Geopolitics News

Capella Space has announced the formation of its wholly-owned subsidiary, Capella Federal. The new entity enables the company to further support its U.S. Government and defense agency customers by providing expanded access to its Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery with increased security and continued on-demand reliability.

In this Space Café Radio, SpaceWatch.Global publisher Torsten Kriening spoke with Simonetta Cheli, Director of Earth Observation Programmes and Head of ESRIN (D/EOP) at the European Space Agency (ESA) at the 15th European Space Conference in Brussels. This conference is one of the very important yearly high-level gatherings of the key stakeholders of the European space domain in the Egmont Palace in Brussels under the 2023 theme “Securing the Future of Europe in Space”.

The African Union Commission (AUC) and the Egyptian Government have, via a signed agreement, formally inaugurated and declared the African Space Agency (AfSA) open and operational on January 25 2023. The agreement establishes the general framework regulating the relationship between the parties, which will serve as a platform for space research and innovation on the continent.

SmartSat Cooperative Research Center (CRC) has appointed current board member Dr. Michele Allan AO as its new Chair, following the sudden passing of inaugural Chair Dr. Peter Woodgate in December. Dr. Allan AO brings a wealth of experience and leadership from some of Australia’s key industries.

This Space Café Black Ops will feature Namrata Goswami , an independent scholar on space policy and Great Power Politics, in conversation with Dr. Emma Gatti, Editor in Chief of SpaceWatch.Global. Ep. 2: The United States: A Strategy of Continued Primacy in Space In the second episode, Namrata and Emma will discuss the values, interests and space culture of the United States of America.

Airbus has signed a contract with the Belgian Ministry of Defense to provide tactical satellite communications services for a 15-year period. The Armed Forces will utilize channels of the Airbus UHF (Ultra High Frequency) military communications hosted payload on board a commercial telecommunications satellite manufactured by Airbus.

NASA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced a collaboration to demonstrate an in-space nuclear thermal rocket (NTR) engine. They will collaborate on the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) program, enabling NASA crewed missions to Mars. The non-reimbursable agreement will benefit both agencies and outline the roles, responsibilities, and processes to speed up development efforts.

Spanish Government satellite operator Hisdesat has awarded GMV a contract to build and develop the ground segment of the SPAINSAT NG program satellites. These two new satellites, scheduled for launch in 2024 and 2025, will replace the operator’s current SpainSat and XTAR-EUR satellites and significantly improve their performance and capabilities. 

The European Space Agency (ESA), the European Commission, and Promus Ventures have joined efforts for a Space Index which Euronext will launch, develop, and maintain. This is the first Euronext European space-related index to measure the stock market performance of European companies in the space sector. Through the partnership, the European Commission, ESA, and Promus Ventures intend to provide their expert advice in their respective areas of activity to Euronext in relation to the index.

During the 14th session on deepening space cooperation between Europe, Africa, and Latin America, Tomasz Husak disclosed some of the plans the European Commission had for Africa and Latin America