A new satellite Earth observation company which promises to deliver real-time video of the Earth ‘enhanced by machine intelligence’ has received the backing of Bill Gates, OneWeb’s Greg Wyler, Airbus and Japan’s Softbank.

The small satellite revolution is in full swing. It is on the menu at every conference. It is on our newsfeeds. It is the talk of the industry. The last couple of years have heralded a true breakthrough for the small satellite as news has poured in of new constellations in development and emerging operators looking to use small satellites to drive innovation and cater for emerging applications. With manufacturing prices tumbling and increasingly sophisticated technology and propulsion systems becoming reality for the smallsat, this is a phenomenon that is surely set for longevity. However, there is one rather large problem looming and that is the shortage of rides into space. Yes, you have a satellite but how do you find a vehicle to get it where it needs to go?

Earth-i has released the first video taken by VividX2, the technology prototype for its Vivid-i constellation. Launched on 12 January 2018, VividX2 is the world’s first commercial satellite able to provide full-colour video of life on earth. Weighing 100kg and measuring approximately 1 cubic metre, VividX2 is orbiting at 505km above the Earth and travelling at approximately 7km per second. At the heart of the satellite is an Ultra High Definition (UHD) camera that captures high-resolution images for any location on Earth – and also films up to two minutes of video at a time as it passes over each target location.

Precious Payload, the brain child of Russian entrepreneurs Andrei Rebrov and Andrey Maskimov, is aiming to transform the way in which small satellite operators secure their launches. As we heard at Satellite 2018 this year, small satellites are being hit by a launch bottleneck and are mostly reduced to piggybacking on larger satellite launches and settling for what they can get. This can impact negatively on schedules and revenues.

Space is the next environment that has to be protected against the impact of human development, a panel of top experts has warned at the UK Government’s GREAT Festival of Innovation in Hong Kong. The group of academics said that international investment and regulation needs to happen urgently or space risks being as damaged as our oceans are by human development. Development on the Moon and other planets is a ‘virtual certainty’ as new resources are sought from outside the Earth. And, if not properly regulated, development will impact vital functions, such as enabling worldwide communications and vital observation of Earth.

Last week, SpaceWatch Global attended the Satellite 2018 event held in Washington, D.C. and one of the features of the event that also ran last year, was ‘Startup Space’, a competition that sees 20 Newspace new entrants, given 5 minutes to pitch their business to a panel of highly accomplished space professionals, investors, thought leaders, and fellow entrepreneurs. During the day-long event, I came across Equatorial Space Industries, which is developing the Volans launcher, capable of delivering 35-70Kg of payload for under $1m. This team of 15, based in Singapore, are looking to change the economics of getting small satellites to space and to providing much-needed dedicated launches to a small satellite market in need.

In this article, Milan Mijovic, President of SERBSPACE presents the argument for the formation of an entity that encourages emerging nations to pursue space ambitions. 2018 will mark the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the first United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space – …

Coinciding with the Satellite 2018 Conference & Exhibition held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC during March 12-15, 2018, Teal Group space analysts have identified 12,230 satellites, probes and capsules to be built and launched to earth or deep space orbits between 2018 and 2037. They estimate the value of these space payloads at more than $272 billion.

Globalstar Europe Satellite Services Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Globalstar Inc. and the leader in satellite messaging and emergency notification technologies, announces that Orsa Besparingsskog, a company which manages a range of forestry, commercial and recreational activities in the vast woodlands of Sweden’s Orsa region, has selected SPOT Gen3® …

Known as Dr. Space Junk, Dr. Alice Gorman is a world-renowned expert on space archaeology. Dr. Gorman takes particular interest in the field of orbital debris and is passionate about the preservation of key objects that orbit our planet for the sake of our cultural heritage in space. In this article, Dr. Gorman …