Ariane 5 has launched the giant James Webb Telescope into its transfer orbit. The Ariane 5 rocket lifted off from the Guiana Space Center, Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on Christmas day, and the telescope separated successfully at an altitude of close to 1500 kilometers 27 minutes into the flight.

Maxar Technologies extended its contracts with three long-standing international defense and intelligence customers. The agreements total more than $100 million and extend these customers’ ability to download satellite imagery from Maxar’s current constellation and under its Direct Access Program, the provider of geospatial intelligence said.

Rocket Lab acquires the space solar power firm SolAero for $80 million, the company said. SolAero is a supplier of space solar power products and precision aerospace structures for the global aerospace market. The strategic acquisition will see Rocket Lab add the world’s largest production line of high-performing space solar cells to its growing space systems business, Rocket Lab said.

The European Space Agency (ESA) prepares the post-ISS era and Europe´s continued presence in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and solicitates private companies to work and collaborate with ESA on commercial concepts. ESA launched a project called SciHab (Science and Habitation), “an orbital human-tended platform with a modular design and open to commercial services”, the agency said.

The data analytics provider Spire Global received approval from the U.S. Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) to fly its Adler-1 satellite on Virgin Orbit’s upcoming, the company said. The satellite, which was integrated at Virgin Orbit’s Long Beach facility in the U.S. within 36 hours, will fly as the third customer in the “Above the Clouds” mission,

The space system startup GomSpace and the European Space Agency (ESA) have signed a contract for the ESA SCOUT Earth Observation mission to be launched in 2024. The contract value is € 24 million, GomSpace said. The mission will consist of three 12U cubesats and will become the first “climate mission” of its kind, GomSpace said.

The European Space Agency (ESA) has asked Airbus to build its Ariel exoplanet satellite that is due for launch in 2029, ESA said. Ariel stands for Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey and is the third in a trio of dedicated exoplanet missions conceived by ESA; it will follow Cheops, which launched in 2019, and Plato, scheduled for launch in 2026.

Euroconsult expects 17,000 satellites to be launched in the next ten years. The fourfold increase over the past decade reflects structural changes in the space ecosystem and a limited short-term impact of the pandemic. “New Space is no longer the driving force in the industry. It's all about Fast Space now,” Euroconsult concludes.

NASA has awarded a $415.6 million to three U.S. companies to design commercial space stations, the U.S. agency said last week. The companies that received awards are Blue Origin ($130 million), Nanoracks ($160 million) and Northrop Grumman ($125.6 million).

ArianeGroup has completed a series of tests of the European reusable first stage Themis, the European Space Agency (ESA) said. ArianeGroup performed six tests at its site in Vernon in France to validate the fluidic and electrical processes and sequences of two test propellant tanks; the tanks were filled then drained of cryogenic propellants, ESA reported.