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The US Senate has passed legislation that directs NASA to establish a program to remove orbital debris, the Orbital Sustainability, or ORBITS, Act.  The passing was via unanimous consent, and it was introduced by Sen. John Hickenlooper, the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee’s space subcommittee, in September. 

AI and robotics company, Machina, Labs has welcomed new members into its executive team: manufacturing veterans Alex Huckstepp to serve as the new Vice President of Sales and Alexander Kwan as Vice President of Operations.

Dear SpaceWatcher, As we come to the end of 2022, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on all that we have accomplished and the challenges that we have faced over the past year. It has been a difficult and trying time for us all, but we are grateful …

SpaceWatch.Global is pleased to present: The Space Café Podcast #70: Jim Green - former chief scientist NASA about the past and future of space science and the agency’s secret sauce. James Green has served 40 years with NASA and sports some of its most prestigious missions. In the current episode of the Space Café Podcast, he talks about SLS, James Webb, Artemis, DART, space science and the future of the space industry. 

In this Space Café Radio - SpaceWatch.Global publisher Torsten Kriening spoke with Kevin Scullion, International Trade Specialist at Scottish Development International (SDI), about the Scottish space sector, the opportunities and the challenges and the strategy for supporting space to become a unique business segment for Scotland.

GKN Aerospace has signed a contract with ArianeGroup to supply the next phase of Ariane 6 turbines and Vulcain nozzles. The contract includes the manufacturing and supply of units for the next 14 Ariane 6 launchers, which will begin production now until 2025

NASA’s Perseverance rover deposited its first titanium sample tube containing a rock sample on Mars’ surface. The sample is the first of 10 forming a depot of tubes that will be considered to be brought back to Earth by the Mars Sample Return campaign, the agency said.

 The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the Government of the United Kingdom are strengthening their partnership with a new project to bolster space sustainability. Efforts will focus on raising awareness and building capacity related to implementing the Guidelines for the Long-term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities.

NASA’s Expedition 68 Flight Engineers Josh Cassada and Frank Rubio installed a Roll-Out Solar Array (iROSA) aboard the International Space Station (ISS) to augment power generation on the station’s port truss structure, NASA said. The extravehicular activity (EVA) lasted 7 hours and 8 minutes.

Following consent from Transport Secretary Mark Harper, the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has issued the final remaining licences to Virgin Orbit ahead of its planned launch from the UK, the UK Government stated. The CAA granted the licences within 15 months.