James Webb Space Telescope’s launch date has been moved for the fourth time, to no earlier than 22nd December, NASA reported. The additional time will be used for further testing of the observatory, following a recent incident during launch preparations. Webb was previously scheduled to launch 18th December on an Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou.

OneWeb reported that one of their broadband satellites launched early last year suffered a software failure. The failed aircraft, orbiting at 1200 km, will be de-orbited. Other satellites in the fleet were successfully updated from the ground. OneWeb carried out 11 launches over the past year and currently has market access rights in 38 countries.

EU member states and the European Commission cut the budget of the Horizon Europe space research partnership, aimed to drive EU competitiveness in the global market, Science Business reported. Industry partners will have to decide now if it is worth going ahead with the project or not.

SpaceX can have Starship’s first orbital flight as early as January, pending regulatory approvals, CEO Elon Musk said at a joint meeting of the National Academies’ Space Studies Board and Board on Physics and Astronomy.  According to Musk, the company is in the final preparations of both the vehicle and their new launch site in Boca Chica, Texas.

ICEYE announced having signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on developing advanced SAR products. The collaboration builds on G42’s recent agreement with Yahsat to develop a geospatial data fusion of different sensor modalities. Finnish Synthetic-Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite and analytics provider, ICEYE

Orbit Fab and Dawn Aerospace announced a collaboration to make on-orbit refuelling available to satellites utilising green propellants such as nitrous oxide and propylene. The collaboration was announced at Space Tech Expo Europe in Bremen. The “Gas Stations in Space” company Orbit Fab offers refuelling services in space and developed a port known as RAFTI.

New Space company Leanspace, announced its launch out of stealth mode with several customers and a new product, Leanspace Cloud. The Seraphim Space backed start-up, has already raised over €2M in seed funding from institutional and angel investors. As a first offering, the company offers Leanspace Cloud, to be launched at Space Tech Expo Europe.

The Russian Federation conducted a destructive test of a direct-ascent anti-satellite (DA-ASAT) missile against one of its own defunct satellites. The resulting space debris endangered the crew on the ISS, who had to be evacuated. The test has generated over 1,500 pieces of trackable orbital debris.

Astroscale Holdings revealed a universal docking device, the Docking Plate, at Space Tech Expo Europe in Bremen. The technology works like a car “tow hook” and is designed to future-proof space missions. Over 12,000 satellites were launched in the last 6 decades and tens of thousands are to be deployed within the next 10 years.

Mayday.ai and ConstellR, developing agricultural, risk and disaster management monitoring technologies, have entered a partnership. Mayday users will thus benefit from a higher spatial and temporal resolution to reduce climate change disaster risks.  Mayday.ai provides real time risk and disaster intelligence.