https://spacewatch.global/ AN INDEPENDENT PERSPECTIVE ON SPACE Thu, 01 Oct 2026 14:12:50 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.2 https://spacewatch.global/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/SpaceWatchGlobal-Sign-90x90.png https://spacewatch.global/ 32 32 https://spacewatch.global/2026/10/mission-k-2026-daniel-seidel-of-liveeo-on-the-inspecteo-award-and-berlin-backing-its-own-satellites/ Thu, 01 Oct 2026 09:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=78425 From Mission-K in Kalkar, LiveEO CEO and co-founder Daniel Seidel joins Torsten Kriening to discuss the company's INSPECTEO award fusing optical 3D modelling with SAR, a State of Berlin guarantee backing its satellite financing, and the unprecedented collaboration now visible across Europe's ecosystem.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/10/spacewatchgl-opinion-carbon-offsets-pay-for-the-status-quo-part-ii-fixing-the-market-wont-fix-the-carbon/ Thu, 01 Oct 2026 08:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=78261
Written by Karolina Sarna
Carbon markets were built to direct money towards climate action. But what happens when their incentives reward the cheapest certified tonne rather than the most meaningful emissions reduction? Karolina examines why fixing individual credits may not fix the market itself.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/10/skyrora-moves-closer-to-orbital-launch-with-scaled-xl-hot-fire-test/ Thu, 01 Oct 2026 06:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=78403 Skyrora has successfully completed a 45-second static hot-fire test of a scaled-down version of its Skyrora XL orbital launch vehicle, marking another step toward the development of the company’s first orbital launch vehicle.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/10/nasa-sets-2028-crewed-return-for-boeing-starliner-after-2024-flight-problems/ Thu, 01 Oct 2026 06:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=78394 NASA and Boeing are targeting an uncrewed Starliner ISS mission for December 2026 or January 2027, ahead of a crewed flight in 2028, as they work to certify the vehicle after its troubled 2024 test.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/10/varda-space-industries-raises-251-million-to-scale-in-space-pharmaceutical-processing/ Thu, 01 Oct 2026 06:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=78388 Varda Space Industries has raised $251 million in a Series D to scale its in-space pharmaceutical processing and increase mission cadence, bringing total capital raised to $598 million.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/10/rocket-lab-signs-20-launch-electron-deal-with-synspective-through-2031/ Thu, 01 Oct 2026 06:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=78379 Synspective has signed for 20 dedicated Electron launches between 2028 and 2031 - Rocket Lab's largest commercial Electron deal to date, taking the Synspective total to 47 missions.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/09/mission-k-dr-sabine-hampel-of-grif-on-why-europe-needs-private-capital-for-defence-and-space/ Wed, 30 Sep 2026 16:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=78422 From Mission-K in Kalkar, Dr. Sabine Hampel, founder of GRIF, joins Torsten Kriening to explain why Europe's defence and space innovation needs private capital alongside public money, why the continent's investment culture must change, and why defence can never be approached like deep tech.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/09/mission-k-2026-tom-segert-of-berlin-space-technologies-on-the-catch-22-blocking-germanys-startups/ Wed, 30 Sep 2026 15:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=78416 From Mission-K in Kalkar, Tom Segert, CEO and co-founder of Berlin Space Technologies, joins Torsten Kriening to discuss why space has always been dual use, what the shift toward defence means for a civil Earth observation company - and the unsolved catch-22 keeping Germany's space startups out of defence contracts.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/09/mission-k-2026-jeroen-wink-on-flying-space-planes-today-and-refuelling-satellites-tomorrow/ Wed, 30 Sep 2026 14:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=78419 From Mission-K in Kalkar, Dawn Aerospace CRO Jeroen Wink joins Torsten Kriening to explain how the company's rocket-powered Mk-II Aurora flies supersonic multiple times a day, how it represents hypersonic threats for defence exercises today, and why in-orbit refuelling could turn satellites from expendable to reusable.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/09/mission-k-day-2-give-us-tactical-isr-from-space-lessons-from-ukraine-and-three-defence-challenges/ Wed, 30 Sep 2026 09:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=78372 From day two of Mission-K in Kalkar, Torsten Kriening reviews an intense opening day - real threats in orbit, Germany's Space Innovation Gateway, Stark Defence's call for tactical ISR from space, and why the story matters as much as the hardware - before three Space Defence Challenges get underway.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/09/spacewatchgl-opinion-carbon-offsets-pay-for-the-status-quo-part-i-a-tonne-is-not-a-tonne/ Wed, 30 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=78256
