The European Space Agency (ESA) partners with the British Arqit – a leader in the quantum encryption field – to develop its quantum key distribution satellite QKDSat, the agency said. ArQit recently announced that it was merging with Centricus, a global investment firm, in a transaction expected to provide Arqit with up to €330 million in gross proceeds.
Read More »South Korea is tenth country to join Artemis Accords
South Korea has become the 10th country to sign the Artemis Accords, NASA announced. The South Korean Minister of Science and ICT Lim Hyesook signed the Artemis Accords for the country in Seoul, the U.S. space agency said. South Korea joins Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Ukraine, and the United States.
Read More »Lockheed Martin and General Motors design new lunar rover
Lockheed Martin and General Motors join forces to design the next generation of lunar rovers, the companies said. “The new rovers will be capable of transporting astronauts across farther distances on the lunar surface.” They also "would be designed to survive and even operate in the two-week long night that sees temperatures of down to -280 degrees Fahrenheit".
Read More »Canada further invests in lunar exploration
Canada augments its investment in lunar exploration, the Canadian government and the country’s space agency said. Canada will invest $3 million in technology initiatives for lunar exploration through the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, François-Philippe Champagne, announced.
Read More »EU court backs ESA on excluding OHB in Galileo contract
The European Court of Justice rejected a request by OHB System to suspend a decision by the European Space Agency (ESA) to exclude the German satellite company from a Galileo public contract, which went to its rivals Airbus and Thales Alenia Space, Reuters and other newswires reported. The court also dismissed OHB's application for interim relief, the reports said.
Read More »OHB LuxSpace to develop Triton-X microsat platform for ESA
OHB LuxSpace, a subsidiary of the space and technology group OHB, has signed a contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) to develop the Triton-X Heavy microsatellite platform, OHB said. Triton-X is a new line of microsatellites with a launch mass of up to 200 kg aimed at enabling affordable satellite constellations in Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
Read More »Ramon Space raises $17.5 million for supercomputing in space
The space computing startup Ramon.Space has raised $17.5 million in Series A funding, the company based in Palo Alto, California, said. The funding will be used to continue development of the company's computing solutions, support its rapidly expanding US and Israel operations, and expand the team globally, the company said.
Read More »Isotropic grows in the UK through European funding
Isotropic Systems received a commitment of over €18.5 million from the European Space Agency (ESA) and the UK Space Agency to push the development of its broadband terminal technologies, the company said. The development contract ensures oversight of ESA's experts and the technical integrity of Isotropic's path to product launch in early 2022, Isotropic said.
Read More »Report finds 10,000 space companies worth $4 trillion
The number of space companies around the world exceeds 10,000, with more than half in the U.S., the magazine Forbes reported, based on a new analysis from SpaceTech Analytics. Competition has led the value of space companies to cross the $4 trillion mark, the report said.
Read More »OHB signs with Thales to deliver elements for lunar gateway
OHB signed a subcontract with Thales Alenia Space to develop ESPRIT, the European module for the Lunar Orbital Platform Gateway. The subcontract with Thales Alenia Space as the program's prime contractor is worth EUR 58 million, OHB said. OHB will be responsible for the unpressurized structure and the thermal system of the ESPRIT module.
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