Opinion

Africa, much like the US, Europe, and China, has demonstrated its interest in using space as a means to a societal end. In Africa’s case, the continent has awakened to how space, specifically space science and technology, can assist in addressing Africa’s social and economic challenges. The way the African Space Strategy puts it, Africa needs “an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena." The rapid global development of spatial activities is a nifty representation of the fact that the same awakening happened in other parts of the world way before Africa. This may mean that Africa is late to the party, but perhaps it's more encouraging to see it as Africa being able to learn the best model for space development from other more advanced spacefaring nations.

by Christophe Bosquillon   At most conferences, there’s always the excuse of a plane to catch if you want to skip that last lunch keynote address. In the case of the latest von Braun Space Symposium thou, it would have been ill-advised. Mike Griffin delivered a compelling call to arms …

On November 16, 2023, ispace, inc. from Japan unveiled the final design of its micro rover, which will be transported to the surface of the Moon by its lunar lander as part of exploration activities during Mission 2. This mission 2, part of the HAKUTO-R lunar exploration program, will serve as the company’s second technological demonstration, with the objective of further validating the lander’s design and technology, and ispace’s business model, to provide reliable lunar transportation and data services.

The Maine Space Conference took place in-person and online on November 5-7, 2023, in Portland, Maine. This event marked a significant milestone for the state (a video summary can be watched here). Maine is a state on the US northeastern coast that shares borders with Canada: quite convenient to reach polar orbits. While contemporary Maine might not strike you as a “space state” like of Florida, Texas, or Colorado, it turns out the countrie's industrial and technological base is positioned to be a growing contributor to the US and global space economy

Imagine that we are part of a group responsible for planning a space journey, and our primary guiding principle is to use biomimicry as a tool to inspire the solutions we will need to develop. "Biomimicry involves solving problems by studying and emulating natural processes. For example, the design of whale-inspired wind turbines draws inspiration from the humpback whale." These studies have been done through the observation of behaviors and characteristics of all types of living creatures living in this world.  It holds the key to billions of years of research and development of sustainable, circular, and regenerative solutions.

“Strategic Autonomy“is a bit like “Diversity”: you can keep repeating all day that mantra for space access, but that alone doesn’t make it happen. How much of a game changer  was the early November 2023 European Space Summit in Séville?

The 2023 edition of the legendary von Braun Space Exploration Symposium took place on October 25-27 2023 in the regular location, Huntsville, Alabama (recordings of sessions are available here). Its focus however was interestingly unusual: “Advancing Space: from LEO to Lunar and Beyond” featured a diverse program covering commercial, policy, and strategic communication concerns.

A special moment took place at the SPACETIDE conference in early July 2023 in Tokyo and online. When Takeshi Hakamada and Masayasu Ishida sat down together to reminisce their humble beginnings, the sentiment was palpable. Both had come a long way: Hakamada-san, Co-Founder & CEO of iSpace (2010), recovering from a Moon hard landing, yet looking forward confidently to the success of their next lunar mission. And Ishida-san, Co-Founder, President & CEO, member of the Board of Directors of the SPACETIDE Foundation (2015) , taking stock of the Foundation’s growth experienced in less than a decade. 

Bob Smith, the now retiring former CEO of Blue Origin, was invited at the Financial Times Investing in Space Summit in June 2023 to provide an overview of the future of Orbital Reef, the commercial space station being developed jointly by Blue Origin and Sierra Space. His statements about Orbital Reef were considered a bit disappointing by the inner circle of Space analysts, but nothing in Smith’s tone hinted at the shocking developments that just unfolded.

In a noteworthy twist that has sent shockwaves through the global satellite industry, Eutelsat OneWeb, previously recognized as OneWeb Technologies, has orchestrated a merger of astronomical proportions with the esteemed Eutelsat Group. This strategic alliance, reshaping the contours of the communication satellite arena, has solidified Eutelsat OneWeb’s standing as the preeminent global satellite powerhouse, trailing only behind the illustrious SpaceX. The merger, which encompasses a vast constellation of nearly 700 satellites gracefully navigating both Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO), is poised to redefine the parameters of global connectivity.