The United Kingdom and South Korea have committed not to destructively test direct ascent anti-satellite missiles (DA-ASAT) and thus joining the initiative led by the United Stated to promote peaceful and safe use of outer space.

The New Zealand Space Agency and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action BMWK signed an agreement to promote the safe, secure and responsible use of outer space, the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment stated.

The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Director General, Josef Aschbacher, appointed the New Space Advisory Board (NAB) to implement the actions of the Agenda 2025 with a particular focus on commercialisation and ESA’s role and actions in the New Space ecosystem, ESA said. 

Earth observation company Satellite Vu, has partnered with communications company Viasat, to ensure rapid commanding, reception and dissemination of thermal imagery from Satellite Vu’s satellites, the company said. According to the partnership agreement, Viasat will serve as the company’s exclusive ground service provider.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved a rule to shorten the time frame in which satellite operators should deorbit their low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, the FCC announced. The new rule states that operators now have five years instead of 25, to safely deorbit their defunct spacecraft.

Metals company Talon Metals, and Australian space company Fleet Space Technologies, have agreed to pilot Fleet’s ExoSphere rapid mineral exploration solution at Talon’s high-grade nickel deposit exploration projects, Fleet Space said. Talon is aiming to supply the US domestic battery supply chain with nickel and other battery materials.

Florida Space infrastructure company Redwire, has entered into a definitive agreement with QinetiQ Group to acquire its science and engineering company,  QinetiQ Space NV, a Belgium-based commercial space business providing design and integration for end-to-end space missions. Redwire will acquire Space NV for €32 million subject to customary approvals and closing conditions. The deal is expected to close in Q4 2022.

Satellite telecommunications operator Sateliot, partnered with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to build a cloud native 5G service designed to provide customers with secure and reliable narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) connectivity over non-terrestrial network using its low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation, Sateliot said. 

Space startup ClearSpace has been awarded a US $2.46 million contract by the UK Space Agency to conduct the next design phase of the “Clearing of the LEO Environment with Active Removal” (CLEAR) mission. The phase will finish with the preliminary design review at the end of 2023.

Hi-tech startup Celestia UK, has won a €800,000 ESA NAVSIP (Navigation, Innovation and Support Programme) contract to develop LEO-SYN+, an innovative PNT (Positioning, Navigation and Timing) solution based on low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellations for 5G networks and applications, the company said. The project’s aim is to boost the reliability and performance of GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System).