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The first of Airbus’ next generation geostationary satellites, built under ESA’s Eurostar Neo program, is ready for shipment to Cape Canaveral for launch preparations, Airbus said. Hotbird 13F will be positioned at 13 degrees east along with its twin satellite, Hotbird 13G.

Astrobotic has acquired space technologies company Masten Space Systems, providing suborbital payload testing services, including a heritage of more than 600 vertical takeoff and landing (VTVL) rocket flights, Astrobotic said. The two companies have a combined workforce of more than 200 employees, who will continue operations at two sites.

Launch services company Rocket Factory Augsburg AG (RFA), signed a contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) under ESA's Commercial Space Transportation Services and Support program, Boost!, Rocket Factory said. Both parties aim for the commercialization of European space transportation, challenging current processes.

Space-resilient computing infrastructure provider Ramon.Space, and dynamic management systems provider Kythera Space Solutions, have partnered to deliver highly dynamic and flexible communications payload solutions, Ramon.Space announced at the World Satellite Business Week 2022. The partnership leverages Kythera’s Operating System as well as Ramon.Space’s space computing platform. 

Global satellite operator ABS, appointed Amit Somani as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), who will assume duties on 10th October 2022.   Somani has more than 25 years of experience as an operational and strategic leader in the information and communications technology environment.

Blue Origin’s New Shepard-23 (NS-23) uncrewed payload mission encountered an issue when the booster failed, which caused a fire and a subsequent ground impact. The capsule escape system successfully separated the capsule from the booster, no injuries were reported. The company is currently examining what caused the anomaly.

The ESA-NASA Solar Orbiter observatory found clues on the origin of magnetic structures dubbed switchbacks, and also revealed insights regarding the mechanisms that are likely to accelerate solar wind, the Metis Collaboration said. Solar Orbiter’s Metis coronagraph observed an S-shaped magnetic structure in the solar corona, propagating towards interplanetary space.

At the 25th World Satellite Business Week (WSBW) taking place in Paris this week, Eva Berneke, CEO of Eutelsat, gave further details on the OneWeb-Eutelsat merger announced in July, saying that the combining of the two companies is a natural third step after an initial investment followed by becoming a shareholder.

In this Space Café Radio – SpaceWatch.Global Senior Editor and Space Café Italy Host Dr. Emma Gatti spoke with Dr. Jason Forshaw, Head of Future Business for Europe at Astroscale, during the 4th Secure World Foundation Summit for Space Sustainability, held in London between the 21 and the 23rd of June 2022.

The 8th edition of the largest space robotics competition, the European Rover Challenge, (ERC) has concluded this Sunday with announcing the winners. The hybrid competition included 30 academic teams from almost all continents. The audience had access to a replica of Neil Armstrong's spacesuit, and could travel to the seabed of the Pacific Ocean.