News

SpaceWatch.Global is pleased to present the 42nd episode in our podcast series The Space Cafe Podcast #042: Barbara Belvisi, Interstellar Lab and the future of plant growth in space and on earth. As if taken from a science fiction movie, Barbara Belvisi and her team at Interstellar Lab are developing growth containers for every kind of plant. Be it on earth or in space.

Astra Space announced plans to deploy its first orbital satellite for NASA in January 2022. They will launch out of Space Launch Complex 46, which will be Astra’s first launch from Cape Canaveral. The company delivered its first commercial payload into orbit in 2021, just five years after it was founded.

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket is scheduled to launch the U.S. military Space Test Program-3 (STP-3) mission later today after a two-day delay, ULA announced. The launch scheduled for Sunday had to be postponed after discovering a leak in the ground system storing rocket propellant.

Euroconsult expects 17,000 satellites to be launched in the next ten years. The fourfold increase over the past decade reflects structural changes in the space ecosystem and a limited short-term impact of the pandemic. “New Space is no longer the driving force in the industry. It's all about Fast Space now,” Euroconsult concludes.

NASA announced they have awarded the Booster Production and Operations Contract to build boosters for the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket to Northrop Grumman. The $3.19 billion contract will support nine SLS flights, through to Artemis 9 in 2031, NASA said.  Northrop Grumman produced the boosters for the first three, and is currently working on the motors for the fourth Artemis mission.

Join Troy McCann and our host Annie Handmer for a conversation on the two things that make the world go around: space, and money. Australia’s space economy is unique, characterised by a growing class of start-ups that target the ‘NewSpace’ economy. But despite a dedicated Space Agency committed to growing the space economy,

NASA has awarded a $415.6 million to three U.S. companies to design commercial space stations, the U.S. agency said last week. The companies that received awards are Blue Origin ($130 million), Nanoracks ($160 million) and Northrop Grumman ($125.6 million).

Two more: Arianespace has successfully launched two more Galileo satellites, growing Europe’s navigation constellation to 28 satellites, the European Space Agency (ESA) said. Soyuz launcher VS-26, operated by Arianespace and commissioned by ESA, lifted off with the pair of 715 kg satellites from French Guiana on 5 December, ESA said.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) appointed Salem Humaid Al Marri as the new Director-General of the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai, the agency said. Al Marri, 39, replaces Yousuf Al Shaibani, who served as the centre's Director-General since 2013. Al Marri was part of the team that set up the Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology in 2006

On Friday 3rd December 2021 we launched our Supporter Program to keep our independent reporting alive for you.  Our team and I like to thank all of you for your great feedback and your interest over the last 6 years that we run Spacewatch.Global. Our website hold over 5500 news, articles, features