Global lunar exploration company, ispace’s HAKUTO-R Mission 1 lunar lander has successfully established communications with Earth following its launch by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket yesterday, the HAKUTO-R Mission Control Center in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, confirmed.

Launch integration and mission management services provider TriSept, and zero-trust cybersecurity solutions provider for next generation space systems, SpiderOak, entered into a strategic partnership to implement a comprehensive end-to-end security system capable of keeping critical commercial-, government-, space- and ground operations protected from intentional interference and attacks, TriSept said.

SpaceX is planning to use its second-generation Starlink satellites for its  Coverage Above and Beyond connectivity project with T-Mobile smartphones, according to an application the company filed with the FCC.  T-Mobile and SpaceX announced their Coverage Above and Beyond plan to provide coverage in most places in the US, including many previously unreachable remote locations.

Our Space Café Scotland by Angela Mathis took place on Thursday, 24th November. Angela, CEO of ThinkTank Maths was joined by panelists to talk about Scotland’s Space Sustainability Roadmap. Space offers both economical and investment opportunities. It enables humanity to watch what we are doing to the planet in real time and do something about it.

Private space exploration company, Copernicus Space Corporation, launched its Strategic & Scientific Advisory Board (SSAB), including distinguished, visionary and pro-active SSAB members, the company said.

Space Scotland has named Dr Hina Khan as its first-ever Executive Director to help accelerate the sector’s growth and collaboration. In addition, the industry-led body appointed pace, health and energy expert, Dr Natasha Nicholson as its Cluster Manager. 

Space start-up Reflex Aerospace, raised an investment volume of approximately €7 million in the first round of the two-part seed financing, the satellite manufacturer said. The second round has already seen interest from companies which could increase the funding amount to €12 million by the end of Q1 2023.

Space tech propulsion hardware and software company Pulsar Fusion, has been awarded funding from the UK Space Agency to develop ‘Integrated nuclear fission-based power systems for electric propulsion,’ the company said.  The Southampton and Cambridge Universities will support the project along with Nuclear AMRC.

Our Space Café “33 minutes with Marco Ferrazzani - ESA Ministerial Meeting of 2022, the outcomes and the way forward” took place on Tuesday, 29th November. Marco Ferrazzani is the Senior Legal Counsel and Head of the Legal Services department at the European Space Agency (ESA), based at its headquarters in Paris. He is an advisor to the ESA Director General and to the ESA Council. He sits on a number of boards including those of the European Centre for Space Law (ECSL) and the International Institute of Space Law (IISL).

SpaceX has launched its new business segment called Starshield satellite services designed for US national security government use. The service will utilize the Starlink constellation technology to support national security efforts focus on three areas. These comprise Earth observation, communications, and hosted payloads.