https://spacewatch.global/ AN INDEPENDENT PERSPECTIVE ON SPACE Fri, 21 Aug 2026 09:59:32 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1 https://spacewatch.global/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/SpaceWatchGlobal-Sign-90x90.png https://spacewatch.global/ 32 32 https://spacewatch.global/2026/08/spacewatchgl-space-unromanced-the-price-of-looking-up/ Fri, 21 Aug 2026 08:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=76628
Written by Raoul Cardellini Leipertz
Space talks endlessly about attracting the next generation. But behind the promise of meritocracy lies a quieter barrier: who can actually afford the education, opportunities and unpaid experience required to enter the sector?]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/08/european-defense-tech-hub-festival-2026-benjamin-wolba-on-building-europes-defense-innovation-network/ Fri, 21 Aug 2026 07:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=76795 From a historic airfield in Neuhardenberg near Berlin, Benjamin Wolba, co-founder of the first-ever European Defense Tech Hub Festival, joins Torsten Kriening to explain how a group of civilians is building a pan-European defense innovation network — from hackathons to live drone demos — and where space fits in.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/08/jaxa-sets-october-launch-for-mmx-mars-region-sample-return-mission/ Fri, 21 Aug 2026 06:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=76816 JAXA has set 20 October for the launch of MMX, the world's first mission designed to return a sample from the Mars region, also demonstrating round-trip Earth–Mars travel technologies."]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/08/taiwans-first-domestic-rocket-test-ends-in-mid-flight-termination-as-the-island-pursues-launch-independence/ Fri, 21 Aug 2026 06:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=76805 Taiwan's first flight test of a domestically developed satellite launch vehicle, conducted by the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, ended in flight termination shortly after liftoff. The flight was terminated using a pre-planned self-destruct mechanism after the vehicle deviated from its intended trajectory.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/08/hawkeye-360-secures-nros-augmentation-contract-on-commercial-radio-frequency-capability/ Fri, 21 Aug 2026 06:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=76794 HawkEye 360 has won a contract to provide commercial radio frequency data to support U.S. national security missions under the National Reconnaissance Office’s Commercial Radio Frequency Capability Augmentation program.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/08/from-prototype-to-capability-europes-defence-tech-builders-gather-at-neuhardenberg/ Fri, 21 Aug 2026 06:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=76792 The first European Defence Tech Hub Festival opened at Neuhardenberg with more than 200 founders, engineers, soldiers and investors in one hangar. The recurring theme was not invention but translation - how Europe turns prototypes into fielded military capability. The Bundeswehr's Cyber Innovation Hub confirmed an expanded mandate to invest in scaling proven prototypes, while a serving colonel set out three tests every defence product must pass.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/08/spacewatchgl-gray-space-usspacecom-2040-space-warfare-no-way-but-the-hard-way/ Thu, 20 Aug 2026 08:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=76504
Written by Christophe Bosquillon
USSPACECOM’s Space Warfighting Environment 2040 sees space as a permanently contested domain where resilience, interoperability and integration determine advantage. In the first instalment of Gray Space, Christophe Bosquillon examines what this doctrine means for allies – and why Europe’s ambitions for strategic autonomy may collide with Washington’s operational logic.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/08/link-spacecraft-will-not-attempt-to-raise-the-swift-observatory/ Thu, 20 Aug 2026 06:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=76764 NASA and Katalyst Space have confirmed the LINK spacecraft will not attempt to reboost the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, after attitude-control problems ruled out a docking. LINK will still perform rendezvous and proximity operations as a technology demonstrator - while Swift, without onboard propulsion, is likely to drop below 300km by October 2026.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/08/landspace-successfully-recovers-zhuque-3-booster-diversifying-chinas-reusable-rocket-ambitions/ Thu, 20 Aug 2026 06:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=76763 LandSpace has announced the successful launch, orbital payload deployment and first-stage recovery of its August 19 mission featuring the Zhuque-3 Y2 reusable carrier rocket. The achievement marks a significant milestone for the company and China’s commercial space sector, bringing the country another step closer to an operational reusable-launch model.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/08/uk-space-agency-announces-new-13m-investment-in-satellite-technology-for-rail-agriculture-and-communications/ Thu, 20 Aug 2026 06:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=76753 The UK Space Agency has announced £13 million across 16 projects bringing satellite technology into rail, agriculture, and communications, including CGI's SODOR rail-digitalisation project.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/08/zeno-power-systems-radioisotope-heater-unit-to-fly-on-a-firefly-2028-mission-to-the-moons-near-side/ Thu, 20 Aug 2026 06:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=76745 Zeno Power's radioisotope heater unit will fly on a Firefly mission to the Moon's near side in 2028, demonstrating survive-the-night technology for operating through the lunar dark.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/08/spacewatchgl-orbital-venturing-chapter-5-organising-for-success/ Wed, 19 Aug 2026 08:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=76442
