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The word “solaris”, which until recently evoked a 1972 Soviet science-fiction movie directed by Andrey Tarkovsky, is taking on new meaning. “SOLARIS” is now a proposal for a preparatory program of technology research & development envisioned by the European Space Agency (ESA) to tackle the techno-economic feasibility of space-based solar power (SBSP).

Virginia, In-space services technology provider Scout Space, won two U.S. Space Force Small Business Technology Transfer contracts - each worth US $250,000 - in support of debris-cleanup project, Orbital Prime, Scout said. Scout partnered with Stanford University’s Space Rendezvous Laboratory (SLAB) and the Florida Institute of Technology’s Orion Lab to deliver the assignment.

SaxaVord Spaceport is in talks with the North East Scotland Green Freeport (NESGF) bid partners to create a strategic partnership, under which SaxaVord would become a subzone of the NESGF, the Spaceport said. The Scottish spaceport will give place to the United Kingdom’s first vertical rocket launches in 2023, deploying small satellites into orbit. 

T-Mobile and SpaceX announced their new plan: Coverage Above and Beyond, to provide near complete coverage in most places in the U.S., even in many remote locations previously unreachable, leveraging SpaceX’s Starlink constellation and T-Mobile’s wireless network.

In this Space Café Radio – SpaceWatch.Global Senior Editor and Space Café Italy Host Dr. Emma Gatti spoke with Kerry Timmons, Systems Engineering Manager on the Orion program at Lockheed Martin. In this episode, Kerry discusses the Orion spacecraft that will take astronauts to the moon and back to Earth. In this episode, Kerry discusses the Orion spacecraft that will take astronauts to the moon and back to Earth.

Local Koonibba artist, Kevina Ware, has designed the mission patch for the next rocket launch mission from Southern Launch’s Koonibba Test Range which is due to launch in the coming weeks, Southern Launch said.  Launch services company, Southern Launch commissioned Ware as part of their ongoing relationship with the Koonibba Community Aboriginal Corporation.

NASA has selected three companies, Astrobotic Technology, Honeybee Robotics and Lockheed Martin, to further advance work on deployable solar array systems that will power the agency's human and robotic exploration of the Moon during the Artemis program, NASA said.

NASA's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Sequential Phase II program selected space robotic technology company Astrobotic, to develop, test, and fly lunar night survival and communication technologies aboard the CubeRover platform, Astrobotic said. 

Orbital Reef, Sierra Space and Blue Origin’s upcoming commercial space station, has successfully completed its System Definition Review (SDR) with NASA. The SDR is key to establishing the functional baseline for the commercially developed, owned and operated low-Earth orbit (LEO) Orbital Reef.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) issued a warning to its 193 Member States on the harmful interference such as blocking, jamming or serious degradation of radio-wave-based services.  ITU defines harmful interference as a radio system receiving unwanted energy to an extent that inhibits the functioning of a radio-navigation service.