Written by Karolina Sarna
Most carbon offsets pay for a reduction that would have happened anyway, and even the real ones store carbon only temporarily against a fossil emission that lasts for centuries. The cleanup is making the credits look more trustworthy without changing what they are: a claim the atmosphere never registers.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/09/gps-interference-near-los-angeles-raises-new-questions-for-u-s-aviation/ Wed, 30 Sep 2026 06:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=78358 Several United Airlines flights reported GPS interference near Los Angeles on 25 September, highlighting civil aviation's exposure to navigation disruption - uncommon in US airspace, but increasingly familiar in parts of Europe.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/09/avio-usa-breaks-ground-on-first-u-s-solid-rocket-motor-facility/ Wed, 30 Sep 2026 06:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=78350 Avio USA has broken ground on a 900,000 sq ft solid rocket motor facility in Hurt, Virginia, targeting thousands of motors annually for US tactical missile programmes from early 2029.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/09/space-florida-and-uk-space-agency-launch-joint-space-innovation-funding-call/ Wed, 30 Sep 2026 06:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=78342 Space Florida and the UK Space Agency have opened a joint funding call, offering up to $200,000 and £150,000 respectively for collaborative R&D between Florida and UK space companies.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/09/mission-k-2026-inside-kalkars-surreal-setting-for-europes-space-and-defence-community/ Tue, 29 Sep 2026 09:30:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=78339 Torsten Kriening opens SpaceWatch.Global's coverage of Mission-K from the control room of the Kalkar nuclear plant that never switched on - a surreal setting for two days of keynotes, an Experience Colony of fifteen domes, a live rocket engine demonstration and a Space Café on stage.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/09/spacewatchgl-opinion-vaduz-says-federate-now-perfect-later/ Tue, 29 Sep 2026 09:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=78326 Europe's usual reflex is to design the institution first and deliver the capability later. At the first Vaduz Space Dialogue, the message was clear: on secure connectivity, there is no time for that. Torsten Kriening on why federation should start now, and why Liechtenstein wants to host it.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/09/vaduz-space-dialogue-2026-spectrum-as-strategy-and-europes-case-for-federation/ Tue, 29 Sep 2026 08:30:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=78332 From Vaduz, Torsten Kriening explores why Europe's next move on secure connectivity was pitched in a country of 41,000 people - with Dr. Bianca Lins, Rafel Jordá Siquier of Open Cosmos and ESPI's Hermann Ludwig Moeller on spectrum as strategic infrastructure, and why federation, not another constellation, may be Europe's answer.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/09/spacewatchgl-gray-space-cosco-spy-ships-how-space-can-help-until-the-west-weans-itself-off-maritime-dependency/ Tue, 29 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=78251
Written by Christophe Bosquillon
US allegations that COSCO vessels have supported Chinese intelligence collection expose a difficult Western dependency. Christophe Bosquillon examines how space-based maritime domain awareness could help manage the security risk without disrupting critical global supply chains.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/09/ssc-space-upgrades-western-australia-station-for-optical-satellite-communications/ Tue, 29 Sep 2026 06:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=78314 SSC Space has completed an upgrade of its optical ground station in Western Australia, bringing the facility into operational service with support for both Space Development Agency and Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems optical communications standards.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/09/star-catcher-google-and-blackwing-space-bring-new-orbital-technologies-to-transporter-18/ Tue, 29 Sep 2026 06:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=78303 SpaceX’s Transporter-18 rideshare mission will carry 130 payloads to orbit, including Star Catcher’s Protostar orbital power demonstrator, Google’s Project Suncatcher AI-computing test and Blackwing Space’s Baby Bird nanosatellite. The diverse manifest highlights how a single rideshare mission is becoming a platform for testing new approaches to power, computing, Earth observation and commercial space infrastructure.]]>