NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) have selected three design concept proposals for a fission surface power system design to advance space nuclear technologies, NASA said. The design could launch by the end of the decade for a lunar demonstration. The contracts are valued at approximately US $5 million each and will fund the development of initial design concepts.

The developer, owner and operator of the Arnhem Space Centre (ASC), Equatorial Launch Australia (ELA), successfully completed Australia’s first commercial space launch on the Gove Peninsula in Australia’s Northern Territory, in cooperation with NASA, ELA reported. The BBIX rocket launch was NASA’s first launch from a fully commercial spaceport and the first of three rocket launches.

An innovative and practical tool to support space actors in more sustainable mission design and operations, the Space Sustainability Rating (SSR) hosted by the eSpace-EPFL Space Center, launched last Thursday. The SSR encourages, recognises, and rewards, space actors who enforce sustainable space missions with a unique rating system.

Launch vehicle company Isar Aerospace, has entered into a launch services agreement with space logistics company D-Orbit, to launch its ION Satellite Carrier to a Sun-synchronous orbit aboard Isar’s Spectrum rocket from Andøya, Isar said. Under the agreement, D-Orbit will become Isar’s primary customer from 2023.

Arianespace’s Ariane 5 launch vehicle has successfully placed two telecommunications satellites into geostationary orbit: MEASAT-3d for the Malaysian operator MEASAT, and GSAT-24 built by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on behalf of NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), ArianeGroup said. The launch was the first mission of the year, and the 113th overall.

Leading South Australian space companies announced an exciting collaboration that will explore launching a rocket and a spacecraft with an interfaced electronic warfare payload from Southern Launch’s Whalers Way Orbital Launch Complex.  Southern Launch, ATSpace Australia, Asension, and Inovor Technologies signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Adelaide.

George Freeman, UK Minister for Science, Research and Innovation announced a new commercial framework and additional space sector funding from the UK Government at space exhibition ILA 2022 today. The country aims to become an industry-led, government backed pioneer of commercial space sustainability.

Global communications company Viasat, received the necessary stockholder approvals for the proposed acquisition of global mobile satellite communications firm Inmarsat, Viasat said.  The offer for US $7.3 billion came last year, with plans to reach a combined annual revenue of approximately US $4 billion

South Korea’s domestic KSLV-2 rocket developed by the Korean Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), successfully deployed a performance test satellite into low Earth orbit for the first time during its second flight. The spacecraft will put four smaller satellites into orbit in the next few days.

Software startup Epsilon3 has raised US $15 million in a Series A funding round led by investor Lux Capital to expand its suite of space project management solutions, the company said. Epsilon3’s platform is web-based and provides spacecraft manufacturing and operations collaboration tools.