ESA has confirmed after a thorough review process that the preliminary design of the Airbus-built Copernicus Polar Ice and Snow Topography Altimetry mission CRISTAL, meets all system requirements, Airbus said. CRISTAL will measure sea ice thickness and ice sheet elevations with the help of a multi-frequency altimeter.

Our Space Café WebTalk “33 minutes with Amna Al Owais - Courts of Space: A Conversation about Dispute Resolution” took place on Tuesday, 17th May. Al Owais is currently the Chief Registrar of the DIFC Courts and oversees operations and quality management, supervising the Courts’ Judicial Officers and Registry personnel, as well as the delivery of a comprehensive suite of court public services. 

Satellite-driven monitoring and natural catastrophe solutions company ICEYE, announced they are starting a pilot activity with the European Space Agency (ESA) to support the Copernicus Emergency Management Services (CEMS) team with flood insights. Under the programme, ICEYE will deliver critical flood impact information for CEMS to evaluate the data and explore potential applications.

The General Assembly of the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI) appointed Hermann Ludwig Moeller as the Director of the Institute, effective 1st September 2022, ESPI said. Mr. Moeller is succeeding Jean-Jacques Tortora, who became ESPI’s Director in June 2016.

Several pieces of suspected space debris fell onto the rural parts of western India, Indian media reported. The time of the incident suggests these could be Chinese rocket parts re-entering Earth’s atmosphere.  The objects crashed into the ground in Gujarat within a 15-km radius, accompanied by a loud noise.

SpaceX is launching a new round of funding, aiming for US $1.725 billion at US $70 per share, bringing the company’s valuation to US $127 billion, CNBC reported. SpaceX remains a private company even over 20 years after its founding. SpaceX is holding a secondary sale to company insiders and existing shareholders as well, for up to US $750 million.

The Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft reached the intended orbit and continues to perform nominally on its way to the International Space Station (ISS) after a successful launch atop United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket. The spacecraft is expected to dock with the space station’s Boeing-built module after a 24-hour journey.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is launching the Ouija program to provide new insights into high-frequency (HF) radio wave propagation in the ionosphere with the help of sensors on low-orbiting satellites.  HF radio transmissions are important to military systems across all domains including space, air, ground, and maritime.

Airbus announced it has been awarded a contract from ESA to further develop the implementation of the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). The mission design and final technology development are due to be completed by 2024, with a planned launch in the late 2030s.

German-based risk and disaster intelligence company Mayday.ai, and Airbus have entered into a strategic partnership to enhance risk and disaster intelligence. Airbus’ data will power Mayday.ai’s next-generation platform supporting decision-makers in protecting lives, property and the environment.