News

Andre-Hubert Roussel will step down as CEO of ArianeGroup- a French aerospace joint venture between Airbus and Safran - French newspaper La Tribune reported on the 30th of March. ArianeGroup lost nearly a quarter of its turnover in 2022, this is largely due to the Russian-Ukrainian war and delays in Ariane 6 - which could be postponed until the first half of 2024.

In a recent episode of Space Café Canada, Dr. Jessica West interviewed Hira Nadeem, a Space Systems Engineer at Planet Labs and co-founder of Zenith Canada Pathways Foundation, which provides internship and mentorship opportunities for students in Canada to support a more inclusive space industry. They discussed Hira's journey into the space industry, her experience working in both Canada and the United States, her initiatives to create opportunities for Canadian students from all backgrounds in space-related fields, and the need for industry to pursue talent recruitment and retention through more intentional designs that nurture diversity from young hires through leadership positions.

Impact Observatory, a D.C. geospatial mapping company using artificial intelligence (AI) and satellite imagery to power its technology, has raised a nearly $6 million seed round to bring its product to market and multiply in size. Impact Observatory will also use the funds to continue research and development for additional monitoring capabilities.

Unseenlabs, a French radio frequency (RF) data and solutions provider for Maritime Domain Awareness, has announced today the coming launch of BRO-9. This will be the ninth satellite for its constellation dedicated to the geolocation of all the vessels at sea. BRO-9 will be launched in April 2023 as part of the Transporter-7 Mission aboard SpaceX’s launcher Falcon 9 from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. 

SES has released a statement to confirm ongoing rumors about its ongoing talks with Intelsat about a possible merger. The statement came after a Bloomberg report said the two companies were close to a deal of more than $10 billion in value, including debt.

Ian Grosner, the Brazilian Space Agency federal attorney and host of SpaceWatch Global's Space Café Brazil, has become the chair of the Working Group on the Definition and Delimitation of Outer Space of the Legal Subcommittee of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) in Vienna, Austria. The election happened on Monday, March 20, 2023.

Business Wire reported on the 29th of March that Planet Labs PBC a global, daily satellite imagery and geospatial solutions has signed an agreement to acquire the business of Holding Sinergise d.o.o. -a European geospatial technology company. Through this new contract Planet aims to continue to expand into new vertical markets by reducing the complexity of analysis and insights extraction. 

The amount the UK space sector brings to the UK economy has grown by £1 billion, helping to launch new businesses and create jobs across the country, according to the latest figures from the UK Space Agency. Despite the global disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, space organizations presented a robust picture, generating £17.5 billion in 2021, compared to £16.5 billion the previous year.

The Space Based Infrared System Geosynchronous Earth Orbit – Satellite-6 (SBIRS GEO-6) formally transferred from Space Systems Command (SSC) to Space Operations Command (SpOC), on Friday, March 24, 2023.

The European Rover challenge (ERC) has announced today that it has opened its registration and introduced a new certification process. Not only will the tasks based on actual missions performed by rovers on Mars and the Moon be analysed, but the competence and skills of future engineers will be validated. Academic teams worldwide can now register for the competition and get a chance to obtain the ERC Space and Robotics Industry Standard Practice Programme certificate.