Space infrastructure company, Masten, announced they were already preparing for their second Moon mission, although Mission 1 has not left Earth yet. The company claims that they are capable of launching Mission 2 as early as six months after Mission 1.  Masten’s first mission to the Moon, landing near the Haworth Crater, is scheduled for the end of 2023.

Space consulting and market intelligence company, Euroconsult, estimates that the global space economy totaled US $370B last year. The figures leading up to the estimation can be found in their Space Economy report for 2021. These include the commercial and governmental space market (US $337B), internal costs and R&D of government organizations (US $33B).

A research team led by Profs. Lin Yangting and Lin Honglei from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IGGCAS) observed water signals in Moon surface reflectance spectral data. The discovery is the first evidence of in-situ detection of water on our natural satellite.

President Joe Biden has nominated Navy Vice Admiral Frank Whitworth to lead the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), the institution responsible for analyzing and distributing satellite imagery for intelligence purposes. Career intelligence official Whitworth, currently serves as a director among top military officers advising the president and senior defense officials.

Rocket engineers at Gilmour Space Technologies have successfully test fired the most powerful rocket engine ever developed in Australia, Gilmour Space reported.The company achieved the full thrust of 110 kN (kilonewtons) during the 75-second test. Generating enough force to lift four SUVs off the ground, the test is a significant milestone for Gilmour Space.

The James Webb Space Telescope team successfully deployed the telescope’s 6.4-metre long gold-coated primary mirror, completing the final stage of deployments. Science operations are due to start this summer. The two wings of Webb’s primary mirror had to folded to fit inside Ariane 5’s fairing.

ESA and the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) chose Arianespace to launch eight Galileo satellites to add to the constellation. The company will deploy the first two satellites this year, which will lead to the full operational capability of the Galileo open service. The three successive launches will be on board of Ariane 62 rockets in 2023, 2024 and 2025.

Persei, the upper stage of the failed Angara-A5 launch on 27th December, harmlessly reentered over the South Pacific Ocean on Wednesday, the U.S. Space Force reported. Roscosmos did not provide any details on Persei and its 2400-kg payload after the launch nor did they acknowledge its malfunction.

Satellogic, a vertically integrated geospatial company specialising in sub-meter resolution satellite imagery collection, announced it will be constructing a high-throughput satellite manufacturing facility in the Netherlands. The new facility in Berkel en Rodenrijs is expected to accelerate satellite manufacturing.

Space consulting and market intelligence firm Euroconsult has released its “Government Space Programs” report for 2021. The highlight of this year’s findings is an accelerated volume of governmental investment in the space sector. This is due to ambitious space exploration programmes and the militarization of space.