Written by Jascha Langenberg
Reaching industrial scale creates a new challenge for space start-ups: the organisation itself. Chapter 5 explores how founders, teams and structures must evolve as a start-up grows – and why the habits that enabled early success can eventually hold a company back.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/08/germanys-new-drone-security-centre-runs-on-space-even-if-nobody-says-so/ Wed, 19 Aug 2026 07:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=76738 Germany opened its Technology Centre for Drone Security at Cochstedt on 18 August, backed by a first-ever institutional funding line from the interior ministry. Beneath the counter-drone architecture sits an unacknowledged dependency: without satellite georeferencing, none of the situational awareness works - which is also where it is most exposed.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/08/esa-astronaut-sophie-adenot-makes-history-as-first-frenchwoman-to-perform-a-spacewalk/ Wed, 19 Aug 2026 06:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=76719 ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot has become the first Frenchwoman to perform a spacewalk, venturing outside the International Space Station yesterday, 18 August, with NASA astronaut Anil Menon to repair a crucial piece of equipment.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/08/space-forge-partners-with-texas-am-to-expand-advanced-semiconductor-materials-capacity-in-the-u-s/ Wed, 19 Aug 2026 06:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=76715 Space Forge has signed a master research agreement with the Texas A&M University System, a first step toward building its US semiconductor-materials manufacturing capability.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/08/heo-to-expand-its-non-earth-imaging-network-with-planet-labs-skysat-constellation/ Wed, 19 Aug 2026 06:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=76709 HEO and Planet Labs are partnering to integrate Planet's SkySat constellation into HEO's non-Earth imaging network, expanding on-orbit imaging capacity for select customers.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/08/spacewatchgl-opinion-europes-orbital-future-innovation-integration-or-irrelevance/ Tue, 18 Aug 2026 08:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=76438
Written by K.-P. Ludwig
SPRIND’s 2026 space strategy imagines a sovereign European orbital economy built on innovation and autonomy. But the U.S. Space Command’s SWE 2040 describes a very different future: a contested domain shaped by interoperability, resilience and military integration. Can Europe pursue both sovereignty and integration, or will it ultimately have to choose?]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/08/space-tech-expo-europe-is-moving-to-frankfurt-after-11-years-in-bremen/ Tue, 18 Aug 2026 06:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=76697 After eleven successful years, Space Tech Expo Europe is moving from Bremen to Frankfurt, with Bremen no longer able to provide sufficient space to accommodate the steadily increasing number of national and international exhibitors. Since its inception in 2015, the trade fair has held particular significance for Bremen as a hub for the aerospace industry.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/08/airtel-africa-has-launched-africas-first-commercial-direct-to-device-service-in-partnership-with-starlink/ Tue, 18 Aug 2026 06:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=76693 Airtel Africa, in collaboration with Starlink, has launched commercial operations of a satellite-to-mobile service in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The first commercial rollout of its kind in Africa, the announcement follows the successful testing of data and messaging services with Starlink Mobile, Starlink's Direct-to-Cell network technology, in Kenya earlier in March.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/08/united-launch-alliance-appoints-mark-peller-as-president-and-chief-executive-officer/ Tue, 18 Aug 2026 06:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=76687 United Launch Alliance has appointed veteran aerospace industry executive Mark Peller as its next president and chief executive officer, effective immediately, succeeding interim CEO John Elbon, who has held the role since December 2025. Peller's appointment comes at a pivotal moment for ULA as the company transitions Vulcan from a newly introduced launch vehicle into the backbone of its future launch operations. ]]>