services, have announced the signing of the multi-launch agreement (MLA) for constellr’s high precision versatile ecosphere monitoring (HiVE) microsat constellation. 

ESA’s Earth Explorer Biomass satellite has undergone testing to ensure it will survive liftoff and deploy its solar array correctly. Having passed these tests successfully Biomass is closer to its mission in orbit: to deliver new information on our forests and the carbon they store.