ESA set up a 12-member advisory group to provide decision-makers with independent and objective geopolitical, economic and societal assessments regarding the agency's human and robotic space exploration. The group comprises eight men and five women from political, economic, academic and explorer backgrounds.

Antenna developer, Anywaves, has signed a contract with Airbus Defence and Space to supply antennas for over 15 satellite platforms for a project for space infrastructure provider, Loft Orbital, Anywaves said. According to the contract, Anywaves will provide more than 70 products for the platforms to be deployed by Loft Orbital.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the Radio Regulations Board (RRB) have rejected a request by the government of Liechtenstein and its US-based industrial partner, Rivada Space Networks, for a one-year extension of the deadline for two low Earth orbit broadband satellite constellations.

Information and communication technology provider, Ericsson, French aerospace company, Thales, and wireless technology innovator, Qualcomm Technologies, are taking 5G into space to conduct smartphone-use-case-focused testing and validation of 5G non-terrestrial networks (5G NTN).

NASA has published the James Webb Space Telescope’s deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant Universe so far, known as Webb’s First Deep Field, an image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723. The image contains thousands of galaxies, including the faintest objects ever observed in the infrared part of the spectrum.

University of Arizona aerospace experts and a NASA planetary scientist took inspiration from albatross flight to develop a sailplane that could potentially examine the Red Planet's atmosphere and geology. Atmospheric climate processes take place in the first few kilometers above the ground.

Global positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) company, Orolia, joined inertial navigation systems company, Safran Electronics & Defense, Orolia said. Orolia has over 435 employees in Europe and North America with a revenue of approximately €100 million. Its technologies and equipment include atomic clocks, time servers,

ESA’s astronaut selection has been progressing as planned, with the cognitive, technical, motor coordination and personality testing (Phase 2) ending in March, while psychometric testing, group and individual exercises and practical tests (Phase 3) ended in June this year. Over 400 applicants took part in the psychological assessments of Phase 3, carried out by an international team of experts.

The first company to 3D print entire rockets, Relativity Space, has signed a multi-year, multi-launch Launch Services Agreement (LSA) with global communications network company, OneWeb, the companies said. According to the LSA, Relativity will launch OneWeb’s low Earth orbit satellites on its Terran R rocket from 2025.

A Minotaur II+ rocket exploded approximately 11 seconds after launch, Vandenberg Space Force reported. No one was injured in the explosion and the debris fell back onto the immediate vicinity of the launch pad. Investigation is currently underway to determine what caused the malfunction.